General Overview: This week's reading, Bamidbar, begins the Book of
Numbers, the fourth of the Five Books of Moses. This book of the Torah
opens on the first of Iyar, one month after the inauguration of the
Tabernacle, and several weeks before the Jews will depart from Mount
Sinai and begin their journey to the Holy Land. In this week's portion
the Israelites and the Tribe of Levi are counted separately. G‑d
instructs the Israelites on how to camp in the desert, surrounding the
Tabernacle. The Levites are informed the procedure for dismantling the
Tabernacle before traveling.
Aliya Summary: G‑d commands Moshe to
count all Jewish men of military age. G‑d names one member of each
tribe as the nasi, leader, of the tribe. Each nasi will assist Moshe and
Aaron in taking a census of his tribe. An additional objective of this
census was to establish the tribal lineage of every Jew.
Commentaries
point out that the command to count the people was given to Moshe and
Aharon (as opposed to just Moshe) because the census was done by
collecting half-shekels from the people. Since money was involved, it is
not proper to have only one person dealing with the matter - even if
that person is Moshe Rabeinu! This became the ethical standard of
dealing with public funds.
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