We know that the Book of Bamidbar consists of two distinct parts. The first part of the book describes events that took place in the first two years of the journey in the Sinai desert. The second part, beginning with chapter 20 describes the events which took place in the 40th year of the journey. […]
The Sidra begins with God’s command to Moses to send twelve important leaders to tour the land. Moses chose the Nesi’im, the leaders of each tribe for this task. This account, which tells us that God commanded the mission, contradicts the version that Moses gave to the next generation, in his farewell speech, 39 years […]
The Book of Bamidbar is divided into two distinct parts and covers two separate periods in Israel’s journey in the wilderness. The first part, which consists of the first five Sidrot, describes the events which happened immediately after the Exodus. It begins on the first day of the second month of the second year after […]
Today we read the last two Sidrot in the Book of Numbers. These two Sidrot, which are called Mattot and Massei, are read together in all normal years. They are only read separately in leap years. Together they are one of the longest annual Torah readings. They are connected by their theme. Both of them […]
Biblical names have interesting meanings. Very often the name of a hero ties in with the content or intention of the story. But the name Pinchas is an exception. His name does not seem to have any meaning in any known Semitic languages, nor does there seem to be any connection between the name Pinchas […]
The Sidra of Balak, the king of Moab, contains the unique Biblical story about Bilam, (this is how the name is pronounced in Hebrew), who was hired by Balak to curse the Israelites when they came near to his country’s borders. Our ancient Rabbis regarded Bilam as a gentile Prophet and asserted, quite surprisingly, that […]
The Sidra is named after Balak, the king of Moab, who was the ruler of that country at the time that the Israelites reached the Eastern bank of the Jordan in the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho. It was the 40th year since the Exodus. The Israelites were almost ready to cross over the Jordan. […]
The meaning of the name of today’s Sidra is LAW. Our Rabbis interpreted the Hebrew concept of Chok to refer to a law whose reason has not been revealed to us. The Sidra begins with the law of the Red Heifer, which has always been regarded as mysterious. It simply very difficult to understand why […]
The Book of Bamidbar consists of 10 Sidrot, which can be divided into two completely separate parts, representing 2 periods in the history of the Exodus. The first 5 Sidrot describe the events that took place within the first two years of the Exodus, until the end of the rebellion of Korach. The last 5 […]
Today’s Sidra is named after the man who led a major rebellion against Moses and Aaron in the desert. Many commentators believe that this rebellion took place immediately after the catastrophic mission of the 12 spies. Korach and his “gang” thought that Moses’ leadership had been weakened. They, therefore, took this opportunity to challenge him […]