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The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Category: Behaalotecha

Taking Inclusion Seriously

by Eliezer Weinbach
Posted on June 16, 2022

How should we respond when there are those in our community who tell us that they feel excluded? In this week’s parsha Beha’alotcha, two people explain that they were tamei meit at the time of the Korban Pesach, and were therefore unable to bring it (Num 9:6).…

Is Inclusion a Jewish Value?

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 27, 2021

Is inclusion a Jewish value? The answer seems obvious. God enjoins the Israelites, “You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike” (Leviticus 24:22). Those who might otherwise be at the margins of society are to be equal members. My wife, however, hates the word “inclusion.”…

Says Who?

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on June 8, 2017

When we make important decisions in our lives, what thought process do we go through?  For most of us, it probably involves asking a series of questions, such as: “Is this what I truly want?”; “Am I doing this for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons?”;…

A Lesson in Listening

by Dr. Michelle Friedman, MD
Posted on November 7, 2016

In this week’s portion we come across a striking word usage that occurs only twice in Torah, both times in Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers. The phrase changes slightly, Lama nigara, lama yigara, translated as “Why should we/it be lessened/diminished,” and is found in what appears to be two disparate stories.…

From the Hatzotzrot (Ch. 10) to Yaaleh Veyavo: The Sources of Our Tefillot in Numbers

by Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
Posted on November 1, 2016

Bemidbar Ch. 12: Was Moses’ Prophecy Unique?

by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom
Posted on October 27, 2016

Holy War

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on August 15, 2016

Now in the third parasha of Bamidbar, the Children of Israel have not moved since the middle of Shemot. God has descended upon Mount Sinai, proclaimed the Ten Commandments, laid the civil laws before all, and commanded the building of the Mishkan and its attendant laws.…

The Great Significance of the Smallest Book of the Torah

by Rabbi Avi Weiss
Posted on May 25, 2016

The words we recite when taking the Torah from the Ark are found in this week’s portion. “And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward, that Moshe (Moses) said ‘rise up O Lord and let Your enemies be scattered; and let them that hate You flee before You'” (Numbers 10:35).…

The Enormous Importance of the Spiritual Consciousness

by Rabbi Avi Weiss
Posted on May 19, 2016

In this week’s parsha, God tells Moshe (Moses) that a person (ish) who is impure because of contact with a dead body (tameh lanefesh) or too far away from Jerusalem (derekh rehoka) is given a second chance to eat the paschal lamb (Numbers 9:10-11).…

Giving Torah Meaning

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on June 4, 2015

After the camps are arranged around the Mishkan in Parashiyot Bamidbar and Nasso, the camp moves forward, beginning its trek through the desert in Parashat Behaalotecha. At the onset of the journey, two verses are set off from the rest of the text: “va’yehi binsoa ha’aron,” “And it was when the Ark would journey…,” and “u’vinukho yomar,” “And when it rested, he said…” (Bamidbar, 10:35-36). These…

A Thought on the Parsha

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 23, 2013

After the arranging of the camps around the Mishkan, in parashat Bamidbar and Nasso, our parasha, parashat Biha’alotkha, sees the camp moving forward and the beginning of the trek through the desert.   At the opening of this trek, two verses are set off from the rest of the text – va’yehi binsoa ha’aron, “And it was when the Ark would journey…”, u’vinukho yomar, “And when it rested, he said…” (Bamidbar 10:35-36). …

A Thought on the Parsha

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on June 8, 2012

The Children of Israel have divided themselves into camps, dedicated the Mishkan, and arranged themselves around the Mishkan, so that God, both literally and figuratively, now “dwells in their midst.” The time has come, in this week’s parasha, to decamp and move forward.…