Weekly Portion: BAMIDBAR Torah: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20 Haftorah: Hosea 21-22 FRIDAY EVENING, May 23, 2014 7:30 P.M. WORSHIP On the eve of his becoming a Bar Mitzvah, Izzy Marcovici and his brothers will participate in the conduct of the services. An Oneg Shabbat will follow graciously sponsored by the Marcovici Family SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 24, 2014 SHABBAT MORNING WORSHIP BAR MIZTVAH OF IZZY MARCOVICI THIS WEEK’S TORAH READING In the opening Parasha of the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers), the L-rd instructs Moses on how to structure the Israelite camp. A census is taken of all males over the age of twenty and then, they are directed to where they are to establish their tribal camps in relation to the Tent of the Tabernacle. The only tribe that is not included within this first census is the Levites as they have been assigned to tend to the Tabernacle. After the order of the camp is established, the L-rd then instructs Moses to take a census of the Levites and compare how many of the Levites there are to the first born Israelite males over the age of one month. The Parasha concluded with the instructions to the Levites about their duties and their responsibilities vis-à-vis the sacred objects in the Ark. In accordance with G-d’s commands all first born living things whether animal, vegetables or human belong to G-d. Therefore, in reality, all first born male children should be the ones to do G-d’s work. Instead, G-d declared that the whole tribe of the Levites would take the place of the first born males in their role to serve the L-rd and therefore there would be a redemption price of five shekels per person for any Israelites over and above the number of the Levites. According to the census of the Levites and the first born Israelite males, there are 22,000 Levites and 22,273 Israelite males who are first born. The Israelites had to pay 1,365 shekels to the Priests as part of their redemption from having to serve the L-rd. This is the basis for the ritual of Pidyon HaBen, the Redemption of the First Born Son. While this is a symbolic ceremony today since the Priests no longer have a ritual role in Judaism, many people still celebrate it for its historic significance as well for its powerful statement about our connection as a people to the G-d of Israel. QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. What would be the purpose of census taking? Why would the L-rd want to know how many Israelites, Levites and first born sons were there in the community? 2. If the ultimate goal was to unify the people into one nation, was it a positive or a negative approach to continually define the Israelites on the basis of their tribal affiliation? Would there be another way to break the Israelites into smaller units?
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 16:40:38 +0000
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