Bamidbar (parsha)

Bamidbar, Bemidbar, BeMidbar, or B'midbar (במדבר — Hebrew for "in the wilderness,” the fifth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 34th weekly Torah portion ("parshah") in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the first in the book of Numbers. It constitutes ):
*Reuben: 46,500
*Simeon: 59,300
*Gad: 45,650
*Judah: 74,600
*Issachar: 54,400
*Zebulun: 57,400
*Ephraim: 40,500
*Manasseh: 32,200
*Benjamin: 35,400
*Dan: 62,700
*Asher: 41,500
*Naphtali: 53,400totaling 603,550 in all.

God told Moses not to enroll the Levites, but to put them in charge of carrying, assembling, tending to, and guarding the Tabernacle and its furnishings. ():
*around the Tabernacle: Levi
*on the front, or east side: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun
*on the south: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad
*on the west: Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin
*on the north: Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.

Priestly duties

God instructed Moses to place the Levites in attendance upon Aaron to serve him and the priests. () The Levites divided by their ancestral houses, based on the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ()
*The Merarites, numbered 6,200, camped along the north side of the Tabernacle, and had charge of the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, posts, sockets, and furnishings, and the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords. () God instructed Moses to record every firstborn male of the Israelites one month old and up, and they came to 22,273. ()

God then directed Moses and Aaron to take a separate census of the Kohathites between the ages of 30 and 50, who were to perform tasks for the Tent of Meeting. () Only when Aaron and his sons had finished covering the sacred objects would the Kohathites come and lift them. ()

In classical rabbinic interpretation

Numbers chapter 1

The Rabbis discussed why God spoke to Moses “in the wilderness.” ( states, “everyone who thirsts, come for water.” (Numbers Rabbah 1:7.) Another midrash taught that if the Torah had been given to the Israelites in the land of Israel, the tribe in whose territory it was given would have said that it had a prior claim to the Torah, so God gave it in the wilderness, so that all should have an equal claim to it. Another midrash taught that as people neither sow nor till the wilderness, so those who accept the yoke of the Torah are relieved of the yoke of earning a living; and as the wilderness does not yield any taxes from crops, so scholars are free in this world. And another midrash taught that the Torah was given in the wilderness because they preserve the Torah who keep themselves separate like a wilderness. (Numbers Rabbah 19:26.)

The Gemara noted that before begin, “And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,” and deduced that just as addressed the Passover offering, which the Israelites were to bring on the 14th of the month, the Gemara concluded that one should expound the laws of a holiday two weeks before the holiday. (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 6b.)

Rav Aha bar Jacob taught that for the purposes of numbering fighting men (as in for Rabbi Eliezer ha-Kappar’s proposition that the Israelites displayed virtue by not changing their names. (Mekhilta Pisha 5.)

Rabbi Judah ben Shalom taught that served as the place of refuge to which manslayers could flee. (Babylonian Talmud Makkot 12b.)

Building upon the prohibition of approaching the holy place in God had called “my firstborn,” how much more so would the injunction apply to a mere convert, who came among the Israelites with just his staff and bag. Then the convert returned to Shammai, quoted the injunction, and remarked on how absurd it had been for him to ask Shammai to appoint him High Priest. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 31a.)

The Gemara relates that once Rabban Gamaliel, Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Joshua, and Rabbi Akiba went to Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple, and just as they came to Mount Scopus, they saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies. The first three Rabbis began to cry, but Akiba smiled. The three asked him why he smiled, but Akiba asked them why they wept. Quoting linked Uriah’s prophecy with Zechariah’s. And ) in the days of David. (Numbers Rabbah 2:17.)

Of the banners ("degel") in to help define the distance that one may travel on the Sabbath, for the Israelites would need to be close enough to approach the ark on the Sabbath. (Numbers Rabbah 2:9.)

Numbers chapter 3

Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani taught in Rabbi Jonathan's name that (Mishnah Bekhorot 1:1–9:8; Tosefta Bekhorot 1:1–7:15; Babylonian Talmud Bekhorot 2a–61a.)

