Shalom JTF Readers,
Once again it is Wednesday and time for my weekly study of the Torah using videos from youtube and reposting articles by various rabbis on the portion.
This week we are reading the first portion of the book of Bamidbar (The Desert) so named because the first sentence contains the word 'Bamidbar'. But as always the name reflects something important which Hashem wants to convey to the Jewish people who scour the Torah for meaning (from even a single letter).
While the Jewish name for the book is 'Bamidbar' the gentile name of the book is 'Numbers' simply because the first thing in our portion is the taking of a census of the Jewish people in the desert.
Hashem establishes the order of the tribes, how they would encamp around the Mishkan, and how they would march when moving forward.
From Chabads Parsha in a Nutshell @
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2121/jewish/Bamidbar-in-a-Nutshell.htm
In the Sinai Desert, G‑d says to conduct a census of the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses counts 603,550 men of draftable age (20 to 60 years); the tribe of Levi, numbering 22,300 males age one month and older, is counted separately. The Levites are to serve in the Sanctuary, replacing the firstborn, whose number they approximated, who were disqualified when they participated in the worshipping of the Golden Calf. The 273 firstborn who lacked a Levite to replace them had to pay a five-shekel “ransom” to redeem themselves.
When the people broke camp, the three Levite clans dismantled and transported the Sanctuary, and reassembled it at the center of the next encampment. They then erected their own tents around it: the Kohathites, who carried the Sanctuary’s vessels (the Ark, menorah, etc.) in their specially designed coverings on their shoulders, camped to its south; the Gershonites, in charge of its tapestries and roof coverings, to its west; and the families of Merari, who transported its wall panels and pillars, to its north. Before the Sanctuary’s entranceway, to its east, were the tents of Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons.
Beyond the Levite circle, the twelve tribes camped in four groups of three tribes each. To the east were Judah (pop. 74,600), Issachar (54,400) and Zebulun (57,400); to the south, Reuben (46,500), Simeon (59,300) and Gad (45,650); to the west, Ephraim (40,500), Manasseh (32,200) and Benjamin (35,400); and to the north, Dan (62,700), Asher (41,500) and Naphtali (53,400). This formation was kept also while traveling. Each tribe had its own nassi (prince or leader), and its own flag with its tribal color and emblem.
Now we are once again in sync with the Torah readings in Eretz Yisroel and Rabbi Richman has recently posted his talk on Bamidbar...
Let us watch this together.
Topic: Video Study for Parsha Bamidbar : Out in the Desert... (Read 2720 times)