Parshat Bamidbar always falls out on a Shabbat before the holiday of Shavuot.

One of the
reasons this occurs is to avoid reading Parshat Bechukotai, which contains the Tochacha, on the
Monday and Thursday that precede Shavuot. Shavuot is a time when Hashem judges the fruits of
the trees, and we always try not to mention anything unfavorable during a time of judgment. So,
instead, we break the connection between Bechukotai and Shavuot with the Parsha of Bamidbar.
However, I would like to suggest that there may also be a positive connection between Parshat
Bamidbar and the holiday of Shavout.
Before we try to find a correlation between Bamidbar and Shavuot, let us ask one more
question. The majority of our Parsha deals with the counting of the Bnei Yisrael and the
arrangement of the Shevatims encampments by their flags. Why is Am Yisrael being told how to
arrange themselves in the desert now? Why were they not given their positions when they left
Egypt?
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky asks our second question and writes that the whole idea of
arranging a separate flag for each of the tribes was bound to create divisiveness, contention, and
jealousy between them. Each of the tribes would quarrel and try to understand why they had not
received what their neighbor had received. So, in order to avoid these kind of arguments, Hashem
decided to wait until the establishment of the Mishkan to assign flags to each of the Shevatim.
Through the establishment of the Mishkan in the center of the encampments, each of the tribes
understood that their responsibilities were unique and necessary for general viability of the Kahal.
All the jobs and tasks that Hashem assigned were equal in holiness. With their thoughts centered
on the Mishkan, Bnei Yisrael would see that all jobs and positions were necessary and important in
the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
As long as Am Yisrael was grounded and focused by a spiritual goal (which was the
Mishkan), jealousy and divisiveness among neighbors could be avoided. Rav Kamenetsky
compares this to the human body. Our eyes were created to see and our ears were created to hear.
Does it even enter our minds to say that there would be rivalry between them? Never! Each part of
the body fulfills its mission and necessary task. The same holds true for our nation. Each member
has his or her equally respectable task within Klal Yisrael.
Reflecting on this message before Shavuot is a crucial excersize for all Jews. To recreate the
experience at Har Sinai, we must unify around the Torahs holy and spiritual mission to uplift and
sanctify the world. When the Torah tells us that we stood at Har Sinai KIsh Echad BLev Echad
like one man with one heart, the Torah may be saying that just like one man has many different
body parts with each function in its own unique way, so too there are many different types of Jews
who will bear a unique function within the nation. And the one heart of our people represents our
one desire to fulfill Hashems purpose for the world. At Har Sinai there were no Sephardic,
Ashkenazic, Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jews. We were all simply Jews who were
dedicating our lives to the Torah and its commandments. We did not allow our egos and self-
interests to get in the way of our service of Hashem. We just did what Hashem wanted because it
was what He wanted.
May this Shabbat and Shavuot bring all Jews together under one flag and banner. And may
we see Mashiach speedily in our days. Amen!
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A publication of YULA Boys High School
Likutei Ohr
Much of what we know about Tefillah coms from Chanah, the mother of the prophet Shmuel. During Chanahs encounter with
Eyli the Kohen Gadol she states, "I am the woman who stood with you here, praying to God" (Shmuel I 1:26). Yet, Chanah was the only
one praying; why then would the high priest also stand with her? After all, he was not praying, so he did not need to stand!
The fact the Eyli was standing led the Chachamim to infer that when someone is Davening nearby "It is forbidden to sit within
four cubits (about six feet) of the one who is praying" (Brachot 31b). But why should one person's prayer require those nearby to stand?
Rav Avraham Kook answers that unlike Torah study, which is done through the mind, Tefillah is a service preformed through the
heart. Although humans cannot be affected by a persons thoughts, they can by affected by the moods and emotions of others. A person
Davening with extreme care and Kavana can greatly impact those around him. By sitting, instead of standing, next to one who is praying,
one shows that he is impervious to the passionate and important service to Hashem. We must therefor be careful of how we treat others
Davening around us, so that we not only give them the respect they deserve but also so we might be able to be inspired by there Tefillot.
"e#$ah Gems
%osef Petlak 17
Parshat Bamidbar
Unite or Untie: It Is About Where You Put the I Mr. Joey Small
The Flame of
Our
Ancestors
Verbal oppression is
worse than monetary
oppression
- R Shimon Bar
Yochai
Volume III : Issue IX
The Pamphlet of Light
%ULA Boys High School Nagel Family Campus 9760 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035 Tel: 310.203.3180
Keep Up the Count
Aaron Keller 17
Its All About Location Eitan Lavian 17
Parshat Bamidbar begins with Hashem asking Moshe to count and divide all of Bnei Yisrael except for the Leviim and men
under 20 years of age. The reason the Leviim were excluded from the count was because they were not forced to work in Egypt. The
Leviim were specially designated to be the guardians of the Mishkan and would be in charge of moving it. Along with this job came the
command for them to camp in the area immediately next to the Mishkan. The other Shevatim would camp farther out on the four sides
of the Mishkan
In the description of the Mishkan, the Pasuk starts off by saying that Moshe, Aharon, and the rest of their family lived on the
east side of the Mishkan. The tribes of Yehudah, Yissachar, and Zevulun made the right choice by moving next to Moshe and his family,
for as the Midrash Tanchuma writes, Fortune is a Tzaddik and fortune is his neighbor. But how did simply being neighbors with the
righteous family of Moshe and Aharon turn these three tribes into Tzaddikim? Apparently, the proximity to these great leaders of Klal
Yisrael to these tribes allowed these Shevatim to regularly engage in Torah learning with the Gedolei HaDor, which turned the members
of these tribes into great scholars in their own rights.