Numbers chapter 4

The Mishnah taught that one who stole one of the sacred vessels ("kisvot") described in for the proposition in a Baraita that one who dies before age 50 has died a death of "karet", of being cut off from the Jewish people. The Gemara there noted that indicates that the Kohathites ceased working near the holy things at age 50, these deaths of "karet" would have to have occurred before the age of 50. (Jerusalem Talmud Bikkurim 11b.) The Babylonian Talmud reports that Rabbah said that deaths between the ages of 50 and 60 are also deaths by "karet". (Babylonian Talmud Moed Katan 28a.)

Commandments

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are no commandments in the parshah. (Maimonides. "Mishneh Torah". Cairo, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. "The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides". Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. "Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education". Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:3. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)

Haftarah

Generally

The haftarah for the parshah is Hosea [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1302.htm 2:1–22.] Both the parshah and the haftarah recount Israel’s numbers, the parshah in the census (in [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1302.htm#16 16.] )

On Shabbat Machar Chodesh

When parshah Bamidbar coincides with Shabbat Machar Chodesh (as it does in 2009), the parshah is 1 Samuel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a20.htm#18 20:18–42.]

The Weekly Maqam

In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Bamidbar, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Rast, the maqam that shows a beginning or an initiation of something. This is appropriate because the parshah initiates the Book of Numbers. In the very common case where this parshah precedes the holiday of Shavuot, then the maqam that is applied is Hoseni, the maqam that symbolizes the beauty of receiving the Torah.

Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Biblical

*Exodus [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0206.htm#23 6:23] (Nahshon son of Amminadab); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0213.htm#12 13:1–2] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0213.htm#12 13:12–13] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm#28 22:28–29] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0230.htm#11 30:11–16] (shekel of atonement).
* (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0426.htm#1 26:1–65] (census).
*Deuteronomy [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0515.htm#19 15:19–23] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0533.htm#6 33:6] (Reuben’s numbers).
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08b24.htm 2 Samuel 24:1–25.]
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1102.htm#2 2:2] (in the wilderness); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1131.htm#8 31:8] (firstborn).
*Ezekiel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1201.htm#10 1:10] (on four sides).
*Hosea [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1302.htm#16 2:16] (wilderness).
*Psalms [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2660.htm#9 60:9] (Manasseh, Ephraim, Judah); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2678.htm#67 78:67–68] (Ephriam, Judah); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2668.htm#28 68:28] (Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, Naphtali); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2680.htm#3 80:3] (Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b9.htm#6 119:6] (obeying commandments); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26e1.htm#2 141:2] (incense); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26e4.htm 144:1] (able to go to war).
*Ruth [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2904.htm#18 4:18–21.] (Nahshon son of Amminadab).
*1 Chronicles [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt25a27.htm 27:1–24.]

Early nonrabbinic

*Philo. [http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book17.html "Who Is the Heir of Divine Things?"] 24:124. Alexandria, Egypt, early 1st Century C.E.. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by Charles Duke Yonge, 286. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1993. ISBN 0-943575-93-1.
*Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b3c12.html 3:12:4.] Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by William Whiston, 98. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.

