Beginning: Bamidbar | Rabbi Shmuel Gordin | May 12 2026

Bam Midbar is a fascinating book and a very difficult book from a certain perspective. It let's understand that it covers the period of time from the beginning of our preparations to leaving Hari through our arrival at Arvote Moav and the preparations for Moshe's death. Now, that means that the 40-year period of wandering in the desert is supposed to be covered by this book. It disappears. It's not there. When we get to Paras Korak, we'll see that Korak occurs at the beginning of the 40 years. And then when we get to Paras will be at the end of the 40 years, and the 40-year period will disappear. We'll talk about that then. The book itself however follows the following pattern. Everything from the departure from Hareni which is supposed to be that's the first turning point of the book. So in other words we're leading to the departure from Hareni. We depart from Hareni. Everything follows until we get to the sin of the spies. And that's the second turning point of the book. So you have two turning points. The first one is supposed to be majestic. The first one is supposed to be filled with promise. We'll see that that's not the case in actuality. And the second, of course, is a sorrowful turning point. It's the sin of the spies. It's the actually the the end point of a cascading series of failures that follows our departure from Arseni. We always read safer bidbar or begin safer bidbar on the shabas before shàuote. And the question is why? It's counterintuitive. Bidbar at least the beginning as we said chronicles our preparations for the departure from Harai. Shvuote will will what? Will celebrate our arrival at Harai. Why are we reading of the moment of departure as we prepare to celebrate our arrival? The answer lies, I believe, in understanding what is the most important moment of harina or revelation of matan tora. The most important moment. Well, I'll ask you, what was the most important moment? >> Hashem. >> Seeing Hashem, right? Right. see and hearing the ten commandments, seeing the thunder and the lightning and all of that. Correct. I disagree. The moment of the moment the the most important moment of hari is the moment we leave because the moment we leave will determine the effect of all that came before. Right? So everything will be the value of what happens at Hareni is determined at the moment of our departure. So therefore we're reading of our departure before we arrive to perhaps it's it's maybe it's a coincidence but I would argue that perhaps what our tradition is trying to teach us is that the mo most important moment of our of what we're arriving at will be our departure. And what we need to understand and this is an example of the issues with safer bam midbar. The ramban says for example is his introduction to the safher. He says this is a safer. This is a book that deals with the issues that occurred during the desert wanderings and has very few mitzvot if any and doesn't seem to be relevant to our lives. And yet the de as an example the departure from harinai shows us how Bob Midbar can be relevant. Was the departure from hari successful? What would you say? >> What? I'm sorry. >> They didn't want to leave. >> They didn't want to leave Hari. Okay. But was it a successful event? So the answer is temporarily no because temporally specifically at that moment of time the departure from Hari led to a series of failures led to one failure after another after another until we get to the sin of the spies and when we get to the sin of the spies that determines that this group can't even go into Erits cananan kazal say that when We depart. We depart. We depart like a child, an infant running away from school. In other words, temporally, our departure from Hari is not successful. However, across time, we wouldn't be here if we hadn't departed Hari. Right? In other words, the departure from Hareni in a continual from a continual perspective from an eternal perspective was very successful. It created tarsi and matan tora created and forged the final point that will determine our identity as a nation. Right? We said that national identity of the Jewish people is forged through two events through Mitraim and Matan Torah. So departing Hari we become a nation that will last across time and we we shouldn't take that for granted. It's an amazing thing when you think about it, isn't it? It's amazing that you and I are sitting here. It's amazing not just that we're inherit. It's amazing that we identify each other as Jews. It's an amazing miraculous truth that is based upon Akesh Baraku's help and our efforts. Think about it. I think I've told you my sh at Englewood we had a spartic we had a sphartic wing. We have a sphartic wing which has its own felot and is part of the whole community. They have an assistant rabbi of for the community who is Svarik who works with them and periodically members of my Ashkanazic community would go into the Spardik minion to see what it was like and they they some of them were very attracted to it because of its emotional nature. And so many of them would come back to me and say, "Rabbi, it's so different." And I would turn to them and say, "No, you you don't understand. The miracle is that it's so much the same. The miracle is we're saying the same schma. We're