Parasha Bamidbar (במדבר) — Bamidbar 1:1 – 4:20. Read on Shabbat, June 5, 2027.
Summary of Parasha Bamidbar
On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Exodus from Egypt, G-d commands Moshe, in the Wilderness of Sinai, to take a census of the children of Israel, by families and by their fathers’ houses: all the men aged twenty and over who are fit for military service. A leader is appointed for each tribe to assist Moshe and Aharon. The Torah gives the number of each tribe, for a total of six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men. The tribe of Levi is not counted with the others: it is placed in charge of the Mishkan, of carrying it and guarding it, and it camps all around it. The parasha then describes the organization of the camp: the tribes camp around the Tent of Meeting, each under its banner, in groups of three, to the east, the south, the west and the north, and it is in this order that they set out. The Torah presents the descendants of Aharon and the role of the Leviim in the service of the kohanim. The Leviim, counted from the age of one month, are taken in place of the firstborn of Israel; the surplus firstborn are redeemed at five shekels each, and the money is given to Aharon and his sons. Finally, the Torah describes the task of the sons of Kehat, who carry the most sacred objects, after the kohanim have covered them.
The Themes
- Everyone is counted
- The organization of the camp
- The role of the Leviim
Rav Raphaël Benizri’s Lectures on Bamidbar
There are no lectures by the Rav on this parasha yet. Find all the available lectures on the Weekly Parasha page.
A Question for the Shabbat Table
Each tribe has its place and its banner in the camp: how can one find one’s own place while remaining part of a whole?
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Summary by the Pensées Juives editorial team. The Rav’s teachings are found in his lectures, linked above.