Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “



Parshat Bamidbar, is primarily involved with the census taken of the Jewish people in the second month of their second year in the desert. After listing the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, the Torah presents the totals of men between the ages of twenty and sixty for each tribe, the overall count being 603,550. The encampment structure is then described, with the tribe of Levi in the middle, safeguarding the Tabernacle and surrounded by the twelve tribes of Israel, each in their own designated area. The appointment of the tribe of Levi as the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people is presented, and their own census is taken, apart from the rest of Israel.

The Parsha concludes with the instructions given to the family of Kehat, the second son of Levi, for their role in dealing with the most sacred parts of the Mishkan.

” Dvar Torah “

This week’s Parsha, is the start of the fourth book of the Torah called “Bamidbar” which means ” in the desert”, but it’s mostly referred to and named as the “Book of Numbers”. A major theme running throughout the Book of Numbers is, well, “numbers”! The first few chapters in particular are a statistician’s delight! It lists the number of army-age men in each of the twelve tribes, both individually and in the aggregate, and it also lists the number of Levites, broken down into various categories.

In the beginning of the Parsha, Moshe was told to count the Jewish males who are entitled and should be enrolled for the Army. The Torah says: “Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their father’s household, by number of the names, every male according to their headcount. From twenty years of age and up — everyone who goes out to the legion in Israel — you shall count them according to their legions, you and Aaron.” This count included every tribe, except that of Levi. They were reserved for a separate count. And their count was not of men ages twenty and up. It began with a much younger crew. They were counted from one month of age and up!

The obvious question that comes to my mind, which was asked by our sages, is as follows. Why were the tiny babies included in the count? Why were the infants of the tribe of Levi counted and not the infants of the other tribes? If Hashem believes in equality, that every Jewish soul should be counted as ONE, then why to show favoritism towards the tribe of Levi and give them a twenty years head start over the rest of the tribes? After all, what qualities do the Levites’ children have, that are missing in the other eleven tribes, which makes them worthy of a count, just like the strong soldiers in the army?

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky gives the following beautiful explanation. The tribe of Levi were in charge of safeguarding the sanctity of the Mishkan, the mobile sanctuary for Hashem. They were not suppose to take parts in any legions of an army, but rather, they were suppose to dedicate their lives in serving G-d. To acknowledge Hashem, to take part in serving Hashem and to work in the sanctuary, does not require a minimum age. You can learn to serve Hashem at a very young age, even when you are a baby! The tribe of Levi acted as teachers, mentors and Rabbis to the entire congregation, and even their children were role models among the rest of the children. The Torah is telling us that in order to be a soldier, you need to be mature and physically fit, but to be able to serve Hashem, you require to be holy and pure — two characteristics that can be found more commonly in children. It’s true that most of the mitzvot in the Torah are for men above the age of Bar Mitzvah, but to learn Torah and to learn how to serve Hashem, you can start at a very young age! The Levite’s fathers not only spent their time teaching Torah to the entire nation, but they also spent a lot of time teaching their own children, since they knew that they are going to be the future teachers and Rabbis. And the Levites’ children loved to learn Torah and eagerly followed in their father’s footsteps in every step of the way, in working in sanctuary and to teach the other children. Both the children and their fathers knew the importance of their task, and that’s why they were counted equally. Imagine, if Hashem is giving so much respect to the Levites’ children for learning how to serve G-d that He includes them in the count just like adults, then how much more respect and encouragement we should give to our children when they learn Torah and perform its Mitzvot!

Yes my friends, our children are our future! They are the ones who will continue to safeguard our Torah, our heritage, our customs and our sanctity. And we are the ones in charge of teaching it to them. Sometimes it’s difficult for us, or we don’t have the time to teach the Torah to our children. That’s when we need the help of the Rabbis, the Talmud Torahs and the Yeshivas to teach it to them. Because, G-d forbid, if we don’t teach them the Torah, then who will safeguard our heritage and who will pass on our three thousand years old religion to the next generations?

Keep in mind that children can learn from a very young age. They observe things that we don’t even realize and they learn from them. I never forget the time when my older son, Ariel, was 3 or 4 years old. One Sunday morning I was too tired and I overslept. So he came up to my bed, shook me and said: “Dad–Dad! Wake up–wake up! You have to put that black thing on your head!” I didn’t even know that he was giving attention to me putting on the tefillin before?! Now, B”H, the time has come that he puts on that black thing on his head everyday!!

Remember that the Levites children were given the same count as the heros on the battlefield, not because of their physical strength or their maturity, but rather, because they studied Torah and performed the mitzvot. Because when you keep G-d’s commandments……. G-d will fight the wars for you!

Shabbat Shalom, Chag Sameach & Regards;

Martin