Bamidbar – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

אלה תותדות אהרן ומשה

These are the offspring of Moshe and Aharon. (3:1)

The pasuk opens by stating that the following are the offspring of both Moshe and Aharon, but fails to mention Moshe’s children. Indeed, the Talmud Sanhedrin 19b wonders why the sons of Aharon HaKohen are considered to be the sons of Moshe Rabbeinu as well. This teaches, explain Chazal, that one who teaches his friend’s children Torah is considered as if he had begotten them. Since Moshe taught Torah to Aharon’s sons, he is considered to have been their spiritual father. The text of the Talmud is: Kol ha’melamed es ben chaveiro Torah, maaleh alav ha’kasuv k’ilu yoldo – “As…

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וחנו בני ישראל איש על מחנהו ואיש על דגלו לצבאותם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Bamidbar

Bnei Yisrael shall encamp, every man at his camp and every man at his banner. (1:52)

The Torah goes into a lengthy discourse concerning the significance and specific order of the degalim, flags/banners, under which each tribe encamped. The people are admonished concerning their adherence towards honoring the protocols and parameters of the degalim. Each tribe was to remain within the boundary of his area of encampment as signified by his banner. Indeed, we find earlier, in Parashas Emor (Vayikra 24:10), that the blasphemer’s original complaint was based upon the fact that he was not permitted to pitch his tent within the area designated for the Tribe of Dan. Likewise, we find specific protocols within the…

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פקד את בני לוי לבית אבתם... כל זכר מבן חדש ומעלה תפקדם. ויפקד אתם משה על פי ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Bamidbar

Count the sons of Levi according to their father’s household… every male from one month of age and up shall you count them. Moshe counted them according to the word of Hashem. (3:15,16)

Perhaps the infants of Shevet Levi were precocious, but they certainly did not perform the service in the Sanctuary at the age of thirty-days old. Horav Moshe Feinstein, zl, explains that the members of other tribes were occupied with guarding and working the land. Thus, they were unable to devote as much time to their children’s education as were the Leviim. Therefore, they were counted when they reached the age of twenty years. When they were still young, it was difficult to know if they would achieve the spiritual level required to represent the nation. At age twenty, the way…

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שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Bamidbar

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael, according to their families, according to their fathers’ household, by number of the names. (1:2)

What is the significance of the counting of the people by their names? Ramban explains this practically. It was a great honor to be presented before Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen and state one’s name as a form of introduction. In his commentary to Sefer Shemos 1:1, Sforno explains the delineation of the individual names of each of the sons of Yaakov Avinu, while the names of the rest of the seventy members of the family which descended to Egypt are not detailed. Those who are mentioned were worthy to be named, for each one was worthy of his name,…

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ויתילדו על משפחתם לבית אבותם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Bamidbar

And they established their genealogy according to their families, according to the household of their fathers. (1:18)

The count was carried out according to tribe. Thus, it was required for everyone to establish his tribal lineage, either by written documentation or by the testimony of witnesses. Lineage was important in order to determine exactly where each individual belonged. Pedigree, however, should not become the barometer for judging people, for promoting success, for determining an individual’s potential or position. Success is earned; it is an achievement for which one toils, for which one must be personally worthy. “Surprisingly,” there are people who do not have yichus, exceptional pedigree. They are simple, regular, common people, who do what is…

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ואתכם יהיו איש איש למטה איש ראש לבית אבתיו הוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Bamidbar

And with you shall be one man from each tribe; a man who is a leader of his father’s household. (1:4)

The Kli Yakar sees a redundancy in this pasuk: “One man from each tribe; a leader of his father’s household.” Being the appointed one of each tribe is quite a distinctive position. Why is it necessary to add that he be a leader of his father’s household? In his Toras Chaim, Horav Chaim Toyto, Shlita, explains this in his inimitable manner – with two stories. It is related that when the venerable Kotzker Rebbe, Horav Menachem Mendel, zl, was a young boy, a fire broke out in his hometown. In those days, houses were made of wood; thus, they were…

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איש אל דגלו באתות לבית אבותם יחנו בני ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Bamidbar

Bnei Yisrael shall encamp, each man by his banner, according to the insignias of their fathers’ household. (2:2)

