THE TEST

Parashat Bamidbar

Iyar 29, 6783 / May 19-20, 2023

Torah: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Haftarah: 1 Samuel 20:18-42 (Machar Chodesh)
 
Shavuot - Sivan 6-7, 5783 / May 25-27, 2023
Torah (Day 1): Exodus 19:1 - 20:23
         (Day 2): Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17
Maftir (both days): Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah (Day 1): Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12
             (Day 2): Habakkuk 2:20 - 3:19

Additional reading: Book of Ruth

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my beloved father, Martin Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Saturday, May 27 (Sivan 7). Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing.
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my beloved grandfather, Jacob Slome, whose yahrzeit falls on Sunday, May 28 (Sivan 8). Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing
 
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live.
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. 
On May 23, we'll be at BT Shabbat 77b, page 158 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "...אמר רב יהודה אמר רב כל מה שברא" - "R. Juda in the name of Rab said...” 

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at:
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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THE TEST

“The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after their exodus from the land of Egypt, saying...” Numbers 1:1

This parashah, and the book of the Torah named for it, is called “Numbers” in English. But in Hebrew, it is “Bamidbar”, which means “in the wilderness”. The census taken in this parashah, the numbering, is done in the wilderness. The wilderness is a fearful place, with dangers both physical and spiritual. It is a place to be tested, to stand up and be counted.

The Numbering of the Israelites, as in Numbers 1, engraving by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815–1884)

 
The giving of the Torah will be commemorated on the holiday of Shavuot next week. In the Midrash, Bamidbar Rabbah, it is taught that the Torah was given in fire, in water and in the desert. In a sense, this wasteland where our ancestors ultimately will spend 40 years, serves as a forge. Just as a sword is hammered and shaped, plunged into fire and water and sand, and tested for durability, so were the Israelites.
 
Often, people having a life cycle event, whether a bar/bat mitzvah, wedding, graduation, or even a divorce or a death, feel they have passed a test. While that may be true, it is not the end, but the beginning. Now it is time to do something positive with the test results, and more especially with the knowledge and experience by which the passing grade was accomplished. It is life itself that is the ultimate test. And the Torah, given to our ancestors and to us, is the study guide.
 
Good luck on your exams!
 
Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Sivan Tov! Chag Shavuot Sameach!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1 
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