YINR 929: Tanach Yomi

As Numbers comes to a close, the Torah goes back and lists all the journeys that the Israelites made from the time they left Egypt. “These are the marches of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.” אֵלֶּה מַסְעֵי בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָצְאוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְצִבְאֹתָם בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן׃ (Numbers 33:1) “Moses recor...

Earlier, God decreed that each tribe would receive a proportional part of the Land. As the nation makes its way around the Jordan river to enter the land, they have been conquering the local peripheral populations. The tribes of Reuven and Gad see this borderlands and decide that they do not want to enter the land. They approach Moshe and ask if they can live in the trans Jordan area because of th...

Chapter 31 returns to the previous story of the Midyanite woman and Baal Peor. God has not forgotten the evil plot to seduce the population and cause them to sin. Were it not for the heroics of Pinchas, the plot would have succeeded. This is why God tells Pinchas to lead the army into battle against the Midyanites. “Moses sent them to the campaign—one thousand from each tribe—together with Phineha...

Chapter 30 can be a difficult read from a more modern standpoint. The chapter offers various scenarios in which a father has the ability to nullify the vows of his wife and daughter. The Torah takes vows very seriously. The prohibition against taking God’s name in vain is one of the Ten Commandments. Vows for sacrifices, property, and even oneself were discussed in Leviticus. Earlier in Numbers, t...

“On the eighth day you shall hold an atzeret; you shall not work at your occupations” (verse 35). בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם כָּל־מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ׃ (Numbers 29:35) The Gemara Sukkah 47a–48a gives a mnemonic to capture Shemini Atzeret’s dual status: פזר קש״ב Each letter represents a criterion in which Shemini Atzeret is separate from Sukkot: פ – פיס (Lottery): The pri...

Sit in most shuls during the Passover holiday and you probably experienced this phenomena. After the initial reading, the second Torah scroll is opened up for maftir reading. The reading is from chapter 28 in Numbers. Everything seems normal until the reader finishes verse 23, and suddenly, everyone in the room yells out the notation of the first word of verse 24: “KAELEH!!” Jewish Whatsapp and Fa...

Chapter 26 discussed the census that would set the boundaries of the land of Canaan. Everything seemed to make sense. The land would be apportioned by the size of the tribes. “The land, moreover, is to be apportioned by lot; and the allotment shall be made according to the listings of their ancestral tribes” (Numbers 26:55). אַךְ בְּגוֹרָל יֵחָלֵק אֶת־הָאָרֶץ לִשְׁמוֹת מַטּוֹת אֲבֹתָם יִנְחָלוּ Bu...

Why is there yet another census in chapter 26? This census happens after the plague in chapter 25. After another mass death, God wants another census. There are a few unique features about this counting. This counting is done by families and there are four stories mixed within the names. These four stories are: Datan and Aviram who were swallowed up by the ground during Korach’s rebellion, Korach...

After the brief interlude to the story of Balaam and Balak, the story returns to the Israelite camp. Chaos reigns again, as the people are consumed by the orgiastic worship if the Moabite god Baal-Peor. Moshe and the elders (again) have fallen on their faces unable to respond. A grandson of Aaron takes things into his own hands, literally. Pinchas takes a spear and impales a prince of the tribe of...

Chapter 24 opens with Balaam understanding that he no longer needed to seek God. He knows what God wanted. So instead, he turns to see the Israelites and proclaims the famous line: “How goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel!” (verse 5). מַה־טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (Numbers 24:5) This prophecy utilizes flora and fauna themes that will appear in pr...

Chapter 23 begins with Balaam preparing to say whatever God commands. He tells Balak: “Stay here besides your offerings while I am gone. Perhaps God will grant me a manifestation, and whatever is revealed to me I will tell you” (verse 2). עֲמֹד כֹּה עַל־עֹלָתֶיךָ וְאֵלְכָה אוּלַי יִקָּרֶה ה׳ לִקְרָאתִי וּדְבַר מַה־יַּרְאֵנִי וְהִגַּדְתִּי לָךְ׃ (Numbers 23:3) Right off the bat, Balaam reminds Bala...

According to the Midrash, Balaam was a prophet almost on the level of “Moshe” for the other nations. Balaam is also universally regarded as a villain of the Torah on par with Lavan in Genesis. But like Lavan, a careful reading of the text paints a different picture. The story opens with Balak, the king of Moab gathering his cousins in Amon to brainstorm how to defeat the Israelites after their rec...