basically saying the same amida. We're basically following the same structure of prayer. And we haven't been in touch with each other for centuries, right? And now when the walls come down in our time, we recognize each other as Jews. It's not always easy. And sometimes we argue whether they're really Jews or we're really Jews or whatever, the Ethiopians, the the whatever. There's always issues, right? But I I remember when one time I had a a wonderful president from Memphis in my show and he and I were sitting in a room meeting with the leaders of the Sardic Minion and I turned to him and he was white as a ghost. They were screaming at each other and yelling at each other and screaming at and then I said, "Don't worry, Jeffrey. This is just the way they talk." All right. And sure enough, when the meeting was over, they were hugging each other. It was like nothing had happened. So, we we So, we come from very different places and we've picked up some very different things. Walk down the street and look at the people you meet. We've Has has the outside world impacted on us? Yes, we've had to deal with that gartoh of balance. We're part of the community, but we're separate from the community. It would have been much easier to just go off and be hermits. But we were part of the world all the time. We contributed to every society and every society threw us out and we went to another society and we contributed there and then they threw us out and then we went to another. Unfortunately, that's been our history. But the fact that we're when I when I took a sh trip to we went at one point to Rome and the the person who was leading us by the arch of Titus was not a Jewish guide was a non-Jewish Italian guide. And we stopped and we were talking about the Arch of Titus and what it represents. It's the arch that was built after the Jews were exiled from is from Israel from by the Romans after the tragic tragic events. And I stopped at what after he made his presentation. I said, "Okay, I want you to stop now and I want you to understand what this moment represents." And I spoke to them about one particular person who at that moment played a major role in ensuring our survival. And that was Rabi Yohan Ben Zakai who really took Judaism to the next step at a moment when it was was temple-based and at a moment the temple was about to be destroyed. He turned it into a hal he made sure that it would become a halahically based society because that would transcend time. After I finished that guide turned to to my group and he said I'm in amazement. He said I live here. I'm an Italian. I see these Roman runes. I'm not a Roman. I don't see myself as a descendant of these people, right? I They were an empire. They're empires no more. I I don't know where my parents where my grand greatgrandparents came from. I I cannot trace myself back to these people. No one can because they can't I no one can say I'm really you know what I'm a descendant from Achil Achilles the Greek. All right. Or I'm a descendant from uh Despasian the Roman. No one can say that because they they did not maintain their identity. You you you you people. He said you maintained this identity across time. I'm in amazement and it's amazing. Sometimes you have to hear other people's looking at us to understand how miraculous it is. I think Mark Twain has a beautiful paragraph. I don't have it. I wish I had it now. where he where he speaks about the Jews being this unusual people that should have been a bright light and and extinguished and that continued to burn across time and uh something we should never take for granted. So when we enter Bidbar that's the challenge to look at events that are taking place that on the surface seem to be limited to that time and place but see them not only in terms of that time and place but to see them in terms of their eternal or ongoing importance and as an example the departure from our seni now let's take a look at the beginning the beginning of the page All right, we dealt with the first few points. Let's go to the preparations. So, we open up Bidenbar and we face two sets of preparations, both of which are about to put us to sleep, right? The first is a census, right? God commands Mosher Rabenu to conduct a census of the Jews prior to the departure from Hari. Number one. The second is the setup of the camp. various various deolim in various places where each tribe whi which group this tribe was part of which group that tribe was part of and we sort of say hold on we're opening this book it why are you what what is the significance for us of all of these two sections these two sections that speak to us of the departure from hari so the first is the census So if you take a look for example at the at the p first page you find the rashbam the rashbam says that the purpose of the census was to prepare for war we were let's remember when we left hareni what was the plan direct entry into cananan we were we were going to go from harreni we were going to go into cananan we were going to come up from the negv etc. etc. The sin of the spies changed that right tragically. So that we are counting he said the age warrior age males because we want to know how many there are and we want to know how now what's but that's that seems to be okay that's all right but what's it