Mann, founder of congregation torat emet in phoenix, writes a weekly dvar torah, but he is not content merely to publish a collection of earlier work. Jewish book of numbers by ronald h isaacs, rabbi alibris. The hebrew title of the book bemidbar, in the desert is more descriptive of its contents. The book of numbers tells a story that has two main characters god and israel. As it does for the rest of the pentateuch, universal jewish and christian tradition attributes the authorship of the book of numbers to moses. Now, their cousins approach moses with a complaint. The portion at the beginning of the book of numbers was not said until iyar.
Numbers in the picture study bible the book of numbers. The beginning of this parashah tells the judgement of phinehas son of eleazar. One has dealt with some particular number, such as seven. Pinechas is the name of the 41st weekly parashah or portion in the annual jewish cycle of torah reading and the eighth in the book of numbers. From this, you learn that there is no chronological order in the torah. These divrei torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of rabbi yissocher frands commuter chavrusah tapes on the weekly portion. Tribal intermarriage and the laws of inheritance the. As such, 10 signifies testimony, law, responsibility and the. The portion of bamidbar is the first in the book of numbers, and opens it with a census. While it is a fairly short distance from egypt to israel, it took the ancient jews 40 years to get there. The book of numbers is opened before you from a jewish perspective the series includes 5 books. Jewish tradition teaches that the generation committed an inexcusable. Isaacs presents a delightful, easy toread introduction to the ways in which numbers are utilized in the bible and. Numbers presents an account of the 38year period of israels wandering in the desert following the establishment of the covenant of sinai compare 1.
The book of numbers concludes with the children of israel once again at the edge of the land of canaan, where they received instructions for the conquest of canaan and the division of the land. Jewish mysitcism 11 items by edelsoja updated 20120409. Book 4, numbers contains instructions for taking a census and setting up camp in the desert. The hebrew title is bemidbar or in the wilderness rbdmb of sinai. One indicates unity, divinity, and wholeness, as exemplified by god. Isaacs presents a delightful, easytoread introduction to the ways in which numbers are utilized in the bible and. The book of numbers is the fourth book of the law of moses, also known as the torah or pentateuch. The book of numbers was named after the first key word bemidbar in hebrew scripture, which appropriately means in the desert, the place where the israelites. Censustaking rolls like a sand dune through parashat bmidbar, which is also the hebrew name for the fourth book of the torah that we begin reading this week, known as the book of numbers in english. You may have heard of gematria, the system where every hebrew letter has a specific numerical value and the numerical equivalence of letters, words, or phrases is calculated accordingly. The book of numbers, bemidbar, means in the wilderness. Ordinal numbers are used to indicate position in a series first, second, third, etc. Buy jewish book of numbers by ronald h isaacs, rabbi online at alibris. Moses is the central figure within the book, and in at least two instances numbers mentions him recording events by the lords commands numbers 33.
This becomes relevant when we think of takin a census. Book of numbers simple english wikipedia, the free. The following numbers are considered symbolic andor sacred in judaism. Parshas bamidbar the book of numbers teaches us a lesson in counting. The book is called numbers because at the start god ordered a counting of the people a census in the twelve tribes of israel. In spite of the difficulties imposed by numbers on todays readers, the main point of the book is of immense importance for gods people in any age. The practice of gematria, or the spiritual interpretation of numbers, is one technique for understanding sacred texts. The remarkable insights in redeeming relevance in the book of numbers opens up completely new possibilities in the biblical text.
