Articles in B’Midbar Parshah
Bamidbar: To Count Or Not To Count?

Are you Still Counting?
A newly minted millionaire sought entry into an exclusive society club. When the secretary asked for his net value he proudly replied, $13,403, 374. The crisp response was not long in coming. “If you’re still counting”, said the secretary, “you need not bother with our club.”
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Bamidbar: The Secret of Three

Wherever You Look
As our ancestors journeyed across the desert they were arrayed in four equal groups, each composed of three tribes; the tabernacle at the center and the four groups positioned around it. The grouping of three tribes per group was practical as there were a total of twelve tribes, …
B’Midbar: The Jewish Father

And The Mothers?
When the census was taken in the desert, families were recorded by the names of their fathers. Now that’s unfair! Who insisted on having these children in Egypt over their husbands’ protests? Who defied Pharaoh’s decree and risked their lives to carry, birth and nurse these children? Now …
B’midbar: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table

Sunday: Exalted Names
In the first census of the Jewish nation each family was identified by name, “By the count of their names.” In the second census the tribes were identified, but the families were not. The first census occurred shortly after the Exodus and the generation that left Egypt was …
B’midbar Forward Vision

Hair-Raising Drive
A friend of mine and his father were driving in the dead of night on a treacherous mountain road with razor-sharp curves and sheer cliff drops. His father seemed oblivious to the danger and drove along nonchalantly. When he inquired as to his father’s nonchalance, his father replied, “my …
B’midbar: Celestial Formations

Around the Tabernacle
They traveled together, a single mass of two million people moving slowly through the sands. Each tribe precisely positioned, each group in perfect formation, their footsteps marked the desert.
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B’Midbar : The Counting Paradox

To Count or not to Count?
In this week’s Torah reading, (1), we read, in detail, about one of the several censuses taken of the Children of Israel in the years following their Exodus from Egypt.
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B’Midbar: A Question of Numbers

A Small Tribe
In this week’s Parsha we read that Moshe took a census of the nation. A quick scan of the numbers shows the tribe of Levi to be the smallest, with only twenty-two-thousand members. By way of comparison, the other tribes had anywhere from thirty to more then one …