Bamidbar 5766

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Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20 )

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GOOD MORNING! Thursday evening, June 1st, begins the two-day holiday of Shavuot (or Shavuos in the Ashkenazic pronunciation). (Yizkor, by the way, is on Shabbat, June 3rd.) It is the anniversary and celebration of the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai to the Jewish people 3,318 years ago. It is a time of rededication and commitment to learning Torah. For lots more about Shavuot, go to http://www.aish.com/holidays/shavuot/default.asp.


Q & A: WHAT IS SHAVUOT AND HOW IS IT CELEBRATED?


The Torah calls Shavuot the "Festival of Weeks" (Numbers 28:26). The very word "Shavuot" is Hebrew for "weeks"; it refers to the seven weeks that one counts from the second day of Passover [when the Omer (barley) offering is brought] until the holiday of Shavuot. It is one of the three Regalim, holidays, (Pesach and Succot are the other two) where every man in the land of Israel was commanded to come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival when the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, stood in Jerusalem.


Torah is the life blood of the Jewish people. Our enemies have always known that when we Jews stop learning Torah, our assimilation is inevitable. Without knowledge there is no commitment. One cannot love what he does not know. A person cannot do or understand what he has never learned.


A Jew is commanded to learn Torah day and night and to teach it to his children. If a Jew wants his family to be Jewish and his children to marry other Jews, then he must integrate a Torah study program into his life and implement the teachings into his home and his being. One can tell his children anything, but only if they see their parents learning and doing mitzvot, will they inherit the love for being Jewish. Remember: a parent only owes his child three things - example, example, example.


How can we utilize this opportunity to grow and strengthen our self-identity as Jews? Just as a baby crawls, then toddles and then walks, likewise with the mitzvot (commandments). A person should undertake one more mitzvah, do it well and then build on it. For some mitzvot that you might enjoy taking on...


Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Read the Torah! The Almighty gave it to you as a gift. It is the instruction book for living - how to be happy, choose the right spouse, make your marriage work, raise your children with values, get more joy out of life. I highly recommend the Artscroll Stone Chumash (Five Books of Moses).


  2. Listen to one Torah tape (call 800-864-2373 for a catalog or to order Aish tapes) or attend one Torah class each month for the next three months. Try 613.org or AishAudio.com ! Or buy a copy of Pirkei Avot, (Ethics of the Fathers), and read one page a day. It's concentrated wisdom about life.


  3. Make sure you have a Kosher mezuzah on at least your front door. (A Jewish home should have mezuzot on all doorposts except for the bathroom). Learn the deep, inner-meaning of mezuzah and reflect on it when you look at the mezuzah. To Be a Jew by Rabbi Hayim Donim nicely explains a lot of things.


  4. Pick one non-kosher food item that you won't eat - just because you're Jewish.


  5. Say the Shema and the three following paragraphs at least once a day. Learn what the words mean and the ideas included. It will change your outlook and attitudes. Artscroll publishes a book on the Shema - or look at the commentary in the Artscroll Siddur. Lisa Aiken's book, Hidden Beauty of the Shema, is spectacular!


  6. Do something to make Shabbat special - light two candles with the blessing before sundown, have a Shabbat Friday night family dinner and make Kiddush and HaMotzei (the prayer before eating the Challahs - the special loaves of bread). You might want to buy Friday Night and Beyond by Lori Palatnik, which is a hands-on guide for the novice wanting to enjoy Shabbat.


The Talmud says, "All beginnings are difficult." If you need help or have questions, please feel free to call me at (305) 535-2474, fax me at (305) 531-9334 or e-mail to: questions@aish.com. For the books or mezuzot, try your local Jewish book store, call toll-free 877-758-3242 or http://www.judaicaenterprises.com.


On Shavuot there is a custom to stay up all night learning Torah. Virtually every synagogue and yeshiva have scheduled learning throughout the night ending with the praying of Shacharit, the morning service. The reason: the morning the Jewish people were to receive the Torah on Mt. Sinai, they overslept. We now can rectify the tendency to give in to our desires by demonstrating our resolve through learning the whole night. It is a wonderful experience to share with your children. It would be wonderful if you could find a synagogue, JCC or yeshiva with a program that night; at very minimum, how about reading the story of the giving of the Torah to your family (Exodus 19:10 -20:23). For more on Shavuos, go to ShabbatShalomAudio.com!


For more on "Shavuos" go to ShabbatShalomAudio.com!












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Torah Portion of the Week
Bamidbar

In the second year of travel in the desert, Moshe and Aharon were commanded by the Almighty to count all male Israelites between 20 and 60. There were 603,550 available for military service. The tribe of Levi was exempt because of their special duties as religious leaders. (It is probably from here that countries give divinity deferments to clergy and divinity students.)


The twelve tribes were directed regarding the formation (three tribes were on each side of the Portable Sanctuary) in which they were to camp and travel.


The 22,300 Levites were commanded in the Sanctuary service. The family of Gershon was to transport the coverings of the Sanctuary. The family of Kehos carried the Ark, Table, Menorah and Altars. The family of Merari transported the boards, pillars, bolts and sockets.


* * *


Dvar Torah
based on Growth Through Torah by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

The Torah states:


"And Moshe counted them according to the word of the Almighty, as He commanded." (Numbers 3:16)


Rashi cites the Midrash that since the Levites were counted from the age of thirty days, Moshe asked the Almighty, "How can I enter the private tents of other people to know how many infants each family has?" The Almighty replied, "You do what is required of you, and I will take care of the rest."


Therefore, when Moshe walked in front of each tent, a Divine voice
announced the number of people who lived in that tent.


Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, former Rosh HaYeshiva (Dean) of the Mir Yeshiva, used to note the importance of observing the principles of derech eretz (proper behavior). Although Moshe had a mitzvah (commandment) to count the people, he felt it was wrong to invade the privacy of the individual. Therefore, the Almighty arranged a supernatural method of counting the Levites. Rav Chaim cited this as he censured people who in trying protest against the behavior of others failed to respect their private property.

A person's privacy is a very important emotional need. Even if a person is not doing anything wrong, he does not want other people to pry into his private matters out of curiosity. Even Moshe, the leader of the people, refrained from entering other people's homes when he felt that this would cause them discomfort or uneasiness. Do not allow your curiosity to cause any suffering to others.

CANDLE LIGHTING - May 26:
(or Go to http://www.aish.com/shabbat/candlelighting.asp)

Jerusalem 7:01
Guatemala 6:08 - Hong Kong 6:42 - Honolulu 6:48
J'Burg 5:06 - London 8:42 - Los Angeles 7:37
Melbourne 4:54 - Mexico City 6:50 - Miami 7:47

New York 7:58 - Singapore 6:50 - Toronto 8:28



QUOTE OF THE WEEK:


Education does not mean teaching people
to know what
they do not know;
it means teaching them to behave
as they do not behave.
-- John Ruskin

In Loving Memory of my father
Avraham ben Natan
-- Nathan Zemel

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