Discover the fascinating world of jewish numerology in the jewish book of numbers. Book of numbers overview insight for living ministries. Like the other books of the pentateuch, its name in hebrew is taken from the first significant word in the book the fifth word in chapter 1, which also reflects its theme, the wilderness wanderings. It is made up of 4, the number of the physical creation, and 6, the number of man. Leviticus, which interrupts the flow of narration, consists almost entirely of legislation independent of historic precedentwith the exception of. Leviticus, which interrupts the flow of narration, consists almost entirely of legislation independent of historic precedentwith the exception of lev. But, in many cases, there are more simple explanations to numbers in judaism, including the numbers. If jesus said that even these small marks are significant, then every word in the holy scriptures is importantincluding biblical numbers. In addition, the suggestion that the writer of this epistle relied upon knowledge and information provided by others who were actual eyewitnesses of christ jesus 2. For it is a disgrace to israel that throughout the forty years the children of. Rabbi reuven manns latest book in his series on the torah, eternally yours. Summary of the book of numbers the story of the bible. Types and shadows in numbers jesus is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
The levites number 22,000, counting every male a month old or upward. The levites are divided into three families, the gershonites, the kohathites, and the merarites, each under a chief, and all headed by one prince, eleazar, son of aaron. Why is the number considered lucky in jewish tradition. The book of numbers is the fourth book of the hebrew bible, and the fourth of five books of the jewish torah. The book of numbers closes with a return to the daughters of zelophehad, who, in their zeal and love for the land of israel, insisted on being granted an inheritance among the members of their tribe in place of their father, who died without sons. In addition to having masculine and feminine forms, cardinal numbers occur in both the absolute and construct states. It continues the story of that journey begun in exodus, and describes briefly the experiences of the israelites for a period of thirtyeight years, from the end of their encampment at. Introduction to the book of numbers learn religions.
Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. The fourth of the five books of moses, relates the story of the israelites sojourn in the desert. Exodus ends by relating the erection of the tabernacle on the first day. Missing is pauls customary salutation common to his other works. The book of numbers derives its name from the account of the two censuses taken of the hebrew people, one near the beginning and the other toward the end of the journey in the wilderness chaps. Its narrative begins at the point where exodus leaves off. How can numbers be used to uncover the hidden meanings of the torah.
Ten is also viewed as a complete and perfect number, as is 3, 7 and 12. This comprehensive and erudite commentary resulting from. The way the story is told sounds odd and often harsh to readers today. Rabbi francis nataf is a jerusalembased educator, writer and thinker, and the author of redeeming relevance in the book of genesis urim, 2006 and redeeming relevance in the book of exodus urim, 2010. This talk about moses forms the capstone of zornbergs newest book entitled bewilderments, which ostensibly focuses on sefer bamidbar, the book of numbers, but in truth extends many of the other themes she has discussed in previous volumes, particularly her exodus anthology, the particulars of rapture new york, 2011. And 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 they came out from the land of egypt, saying. An introduction to numbers a star will come out of jacob. The book of numbers is composed of narrative, legislation, and archival records. Good shabbos in rabbinic literature, the book of bamidbar is referred to as the book of censuses sefer hapekudim, which is no. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts search for a library. The law includes the books of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy.
The israelites disobedience and lack of faith caused god to make them wander in the desert until all the people of that generation had diedwith a. Isaacs presents a delightful, easytoread introduction to the ways in which numbers are utilized in the bible and rabbinic writings. Although some include the book of hebrews among the apostle pauls writings, the certain identity of the author remains an enigma. After counting all the men who are over twenty and fit to fight, the israelites began to travel in wellordered divisions, with god in the middle of the ark of the covenant in hebrew, the book is called bmidbar, which means. This is another reference post to help with bible study, symbolism, dream interpretation, etc. The main divisions in the book of numbers are as follows. The jewish numerology tradition, known as gematria, values some numbers more than others. Cardinal numbers are used for counting one, two, three, etc.
Related articles can be found on the misparim page. The english title is a translation of the septuagint greek title referring to the numbering of the tribes of israel in chapters 14. The book of numbers teaches us a lesson in counting. The book of numbers takes its name from the account of the census that happened two times among the congregation of israel in numbers 14 and numbers. Gods greatest gift to mankind numbers, builds on the work hes done over the last 10 years.