Classical rabbinic

*Mishnah: Sanhedrin 9:6; Zevachim 14:4; Menachot 11:5; Bekhorot 1:1, 2:1. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Mishnah: A New Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 604, 731, 757, 788, 790. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Tosefta: Megillah 3:22; Sotah 7:17, 11:20; Bekhorot 1:1. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:538, 650, 864, 882; 2:1469. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
*Jerusalem Talmud: Bikkurim 11b. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Yerushalmi". Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vol. 12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2007.
*Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael Pisha 3, 5; Amalek 4; Bahodesh 1. Land of Israel, late 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:22, 30; 2:36, 41. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-237-2. And "Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael". Translated by Jacob Z. Lauterbach, 1:18, 25; 2:289–90. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1933, reissued 2004. ISBN 0-8276-0678-8.
*Mekhilta of Rabbi Simeon 16:1; 19:2; 47:2; 48:1; 57:1, 3; 76:4; 83:1. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai". Translated by W. David Nelson, 54, 75, 211–12, 255, 258, 355, 375. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006. ISBN 0-8276-0799-7.
*Genesis Rabbah 7:2; 53:13; 55:6; 64:8; 94:9; 97 (NV); 97 (MSV); 97:5. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Genesis". Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, 1:50, 472, 486; 2:578, 876, 898, 934, 942. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Babylonian Talmud: Shabbat 31a, 92a, 116a; Pesachim 6b; Yoma 54a, 58a; Chagigah 25a; Yevamot 64a; Nedarim 55a; Nazir 45a, 49a; Kiddushin 69a; Bava Batra 121b; Sanhedrin 16b–17a, 19b, 36b, 81b, 82b; Makkot 12b, 15a, 24b; Shevuot 15a; Horayot 6b; Zevachim 55a, 61b, 116b, 119b; Menachot 28b, 37b, 95a, 96a; Chullin 69b; Bekhorot 2a, 3b–5a, 13a, 47a, 49a, 51a; Arakhin 11b, 18b; Tamid 26a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Bavli". Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
*Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 2:8, 4:3, 7:5, 26:9–10. 6th–7th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Pesikta de-Rab Kahana: R. Kahana’s Compilation of Discourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days." Translated by William G. Braude and Israel J. Kapstein, 33, 70, 144, 404–06. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1975. ISBN 0-8276-0051-8. And "Pesiqta deRab Kahana: An Analytical Translation and Explanation." Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:27, 56, 116; 2:136–37. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-072-8 & ISBN 1-55540-073-6.

Medieval

*Saadia Gaon. "The Book of Beliefs and Opinions", 2:10, 12. Baghdad, Babylonia, 933. Translated by Samuel Rosenblatt, 118, 128. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1948. ISBN 0-300-04490-9.
*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=9929&showrashi=true Numbers 1–4.] Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. "The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated". Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, vol. 4, 1–33. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-029-3.
*Judah Halevi. "Kuzari". [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/khz/khz02.htm 2:26.] Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. "Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel." Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 105. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
*Numbers Rabbah 1:1–5:9; 6:2–3, 5–7, 11; 7:2–3; 9:14; 10:1; 12:15–16; 13:5; 14:3–4, 14, 19; 15:17; 18:2–3, 5; 19:3; 21:7. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Numbers". Translated by Judah J. Slotki, 5:1–156, 160, 162, 166, 168–71, 177, 180–82, 268–69, 335; 6:486, 489, 515, 573, 584, 627, 633, 662, 708, 710–11, 714, 753, 834. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Maimonides. "The Guide for the Perplexed", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/index.htm 3:24.] Cairo, Egypt, 1190. Reprinted in, e.g., Moses Maimonides. "The Guide for the Perplexed". Translated by Michael Friedländer, 305. New York: Dover Publications, 1956. ISBN 0-486-20351-4. (wilderness).
*Zohar 1:130a, 200a; 2:85a; 3:57a, [http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar&vol=37 117a–121a,] 177b. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, "The Zohar". Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.

Modern

*Louis Ginzberg. "Legends of the Jews", [http://philologos.org/__eb-lotj/vol3/p06.htm#THE%20TWELVE%20PRINCES%20OF%20THE%20TRIBES 3:219–38.] Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1911.
*Robert F. Kennedy. [http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/RFK/RFKSpeech68Mar18UKansas.htm Remarks at the University of Kansas, March 18, 1968.] Reprinted in Maxwell Taylor Kennedy. "Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy", 21. Broadway, 1998. ISBN 0767903714. (“Our Gross National Product . . . if we judge the United States of America by that . . . .”)
*Jacob Milgrom. "The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation", 3–29, 335–44. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990. ISBN 0-8276-0329-0.
*Baruch Levine. "Numbers 1–20", 4:125–78. New York: Anchor Bible, 1993. ISBN 0-385-15651-0.
*Mary Douglas. "In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers", xviii, 97, 99–100, 103, 109–10, 120, 123, 127–31, 133, 137–38, 174, 179–80, 207, 246. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-924541-X.

External links

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0401.htm Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://Bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=4&chapter=1&verse=1&portion=34 Hear the parshah chanted]