telling us? It's telling us that Akadesh Barak who is saying to us now what you're gonna have to you're going to have to do this. I'll be there. I'll help you, but I'm not going to save you. You're going to have to fight. You're going to have to work. And you got to prepare. And aim al which is the bot one of the quotes I have for you which is a rabbi say you don't rely on miracles, right? You don't walk out into a a room filled of people with the bubanic plague and say, "I'm God's going to save me." You don't you don't rely on miracles in the world in which we live. It's a partnership. And aeshu is telling us that through the census. He's saying to them, "Get ready for war. Be prepared." And remember when we first left Egypt, the first thing that happened was God, Hashem did not take us through the land of the Pishim because we weren't ready for war. So we've been transformed. We've defeated Amal Lake. We're here at Hari. We're now a nation. We've got pride. We should be able to do this. So that's what's happening according to the Rashbam. If you look at the bottom of the page, the Ramban says something. It's amazing the honesty of the commentaries. Loavos Tom Hamitzvah. I I I really don't know the reason for this census. I mean, we just had a census re recently after the Ael. Why do why are we having another census? So the Ramban says, I you know, I'm not sure. And then on the next page, he offers six ideas. All right? Six potential reasons as to why the census might have taken place. Any of which he says could be, but he's not sure that they are. All right. >> This is all from the Ramb. >> This is all from the Ramban. Rambanes page two. He one is the military motivation. two, to demonstrate the kindness bestowed by God upon the nation. They've been transformed from a family who descended to Egypt to a people as numerous as the sands of the sea. In other words, a lot of people now they're a nation. All right? To grant each Israelite, this is interesting, the spiritual benefit of a direct encounter with Moshe and Aaron. In other words, each one of it's like selling your comments to the rabbi. It's one of the few times that everybody meets the rabbi if the way we used to do it. Now we do it online. Now we do it. All right. But the idea being la Moshaaron will get to see you. You'll get to see them because of this census to bestow upon every Israelite the personal respect due to him. All right? In other words, each individual is important. We saw Maxi Sasheko proved that as well which was every individual is significant. We're counting each one because each one is valuable and to ensure proper division of the land. In other words, let's remember we're we're not we don't know that we're going to wander for 40 years in the desert and that another generation is going to enter the land. We're about to enter the land. So, we're doing a census to make sure that we give out the land properly. >> Yes. >> Was saying related to that keep counting something. >> Well, that's part he that's Rashi's number three on the Ramban is sort of Rash's point and which is that God is cherishing the nation and you but if you cherish the people or cherish something you'll count it you'll see what's there. So that that's that's the that happens to be the most often suggested reason. But the Ramban gives all of these reasons. Now let's go from there. We're going to come back to the census as well. But let's go from there to the encampment is after doing the census what God turns to Mosher Abu and says okay now now you you counted the number. Now let's set up the camp. shall dig at the bottom of the page. And here the Ramban does something beautiful. He says the camp was a mirror of Hareni. The Mishkan was the mir was Hareni and the nation is what? Surrounding Hareni at a distance. And he goes through the text on page number three and he shows you see that I have two se two sukim in one two sukim in two two sukim in three. The first sentence in each section is from hari. The second sentence is from now when we're setting up the camp and he shows the similar you know when we were in the states a plane didn't mean much but uh please God everybody should be well all right so anyway that each so he shows a similarity he says what we're do what a kadeshbaru is doing is he's creating a portable scene of hareni and remember heni is marked and we'll we'll if we have time we'll talk about it by standing at a distance and that's what's happening here. Not everybody can go into the to the Mishka. Not everybody can enter certain camps depending upon the situation. We we have our our limitations. And it's summed up beautifully by a German scholar this approach in the late 1900 late 1800s Beno Jacob. He says the following. God moves his presence from the mountain to the Mishkan. From the location sanctified by his hands to the sanctified location built by the Israelites. The sanctuary of Sinai which travels in their midst is the heaven and the vault of the heavens which has been uprooted and lowered to earth. So what what is happening here according to the Ramban and it's beautifully said by Beno Jacob is we're leaving our Senai but we're carrying it with us not only figuratively but literally that's what the camp is meant to be. Okay. So, that's that's a beautiful approach. And now let's