Monday, June 28, 2010

Daily Aliya for Pinchas, Sheni (2nd Aliya)

Aliya Summary: The Israelites are counted, and the totals are given for each of the twelve tribes. The grand total of all the tribes combined is 601,730. The tribe of Levi is not included in this census.

The very first Passuk (verse) says it all about this Aliya. The firstborn for Reuven was Chanoch, from the Chanochi family. The statement seems redundant, but it's really not. Rashi explains that outsiders questioned the Jews' ability to trace their ancestors, claiming that when they were in Egypt no one really knew who the children's fathers were because of immorality that must have occurred (between the Egyptian men and the Jewish women).  G-d response to that was to add his name to every family, adding a "hey" to the beginning and a "yud" to the end, so Chanoch became "Hachanochi", demonstrating that G-d protected the Jews, and specifically the women in Egypt.

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