Last chapter saw the decree that Moshe would not lead the people into Canaan. Abarbanel’s explanation followed Moshe’s growing impatience with the people and ultimately God’s decision that Moshe was not the leader the people needed to enter Canaan. Besides Abarbanel’s opinion that Moshe was at his wits end, there may be another reason why God decided that Moshe was not the leader the people needed...

Why was Moshe not allowed to enter Canaan? The simple answer is that God commanded Moshe to speak to the rock and instead not only did he hit the rock like he did in Exodus 17, but this time Moshe to hit the rock twice. Water eventually flows, but God tells Moshe “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congr...

“This is a chok that God has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid.” (verse 1 — זֹאת חֻקַּת ה' אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה' לֵאמֹר דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה אֲשֶׁר אֵין־בָּהּ מוּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָלָה עָלֶיהָ עֹל). The rabbis instituted extraordinary safe...

Chapter 18 begins with the now oft repeated pronouncement that the kohamin and the Leviim are holy for God. At first this chapter seems to repeat what the Torah has dictated many times before- that the kohanim work in the Mishkan and the Leviim help as well. But this time when God explains that the Leviim and kohanim do not get any land, God also dictates the special gifts that they should receive...

Chapter 17 can be split into two parts- the first is God’s instruction to Elazar and Aaron concerning the incense pans and incense and the second is the test with Aaron and his staff. What is the message of these two events after the Korach rebellion? If Korach and his coconspirators, including the 250 leaders were all killed either by the earthquake or by the fire, why is there a need for these t...

National murmuring turns into outright rebellion in chapter 16 with Korach and his crew directly confronting Moshe. Their question is simple- why is Moshe the leader? Our questions are also simple: Why are they bringing this all up now? Perhaps they are motivated by a combination of a doomed generation and seeing Moshe throw up his hands in the face of constant complaining. (This motivation is vin...

Numbers 14 was a devastating chapter. The entire nation finds out that they will not be entering the land for forty years until almost all of the adults pass away. After such an emotional tour de force chapter 15 discusses… more sacrifices? Sacrifices given by converts? A single incident of someone gathering sticks on shabbat? Tzitzit? Why are all of these topics mixed together now? The answer beg...

Chaos reigns in the Israelite camp following the report of the spies. The people are distraught, and Moshe and Aaron are besides themselves. The only ones trying to rally the people are Yehoshua and Calev. Moshe is able to rally, but his argument to save the people is more of a guilt trip to God than a defense of the masses. Ultimately, God decides to punish the people by decreeing a 40-year sojou...

Every single one of the spies is new to the text except for one- Yehoshua. After the text lists all twelve spies, it adds “Those were the names of the participants whom Moses sent to scout the land; but Moses changed the name of Hosea son of Nun to Joshua” (verse 16). אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לָתוּר אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה לְהוֹשֵׁעַ בִּן־נוּן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ׃ (Numbers 13:1...

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had taken [into his household as his wife]: ‘He took a Cushite woman!’ וַתְּדַבֵּר מִרְיָם וְאַהֲרֹן בְּמֹשֶׁה עַל־אֹדוֹת הָאִשָּׁה הַכֻּשִׁית אֲשֶׁר לָקָח כִּי־אִשָּׁה כֻּשִׁית לָקָח׃ (Numbers 12:1) Why were Aaron and Miriam gossiping about Moshe’s wife? Rashi explains that the word Cushite does not mean that Moshe married someo...

After the high of chapter 10, chapter 11 starts the low point of Numbers. The people start complaining and Moshe loses patience. Much of this chapter seems like repeats of earlier episodes in the Torah. 1) Complaining. The people complain that they have no meat and they fondly remember the food in Egypt. This is a repeat of the complaint in Exodus 16 when the people complained to Moshe about not h...

The building drama of the first ten chapters has reached its zenith. The people are counted. The camp is organized. The Levites carry the Mishkan. The trumpets fashioned and ready to call out. The cloud lifts from the Mishkan and Moses asks his father-in-law to accompany the people for the homes stretch (he declines). And then the dramatic song: “When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Advan...

The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: וַיְדַבֵּר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר׃ (2) Let the Israelite people offer the Passover sacrifice at its set time: וְיַעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַפֶּסַח בְּמֹעֲדוֹ׃ (3) Yo...