Klal Yisrael was to travel as a collective group in formation, three tribes, each with a distinctively colored banner/flag representative of its individual characteristic. Each triumvirate group was led by a designated tribe. Each tribal banner was the same color as its corresponding stone on the Breastplate, Choshen, of the Kohen Gadol. Their positions around the Mishkan were to be the same as those designated by Yaakov Avinu for his sons when they were to escort his coffin for burial. This is what is meant by ossos l’bais avosam, “According to the insignias of their fathers’ household.” This idea is…

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איש על דגלו באתת לבית אבותם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Bamidbar

Each man by his banner, according to the insignias of their fathers’ household. (2:2)

Each tribe received a designated spot around the Mishkan. At first, Moshe Rabbeinu was concerned that a dispute might arise between the tribes. Quite possibly, each individual tribe had its own idea concerning its placement. Hashem told Moshe that he need not worry. The tribes knew their place, understanding that the configuration determined by their Patriarch, Yaakov Avinu, would apply now as well. The tribes accepted their grandfather’s decision; what he had decided hundreds of years earlier was still applicable today. How are we to understand this? The tribe that might question Moshe’s decision could just as well question Yaakov’s…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Bamidbar

Bnei Yisrael shall encamp, each man by his banner, according to the insignias of their fathers’ household, at a distance surrounding the Ohel Moed shall they encamp. (2:2)

The words mineged, which is usually defined as “opposite,” and saviv, which means “surrounding,” contrast one another. Were the Jews opposite the Ohel Moed, or were they camped surrounding it? Veritably, these terms complement one another, as explained by Horav Chaim Toyto, Shlita, with the following story. An observant physician from Germany decided that he wanted to visit the blossoming Torah world of Lithuanian Jewry. After all, he was a frum, observant, doctor who meticulously adhered to all the mitzvos. He wanted to see what about Lithuanian yeshivah life differed from his lifestyle. One can imagine the culture shock when…

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ואתכם יהיו איש איש למטה איש ראש לבית אבתיו הוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Bamidbar

And with you shall be one man from each tribe; a man who is a leader of his father’s household. (1:4)

The Kli Yakar sees a redundancy in this pasuk: “One man from each tribe; a leader of his father’s household.” Being the appointed one of each tribe is quite a distinctive position. Why is it necessary to add that he be a leader of his father’s household? In his Toras Chaim, Horav Chaim Toyto, Shlita, explains this in his inimitable manner – with two stories. It is related that when the venerable Kotzker Rebbe, Horav Menachem Mendel, zl, was a young boy, a fire broke out in his hometown. In those days, houses were made of wood; thus, they were…

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אלה תותדות אהרן ומשה

These are the offspring of Moshe and Aharon. (3:1)

וחנו בני ישראל איש על מחנהו ואיש על דגלו לצבאותם

Bnei Yisrael shall encamp, every man at his camp and every man at his banner. (1:52)

פקד את בני לוי לבית אבתם... כל זכר מבן חדש ומעלה תפקדם. ויפקד אתם משה על פי ד'

Count the sons of Levi according to their father’s household… every male from one month of age and up shall you count them. Moshe counted them according to the word of Hashem. (3:15,16)

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael, according to their families, according to their fathers’ household, by number of the names. (1:2)

ויתילדו על משפחתם לבית אבותם

And they established their genealogy according to their families, according to the household of their fathers. (1:18)

ואתכם יהיו איש איש למטה איש ראש לבית אבתיו הוא

And with you shall be one man from each tribe; a man who is a leader of his father’s household. (1:4)

איש אל דגלו באתות לבית אבותם יחנו בני ישראל

Bnei Yisrael shall encamp, each man by his banner, according to the insignias of their fathers’ household. (2:2)

איש על דגלו באתת לבית אבותם

Each man by his banner, according to the insignias of their fathers’ household. (2:2)

Bnei Yisrael shall encamp, each man by his banner, according to the insignias of their fathers’ household, at a distance surrounding the Ohel Moed shall they encamp. (2:2)

ואתכם יהיו איש איש למטה איש ראש לבית אבתיו הוא

And with you shall be one man from each tribe; a man who is a leader of his father’s household. (1:4)

YEARS

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