We read about the tribe of Levi in Parshat Bamidbar (Bamidbar 3:11-13): God spoke to Moshe, saying: “Behold! I have taken the Leviim from among B’nai Yisrael, in place of every firstborn, the first issue of every womb among B’nai Yisrael, and the Leviim shall be Mine....
In the Haftara for Parshat Bamidbar, Hoshea 2:1-22, we are introduced to the words “Petach Tikva”, portal of hope. The Haftara can be looked at as a metaphor representing the Jewish nation’s closeness to God that will come with the redemption, which will be granted as...
There is a holiday coming up this Shabbat called Yom HaMeyuchas, “The Day of Distinction.” What makes it a special day and what can we learn from it?Yom HaMeyuchas takes place on the second of Sivan, the day after Rosh Chodesh and the day before the...
In Bamidbar 1:18 we read:They gathered together the entire congregation on the first day of the second month (Rosh Chodesh Iyar) and they were registered by family ancestry according to the house of their fathers...According to Rashi, B’nai Yisrael brought their...
At the beginning of Parshat Bamidbar, over 50 verses describe the counting of the men above age 20, all who are eligible for the army, from each tribe, aside from the tribe of Levi who worked in the Mishkan and were exempted from army service.Why did they need to...
The Talmud, Yoma 22b asks: Why weren’t the Kohanim counted by a headcount (why were their fingers counted)? Rabbi Yitzchak said: It is forbidden to count the people of Israel through a head count, even for the purpose of a mitzva for it is written in...
When I arrived in Israel almost ten years ago, the word “baal” bothered me. Although the word “baal” in Modern Hebrew refers to husband, the traditional definition is master or owner. I asked a Hebrew Ulpan teacher who was about to be married...
In Bamidbar 2:2 we read: “Take a head count of the entire congregation of B’nai Yisrael according to their families to the house of their fathers counting the names of all males individually.” The English name for Sefer Bamidbar is...
Bamidbar is called “Numbers” in English but literally means “In the Desert”.The Book of Bamidbar begins with the words: “God spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year...
In Parshat Bamidbar 3:15 we learn that the male members of the tribe of Levi were counted from the age of one month. This was different from the other tribes where the male members were counted from the age of 20, the age that the men began to serve in the...
At the beginning of Parshat Bamidbar, we read about one leader from each tribe who is designated to help Moshe count B'nai Yisrael (the Jewish people).The leader from the tribe of Yehudah is Nachshon Ben Aminadav.The Gemara in Sotah 36b-37a describes how Nachshon was...
Parshat Bamidbar (literally in the desert) is read on the Shabbat before Shavuot for a number of reasons: According to Rabbi D. Shoham if a person wants to merit in receiving the Torah, they should make themselves into a desert, meaning that they should act modestly....