Parshas Bamidbar - Permanence
The book of Bamidbar, Numbers starts with one of the censuses done while our forefathers were in the desert. Rashi explains that this counting was done because the Temple had been completed and God was about to rest His Shechina - Presence in it. This was such a significant event that each person who experienced it was counted.
The problem is that this counting was done on the first of Iyar and the Shechina, God's Presence had already rested in the Temple from the first of Nissan - a month before?
I think the answer is based on an halachic principle. A person acquires the status of being a permanent resident of a house or city after having lived there for a month. That is why the obligation to put up a Mezuza in a rented house only starts after a month of moving in.
Why a month? A month is a lunar cycle, the cycle of the moon waxing and waning. Permanence is only established after going through the ups and downs and still remaining! True, God rested his Shechina, Presence for the first time on the first of Nissan but its permanence was only established after a month, on the first of Iyar, and that's when the people were counted.
The message is powerful - permanence in relationships or other endeavors is created by sticking it out through the easy and the challenging times, the waxing and the waning. The fickle flee at the first sign of challenge but the wise know that only by weathering the its storms, truly beautiful and lasting relationships are created.