back back up. Take a look again at the census and at the um setting of the camp. Each of those particular events is shaped so that it goes back to particular families. In other words, this census is different from ones that came before because not only are you being counted, but you're being counted by the tribe by by the family, etc. And and therefore and and and the the whole setup of the camp with the with the lands is also similar to that. You have c certain tribes here, certain tribes there, certain tribes there. Something's happening there. I think something important. Turn for a moment to the bottom of page number three. No, actually top of Yeah, bottom of page number three. Second to the last paragraph description. When we arrive at Hariimoi, they came to the midbari etc. Van Sham Israel negedar and Israel encamped there against the mountain. So kazal are are are fascinated by the the that that phrase why it's in the singular as opposed to the plural. So they say something which Rashi brings down which everybody quotes very often which is right each the pardon me the encampment consisted of people and and tribes at this one particular moment they were they were together in fact and Rashi goes on to say but this isn't the important part for us right know that that's the only time it happened that that from that moment on every time they arrived anywhere there were there were clear divisions but all right now let's assume for a moment though that harinai is spe supposed to be a unifying experience what's the danger of that the danger is that we could think that unity means uniformity Right? In other words, could become you have to be just like me. I have to be just like you. There's nothing nothing separate. So what's Hashem doing as we leave our Seni as we leave this unifying experience? He's underscoring families, tribes, places here, there, you're there. Why? because it it is to balance to create the balance to say it's unity not uniformity. It's the diversity of the of the of the people that powers it. It's our our differences that can move us to great to great to great accomplishments because everyone can make a different contribution and that's what's happening here. I believe what's happening is as we go from hari hashem is stressing our diversity. It also explains a pasok that we'll have later on in paras Bolock at the turning point of the story of Bolo and Bum. If you remember, Bolock is the king of Moab who hires Bum the sorcerer to curse Ben Israel and he ends up blessing them. There's a turning point for Bum where the Torah says he realized that he couldn't curse them anymore. He couldn't and he on his own started to bless them. And it says that he sees he goes to a high place and he sees Israel show. He sees the people of Israel encamped to their tribes. So everybody says why why did that move him? What what was it that Bum saw that moved him so much? So an answer given by Kazal which is a beautiful answer is he saw that each that the encampment was structured to ensure the privacy of individual families that the openings of the tents did not face each other and therefore and that's a beautiful thought and an important one. We're always looking at someone else's business because we don't want to spend time looking at our own. Right? So here we're ensuring that that the privacy, the modesty exists, but there's another answer. I think it's push maybe I'm wrong. And that is means what we just said. He sees an encampment of a nation that is willing to accept its differences. He sees an encampment of a nation that is balancing the unity and diversity balance properly and that's what moves him that to me that that he's what what does he see that's what he sees. All right. So anyway, go back now and when we start reading Bidbar on Chabis recognize that the census shouldn't put us to sleep that gull shouldn't put us to sleep that these are important events and that they carry with them messages like the part departure from that reverberate across the centuries and are not just specific to that particular time. We're going to go to something else now and this is a very at during the census there's a paragraph that appears that is very troubling. Take a look at page number four. Page number four. [clears throat] These are the what what is tolot? What doesot really mean? Descendants. Right? In other words, well, we often translate it as these are the happenings. This is what hap this they these are the descendants of Moshe and Aon. These are the children of none of you die in that in a fire that consumes them because they did something inappropriate during the time of the sanctification of the Mishkan and and Alzerni summer Alpane Aron served in Aon's lifetime in their What's missing? >> You got it right. Moshe's descendants are not mentioned here. It and and again what's the problem is exas exaggerated because of the fact that it introduces the passage and says these are the descendants of Moshe and Aaron. So >> Aron Mosha okay these are the these are their descendants. Right. So it should should give us their their names. So Kazal will say, well, it comes to show us that Moshe was the teacher of all the Jews and therefore he was a father figure to to these kohan. But that still doesn't answer the omission, right? So I think we just