This episode teaches us a powerful lesson. When one is in a Torah environment he will almost automatically be influenced in
a good way. However, when Jews are not in Torah environments, they will be influenced negatively. As is written in the Talmud, Woe
to the wicked and woe to his neighbors. This adage played to the detriment of the tribe of Reuven who lived next to the children of
Kehat on the south end of the encampment. Kehats descendants influenced the tribe of Reuven to rebel against the Torah and Bnei
Yisrael with the evil Korach, who was from Kehat. What we can learn from this story is that one should always be in a Torah
environment, for he will always be engaged in Torah like the tribes of Yehudah, Issachar, and Zebulon were. If one is not in a Torah
environment, then he will face the same problems that the tribe of Reuven did. May we all always have the Zechut of being in a Torah
environment so that we can continue to be influenced by the great scholars of our time.
If a person is taking off his Tallit during
Davening with the intent to put it right back on (i.e. if he
was using the restroom), then he does not need to recite
a new Bracha when he dons the Tallit a second time. If
he took it off to end his Davening but then realized he
still needed to wear it, he must make another Bracha.
The same concept applies to Tzitzit. Similarly, if one
thought he was done eating but then eats more soon
after, he must make a new blessing on the food.
If a person sleeps in his Tzitzit, does he need to
say a Bracha on them in the morning? The Halacha
depends on whether Tzitzit is a Mitzvah at night or not.
If the Tzitzit is not a Mitzvah at night, then one needs a
new blessing as he is preforming a new Mitzvah. If
Tzitzit is a Mitzvah at night, then he is continuing the
Mitzvah and does not need a new Bracha.
The Rambam says that wearing Tzitzit at night
is not a Mitzvah. The Rosh, however, says that the
discussion depends on what the person is wearing. If
he is wearing daytime clothing, then even at night, he
has an obligation to wear Tzitzit. If he is wearing
nighttime clothing, then he does not need to wear
Tzitzit. The way one could balance these two opinions
is that, if one were wearing daytime clothing at night,
he could put on Tzitzit without a Bracha.
Another question is if one was not wearing his
Tzitzit while napping, does he need to make a Bracha on
them when he wakes up? We answer that he should put
them back on without a Bracha. A way to get around
this issue is to drape the Tzitzit over ones self while
asleep.
Halachic Illuminations
From Rabbi Nachum Sauer
Compiled By Jesse Hyman 16
In this weeks Parsha, Moshe is commanded to count Bnei Yisrael for
the second time. The first time was in the first year after Yom Kippur when
people donated Shekalim for the construction of the Mishkan. This counting
took place in the second year after Yetziat Mitzraim on Rosh Chodesh Iyar.
In both counts, the result was identical 603,550 people between
the ages of 20 and 60. Thus, the following question arises: How is it possible
that both counts were identical? Surely, there were 19 year olds that turned
twenty in between the two counts? According to Rashi, we count a persons
age from the beginning of the year, meaning Tishrei. Even though it was the
second year from Yetziat Mitzraim, the number was not affected. According
to this opinion, both counts did not include the Leviim. The Ramban has a
different approach. He says the lack of numerical deviation was because the
Leviim were counted in the first count but not in the second. Yet, in the
second count, the 19 years olds turned twenty, which evened out the final
count making the ultimate results of both counts equal.
The Ramban asks, based on Rashis explanation, how it could be
that nobody died between the two counts? To support this question, he
brings the following verse: There were men who were ritually
unclean (Bamidbar 9:6). From this we understand that there were dead
people, who made some men impure.
The Malbim explains Rashis position by saying that Hashem
promised that no one would die because of the donations at the first
counting. Then, the Malbim brings down a Gemara in Massechet Sukkah on
Daf 25, where Rav Yitzchak states that the people who were impure were the
people who had nobody to bury them. The Malbim explains that this refers
to the converts, who were not counted. Yet, no one who had been born into
Bnei Yisrael had died because of the promise of There will not be an illness
among you (Shemot 30:12). Therefore, none of the counted members of Klal
Yisrael actually died.
The Malbim asks on Rashi, what the purpose of the count was? If
the counts were in the same year, and no one died, then of course both
counts would be identical! The Malbim explains that there were multiple
changes in Am Yisrael between the two counts, and that is why the second
count was needed. In this second count, the purpose of the count was not
merely for demographic reasons; rather the count allowed the Shechinah
dwell among Klal Yisrael.