Parashat Bamidbar
Numbers 1:1 - Numbers 4:20

Topics (click on any link)
Synopsis of the Torah portion
Spiritual insights into Parashat Bamidbar
Key verses
Creative Midrash for Parashat Bamidbar

Synopsis                     return to top
The Book of Numbers opens with a command from God that a census be taken of the Israelites and continues on to other aspects for the preparation for making the journey through the wilderness.
Chapter 1
God told Moses to take a census of the whole Israelite community. A committee of chieftains of each tribe was selected to assist in the counting. All those who were enrolled came to 603,550; these consisted of all males over twenty years of age that were able to bear arms. The total was accumulated from each of twelve tribes of Israel. The Levites were not recorded among the community, as God commanded that they should be in charge of the Tabernacle of the Pact; they shall be responsible to carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, set it up and take it down.

Chapter 2
Next the Israelites were commanded to camp at a distance around the Tent of Meeting. Three tribes were to camp on each of the four sides of the Tent of Meeting: To the east were the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; to the south were Reuben, Simeon and Gad; to the west were Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin; and on the north were Dan, Asher and Naphtali. They camped and marched in the same order.

Chapter 3
The theme of this chapter is devoted to the Levites, the descendants of Levi and the caretakers of the Tent of Meeting. The Levites were assigned to Aaron and his sons and their job was to take charge of all the furnishings of the Tabernacle, its setting up and its taking down when ever the Israelites were commanded to move on to their next location. The Levites were held in such high esteem that they were to belong to God in place of all the first-born males. When God smote all the first-born of Egypt, he consecrated to Himself every first-born in Israel. Now, the Levites were taken as God's possession.

Chapter 4
Instructions were given to the Kohathites, a distinctive clan of the Levites regarding the details of breaking down the Tent of Meeting. The process begins with Aaron and his sons, the priests, who equipped with blue, purple and red cloths and dolphin skins are to cover the sacred objects. They are then to put the poles for carrying the larger objects in place. Only after the holy objects are covered may the Levites carry them; they must not touch the holy objects directly.

Spiritual insights into Parashat Bamidbar                     return to top
Bamidbar in Hebrew means “in the wilderness”; it is the beginning of the journey to the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The essential theme of this parasha is about a census, a numbering that Moses is commanded to take of the Israelites in order to determine their military strength. The census, taken by ancestral clan (the sons of Jacob) included only those able to bear arms, thus eliminating the women, the children, the elderly and the Levites, thus lending credence to military might. Just like the warfare in the Chanukah story, we must not allow ourselves to be deceived in thinking that military victory of the Maccabees embodied the importance of Chanukah, to the contrary the armed might of Chanukah emphasized the ability to defeat our spiritual enemies—enemies of our mind and of our spirit. As our journey continues to toward the Land of Canaan, we will encounter an assortment of these enemies who wish to destroy the Israelites, for which we will need spiritual military might in order to prevail.

Also included in Bamidbar is the unquestioned configuration of the tribes around the Tent of Meeting. Three tribes make camp on each of its four sides, which at first glance would seem like a protective formation around the Sanctuary. But more careful examination suggests an ordering of three qualities for each of four elements. The Kabbalah discusses these qualities at great length but for our purpose now, let us understand that the Zodiac is built upon such a system and it is generally known that Abraham was a stargazer.

Key Verses                      return to top
This page is not a commentary on the text, but a chance for you to express your own comments and feelings in order to gain deeper insight into your own life.

Numbers 1:49
Do not on any account enroll the tribe of Levi or take a census of them with the Israelites.
Food for thought:
1. The Levites were selected from the tribes for special service to the Tent of Meeting? Why the Levites? Is there something special about them?
2. Why are they not included in with the rest of the Israelites?
3. What does their special service have to do with the wanderings in the wilderness?

Numbers 1:52
The Israelites shall encamp troop by troop, each man with his division, and each under his standard.
Food for thought:
1. What are the Israelites preparing for? Journeying to the Promised Land or war?
2. What are some reasons for them to organize by ancestral clan?
3. Where are all the women, the elderly and the children? Don't they count?
4. Do you think the Torah is just talking about warriors? If so, what's the significance of warriors?

Numbers 2:2
The Israelites shall camp each with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance.
Food for thought:
1. Three tribes were to camp on each of the four sides of the Tent of Meeting. Picture the Tent in the center and three tribes were aligned on each of the four sides. What can you think of in today's values that consists of three groups of four?
2. What is the difference between this verse and the previous one?
3. What comes to mind when you visualize this scene of the ancestral houses aligned in military formation with their banners flying?