have to take it at face value and it teaches us some things. Number one, it has a positive and a negative connotation. The negative, let's do first. I'd like to get it out of the way, which is maybe Mosha's children didn't deserve to be mentioned, right? And and they in fact they are not mentioned from this point on by name. They they may be referred to in certain it says and they said the rabbis said that Nar ran to tell Moshe something that was one of his children, but it doesn't specify in the text at at any point. and they certainly are not taking any leadership capacity. So negatively it it means that that Mosha's children did not rise to his to his level or take over his job. There is also a puk in in the book of chaft if I reme I think it's in shaft which speaks about an idoltor >> who is ben manash right and the nun is a small nun because rabbis say it's really mohe and the we didn't want to put it there so we have to say it but we'll say it with the small non to let you know that that it's the truth. We we'll take out right in other words, what's happening what's happening is that it could be if we take things at face value that Mosher Rabinu's children not only didn't rise to his challenges but actually descended to some bad levels and it as I say it this is certainly a negative approach. It's it's I'm sad to say that and it's also negative because it teaches us a fundamental truth and that is that the lead the children of leaders are rarely leaders themselves and beyond that the children of people who dedicate their time to the community very often have a hard time because the parents are so busy doing that. So that's why by the way I'm so proud that you have a class by my son. All right. [laughter] So so so we we we can break the rules. But but I do know that many of my colleagues, many of my friends had had this issue had the the issue that their children suffered because of their because of their place and and I I we were we were fortunate that Englewood was kind to my children. It was, you know, they didn't I remember when I was in PTOAC one time, uh, there was a nursery school in the building and my son was playing on Shabas morning and my oldest son in the sandbox where he shouldn't have been. And somebody said to him, you know, you can't do that. He says, you can't tell me what to do. My daddy owns a sh. [laughter] He learned that the sh owns his daddy at some point. All right. But uh but that that was interesting. No. All right. Anyway, so so that it's very important for us to see this and this is again a piece that's emerging during the census that you could easily pass over but the Torah is telling us something. Torah says I'm going to tell you something and then doesn't tell us and that tells us. It's similar by the way to when if you'll remember in the story of it says right said to and they were in the field right and and and we said if you remember that that it would have been uh halal or wouldn't have been as troubling If it would have said because that would mean he had a conversation and the Torah is not but every time it says vom tells me what he says. It's like the English would be cayenne said to heaven blank they were in the field right so what among the answers we gave is that the Torah is omitting what he said because it really doesn't matter no matter what the impetus might have been for what he does there's no excuse for what he does and therefore Torah is telling telling us there may have been some some argument that he had something that he maybe he was lording it over him because God accepted him and not him but no matter what no matter what and I think I told you this I remember I don't remember very often when I give particular sermons I did that sermon about cayenne and he after 911 where we spoke about just no can't inexcusable inexcusable atrocities and that's of course what makes it so sad for us now after we experienced October 7th and already on October 8th they were they were rallying against us really okay anyway get off on a tangent so therefore what we're talking about is looking at the text with two ice looking at the text to see what's happening there then and look at the text particularly in Bidbar look at the text to see what it's trying to teach us that lasted over the centuries now we're going to go we're going to take a turn because we there's a day coming up it's on your page there it's I mentioned it which is very significant for us this week and that is yala it's a it's an interesting phenomenon that uh Rome has become sort of a uh I'm trying to think of what the right word is a point of contention even within the Jewish community right the religious Zionist community as a whole celebrates it as a holiday as a festival and I think we should in fact there are those religious Zionist rabbis leaders who say that is more significant than Yomhat's mode because they feel that Yale is the the getting you the center of our relationship with Akesh Baraku center of our relationship with Akuresh Baraku sorry all right um is is very very more significant even and it's and that it's a complete event as opposed to Yoma which is still unfolding right in other words the fact that we of it is and what we're doing with it that's still unfolding but the fact that we got we reclaimed that in itself was a