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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Bamidbar
I believe that the underlying message here is the reinforcement of the Torah's view of the Jewish people and in fact of all of humankind, as many different individuals and never as a monolithic whole. In fact, this is the origin of the Torah's opinion that one should never count people individually in a direct and personal fashion. No two people are alike.and no two people are bound to hold exactly like opinions.
There are groupings and tribes that make up the Jewish people today and throghout all of Jewish history.This realization should make for a more tolerant and less bitterly divisive Jewish society. The Torah is therefore determined to treat the count of the Jewish people as a count of individuals instead of as a count of a large group or whole nation. It wishes us to realize that the Jewish people really are made up of so many different components and differing individuals and personalities and the Torah demands of us a maturity to deal with this omnipresent situation of the human condition.
Another point that strikes me about this week' parsha is the relative smallness of today's Jewish population relative to the total count that appears in this week's parsha. The numbers that appear in the parsha indicate a total poulation of about three million people - old, young, men and women. Three millennia later the Jewish people worldwide appear to constitute approximately fifteen million people. Natural growth alone over such a long period of time should provide us with a much more numerous Jewish people. Yet the Torah itself predicted that the Jewish people would always be the smallest in numbers of all peoples.
Exile, pogroms, assimilation, conversions and the Holocaust have all taken a depressing toll on our numbers. Yet in spite of our lack of numbers we have never lost our influence and effect on world society and civilization. The Torah teaches us that numbers are necessary - there can be no Judaism without live Jews - but numbers are not everything. It is noted that the Torah already indicated in the desert that population growth is problematic with the Jewish people.
During the forty years in the desert the Jewish population did not increase. The count at the end of the forty years eerily remained similar to the count in this week's parsha. Individuals matter greatly. That is only one of the many contributions of the Jewish people to the human story.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
Shlach Lecha "Why So Many Don't Make Aliya?" - Parshat Shlach
This short article deals with the weird phenomena that every single time Am Yisrael is meant to enter the Land of Israel, throughout the Tanach, 2nd Temple and until today, they "chicken out" and look for excuses. What's the problem with this mitzvah that proves so challenging. The article, based on sources, suggests that the difficulties of Eretz Yisrael is precisely her secret and beauty!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 4
The class deals with Islam and how the Muslim tries convincing the King of the Khazars, and why he was also rejected.
Beha'alotcha JEWISH STATE= GUIDE TO G-DLINESS & SELFLESSNESS
A Jewish State not only is a good idea, but educates us towards selflessness, altruism and G-dliness in our daily lives.
Ein Aya In Zion Even the Smoke of the Bark is Sweet
Just as Jewish nationalism is different from others, so too our capitol of Jerusalem is totally different than other national capitols. Rav Kook beautifully explains the passage in the Talmud that the trees of Yerushalayim were cinnamon trees.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 3
The second speaker invited to convince the Khazar King is the Christian, who presents their beliefs. Even before the questions of the King, "between the lines", the author R. Yehuda HaLevi already begins disproving them.
Ein Aya "Intimacy: Love, Life & Giving or Egocentric Taking & Expiration"
Today, many confuse between intimacy in marriage, based on love, giving and life which are diametrically opposed to empty "sex", pornography and prostitution which destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. The practical importance of clarifying this topic in today's western society is obvious, especially for young adults.
