Ba-Midbar - Numbers 1:1-4:20 -5/30/25

This week begins a new book of the Torah. In Hebrew it is called Ba-Midbar – ‘in the wilderness’. Of course, the books of the Torah get their Hebrew names, as does each parashah, simply from the first significant word in the first verse. But in this case, the name is fitting, as the book chronicles the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert.

The English name, though, Numbers, is also fitting, as enumerating the tribes is a central theme in the book. The first chapter, which begins this week’s parashah, is all about implementing a census of the tribes. But it is not a comprehensive census of all the Israelites, but only the men over the age of 20 who are able to form an army.

The clear, though unstated, message is that the Israelites are preparing for battle. Wandering in the desert is fraught with danger, as nomadic tribes can attack at any time. We read throughout the Torah of battles with Amalekites, Numbers 22-25 recounts the troubles with the Moabites under King Balak.  Other nations also pose threats. So the necessity of arranging the tribes into military units and counting how many men of fighting age and ability they have. Only the Levites are exempt from military service, but they are assigned specific and detailed tasks for erecting the Tent of Meeting every evening and deconstructing and carrying it every day.

Of course, the realities of three thousand years ago still exist today, as Israel continues to be surrounded by enemies and continues to conscript their citizens into the army. Today both men and women serve. We pray for the day when the need for every Israeli to serve in the army can come to an end, the soldiers can take off their uniforms and go home to safety and peace!

-Rabbi Bonnie Margulis