Numbers 2:32
Those are the enrollments of the Israelites by ancestral houses. The total enrolled in the divisions, for all troops: 603,550.
Food for thought:
1. The Torah says "troops". Doesn't this sound like some kind of military encounter rather than a nation who set out to worship in the desert?
2. Chapter 1 made it clear that the enrolled census amounted to 603,550.
Why is it necessary to repeat it here? Repetition is the Torah is often significant.
3. What do we learn from counting heads? We have seen census taken in previous portions of the Torah and more accounting of people to come. Why is the Torah concerned about numbers of people?

Numbers 3:8
They shall take charge of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting--a duty on behalf of the Israelites--doing the work of the Tabernacle.
Food for thought:
1. The Torah holds the Levites, apparently, in very high esteem. Why was this responsibility laid upon the Levites? What special qualities do they have?
2. Why is it important for a select group to do this particular work? Why couldn't any Israelite take charge of the furnishings?
3. It seems as if the Torah is making a statement of getting ready to move at any given moment. Where are they going? Why do they need an army of troops to accompany them?

Numbers 3:13
For every first-born is Mine: at the time that I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every first-born in Israel, man and beast, to Myself, to be Mine, the Lord's.
Food for thought:
1. Why does God need first-borns to be His possession? Is it to show the contrast between the first-born Israelites as opposed to the first-born Egyptians that were smitten? Or is there something more important?
2. If it was first-born Egyptians that God smote, why are beasts included?
3. Do you think there is a relationship between Israelite first-borns and the oldest sibling in your family?

Numbers 4:4
This is the responsibility of the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting: the most sacred objects.
Food for thought:
1. The Kohathites were a clan of the Levite tribe. Why do you think they were singled out to handle the most sacred objects?
2. If you look back at the genealogy of the Kohathites, could you find something distinctive about them that they would be chosen for this task?
3. Why is there so much ritual that surrounds the moving of the Tent of Meeting from one location to another?

Numbers 4:5-6
At the breaking of the camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the Ark of the Pact with it. They shall lay a cover of dolphin skin over it and spread a cloth of pure blue on top; and they shall put its poles in place.
Food for thought:
1. Could this sudden breaking of camp have anything to do beyond the journey or war? Could it have to do, somehow, with a more spiritual purpose?
2. The priests had to cover all the most sacred objects before the Kohathites could move them. Why did they need to be covered by the priests?
3. What would happen if the Kohathites moved them without the covering? What is it about the sacred objects that they may not be seen or touched?

Additional questions to ponder:
1. What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of your life?
2. Is there something about the story that rings a bell?
3. Can you recall experiences in your life when you have experienced something similar to this story?
4. How would you describe the characters in the story? Who do you know who's like them?
5. Can you personally identify with any one of the characters in the story? Which one?
6. Can you find a similarity between yourself and all the characters in the story?

Reflections:
The Rabbis of old would meditate on such questions, sometimes for weeks at a time, to help find deeper meaning in the verses. You may wish to contemplate just one or a few of these questions at a time, rather than tackling them all.
In what ways we any of your responses to the questions personally meaningful?

Suggestion:
Some of the questions here are of a personal nature which in some cases could be emotionally upsetting. If so, try relaxing your body as much as possible and takes long slow breaths of air. That usually helps to relieve anxiety.
 
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Creative Midrash on Parashat Bamidbar                       return to top

Numbers 2:34
The Israelites did accordingly; just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they marched, each with his clan according to his ancestral house.

The Rabbis of old would create parables, stories and narrative connections around such selected verses. What do you see between the lines, the sentences and the letters. The following questions can provide a launch pad upon which to create your own meanings of the Torah.

Imagine yourself as one, among the Israelites camped, ready to march at God's command. The banners of your ancestral house are blowing in the wind. Where do you think you’re headed? What will it be like when you get there? What sort of obstacles do you expect to encounter? Why are you prepared for war? Why have the children, the elders, and the women not been counted among those ready to make the journey? Why all this preparation (census, encamped by tribe, priestly duties, Levites duties, etc.) for the journey? Why do you think God is insisting on all these preparations? Do you think this is all a metaphor for something greater than just a journey through the wilderness?

Spend some time thinking about these questions. After you mentally process them for a day or two, it could be helpful to record your conclusions in a journal. It's not important to have correct answers; it's more important to wrestle with the narrative. In time this process can teach you to change many of your unproductive thoughts and beliefs for new ones that work more effectively.