Census in the Desert

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  1. The Censuses in the Desert

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    How can the numbers in the census in Bemidbar be identical to the numbers at the end of Shemot? And why is there a need for another census seven months after the first? 

  2. Bemidbar - Not Just Numbers

    Rabbi Yair Kahn

    תאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | | 12 minutes

    Why does Sefer Bamidbar open with the census of the people of Israel, and why do Chazal seem to view the census as reflective of the very essence of the book?

  3. The Second Census

    Rabbi Yair Kahn

    תאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | | 15 minutes

    Why were the people of Israel commanded to battle Midian twice, and what does this teach us about the evolution of Israel's national identity?

  4. Shekalim - Counting Money

    HaTanakh.com Staff

  5. Erev Shabbat Parshat Ki Tisa - A Census Prohibition

    Rabbi Ezra Bick | 14 minutes

    Parashat Ki Tisa has an unusual set of te’amim (cantillation notes) at the beginning of the instructions relating to conducting a census of Bnei Yisrael. We look at the meaning of the Divine command and prohibition, and ask why King David mistakenly thought he could conduct a census without penalty.

  6. Short Thoughts on Bamidbar - The Census and the Small Tribe of Levi

    Rabbi Ezra Bick | 6 minutes

    Bemidbar details a census of Bnei Yisrael and a separate one for the Leviim.  Commentators notice that by far the smallest of the tribes is Levi. Why is that? We look at a few explanations, some relating to the experience of enslavement in Egypt.

    One opinion is that the Book of Shemot mentions that as Israel was oppressed, they multiplied - but Levi was not enslaved. Another opinion is that a higher spiritual level is usually associated with a rarer commodity, or with less material success. Or perhaps it was a favor to the Tribe of Levi so that they could be sustained with limited space and resources allocated to them.

     

  7. Parashat Pinhas and the Primacy of Counting in the Book of Bemidbar

    Dr. Yael Ziegler | 34 minutes

    At the beginning of Parashat Pinhas is the second Divine command to count Bnei Yisrael (the first at beginning of Bemidbar).)  This event has far more importance than just counting the people. It becomes the name for the book: the Sages' name for the book of Bemidbar  is"The Book of Counting" - the Sages – see it as the essence of the book.

    We examin various suggested reasons for God's command to count Bnei Yisrael, and we note that the second counting has a major difference in the reasons for counting from that of the first census: we find military vs. inheritance to explain the disparities.