Bamidbar

Bamidbar - Family Discussion

This is the first parsha in the fourth book of the Torah!  Bamidbar means in the desert or wilderness.  In this parsha Hashem instructs Moshe to count the number of people (that’s why this book is called Numbers in English).

 

Moshe is also instructed to arrange the 12 tribes around the Mishkan to protect it.  The tribes camped out at night and traveled during the day in this formation:

 

 

Each tribe was assigned a leader and a symbol for their flags.  Asher’s was an olive tree, Benyamim’s was wolf, Dan’s was a snake, Gad’s was an army camp, Manasseh’s was an auroch (big bull with large horns), Ephraim’s was an ox, Simeon’s was the gates of Shechem, Zebulan’s was a ship, Judah’s a lion, Naphtali’s was a female deer, Reuben’s was a mandrake (magical yellow flower), and Levi’s was the Kohain’s breastplate.  The Mishkan and the Levi’s were in the center of the formation so it was protected on all sides.

 

Family Discussion Questions:

1. Why would each tribe need a leader?
2. Why was the Mishkan in the center?