Articles in B’Midbar Parshah
Make Your Desert Bloom
Every year, we read a Torah portion called Bamidbar—in the desert—on the Shabbat before Shavuot. This portion describes the census of the Jews in the desert. Just as we count forty-nine days and then celebrate Shavuot, so should we read about the counting of the Jews and then celebrate Shavuot.
This …
We Are Not Victims
This Shabbat, the 2’nd of Sivan, will be three-thousand-three-hundred-thirty-six years since G-d declared us a kingdom of princes. However, when our enemies take potshots at our children’s schools, it is hard to feel like a kingdom of princes. Nevertheless, that was precisely how I felt when I watched footage of …
Follow The Money
One of the most popular antisemitic tropes is that Jews are all about money. But is there perhaps some truth to this? After all, when the Jewish census was taken, Moses didn’t count people. Instead, he counted money. He told each Jew to donate a half silver coin, and he …
Bamidbar: Israel Is On Fire
Israel is on fire this week and we live in an age where this cannot be denied. Footage of skies filled with rockets fired maliciously into densely populated neighborhoods, flood our social media accounts daily. Our brethren live in shelters and too many have been struck. The iron dome is …
Bamidbar: You Count
You count, we each do. But the question is, for how much? Do you count for one, do you count for more than one, for less than one? Compared to everyone around you, what is your value?
When G-d instructed Moses to take a census of the Jews, he arrived at …
Bamidbar: Count for Something
G-d instructed Moses to take a census of the Jewish people in the desert. In all, G-d told Moses to count the Jews three times in a forty-year period. Rashi, the famed eleventh century biblical commentator, explained that G-d counts the Jews because He loves them.[1]
This statement makes it sound …
Bamidbar: Does Being Chosen Make You Uncomfortable?
Being Chosen
People always say, never let a compliment get to your head. But what does that mean? If the compliment is true, shouldn’t we own it, take pride in it and let it boost our self esteem? The obvious answer is that we don’t mind owning it. We mind growing …
Bamidbar: Positive Thought
Is Optimism Naive?
Are you confident about the future? There are those who are frustratingly optimistic. No matter what the present, their faith in mankind, destiny and G-d’s basic commitment to goodness is unshakable. Others are more jaded. They look at the current state of affairs and take a dismal view …