singular event that it warrants the celebration now let's talk about for a minute where does the name yushim come from do you remember >> comes from two people who are the two people >> Abraham and >> Malited. All right. Now, who is >> Malited? >> Cohen. Malited was a Cohen Leelon and he was Melik Shalain. All right. He called the city that he was in was Shalain. All right. Now, let's talk about Mitedic for a moment. I asked you who he was and you told me who he was, but I want to know really who was he? What what what does he represent? >> Righteous gentile. >> You got it. A righteous gentile. Right. He represents someone who It's amazing. He was a monotheist at Avam's time, not in Aram's orbit. Now, people have trouble with this. They say, "Oh, no. A was the only one." He not not necessarily. The Torah is telling us that there may have been other people who saw were monotheists. I mean, it says Cole maybe he was idolatry was involved. I don't know. But the fact is that that's how how he's portrayed. So he so when the Torah talks about him it says uses the word shaleim as the name of the city at the end of a as a stands on haram after he is spared he looks out and he calls the place which is harabasia he calls it hashem ro it's this is the place and there are different ways to translate it means it's because it's both ways. It's the place where God will be seen. It's the place where we will be seen to God. In other words, we're this is the the central place that we'll we'll have for that for that event for those events. So the medric says the following. God had a problem. The problem was that he didn't know what to name this important city. He said if I name it Yoyah then Malited will be hurt and if I name it Shalame then Abraham will be hurt. So what am I going to do? I'll take the take both names and create the name of the city yro shaleim yushim. Now that many of you know knew this uh but think about what it means. [snorts] If I would have asked you in a you know in a in a in a vacuum if two people were were disagreeing on something and one of them was Abraham Aenu and one of them was a righteous gentile who would you think would win? Right? Side with Abraham. Right? That's not what's happening here. What a bar is doing is he's accepting the approach of Malit as well as the approach of Ara. So therefore it's teaching us a great deal about um G about um what am I think righteous Gentiles? What in Hebrew? What do you say? How do you say it? Um it's it's passing meas. Thank you. I you know some is I are you experiencing this too where every once in a while you just can't get that all right anyway it's teaching us how that are valuable and that God God cherishes them I've think I've told you that I would I would love to be in heaven in the place where the Gentiles who saved Jews during the Holocaust have right in other words not every guy and and unfortunately a lot of in a lot of places in our world children are taught otherwise right the the the right look we have reason for it I mean I just went through our history we went to kicked out one country kicked out one right fine we have reason to to be suspicious of the other or be upset with the other but nonetheless those who are good and those who and they don't have and guess what this makes us a religion that's unlike any other I believe they don't have to believe what we believe right when someone comes to convert you don't have to do this right you can be if you obey the very existence of mitzvot is a statement that if you follow these basic seven principles you will be a righteous gentile And there are today, by the way, there are noites who uh who basically say we we are Old Testament people. We believe we're not Jews. We're Noahites and we obey Noah. So that's that's significant that God is is balancing the concerns of Malitedc with the concerns of Abraham and not dismissing Malited entirely. Now take a look at something else. In addition to this being the balance between Malited and Abraham, those two visions, there are two visions. One is Shalim, one is the vision of Malited, which is a universal significance and one is which, which is a specific significance to us. Which one is? It's both. Can you think of any other city in the world that is as so important to so many faith traditions as you shal right so so therefore what maybe what is saying is that this yro shalem is not just temporal it's not just now but that's what the city will be across time it will be important to you but it will also in its own way be important to others But and this this is I again I can't say it's real. It's it's something I thought of. So y ra comes before shalem. The only time the city can fulfill its destiny as we've seen is when it's in our hands because it's the only time where not only we but everybody else who wants to can can worship the way they want and if and when it's not in our hands then that's not that then then we're outside and others are outside as well. Okay. So when we come to yushim and come to yushim let's realize what we're celebrating and let's realize what the city has meant across time not only temporally at the time that it was named but even now as hashem we should uh celebrate in a unified yushlay for years to come and uh only only only happiness good things all the best be Hell.