Parashat Bemidbar: Scavenger Hunt
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Devash: Scavenger Hunt

Parashah Scavenger Hunt שְׁאֵלוֹת הַשָּׁבוּעַ

Welcome to Devash's Parashah Scavenger Hunt for Parashat Bemidbar!

Aliyah 1 (Bemidbar 1:1-19)
  • On what date does the book of Bemidbar begin?
  • Where did the census happen?
Aliyah 2 (Bemidbar 1:20-54)
  • Of the 12 tribes counted, which tribe was the smallest?
  • Which were the two largest שְׁבָטִים (shevatim, tribes)?
Aliyah 3 (Bemidbar 2:1-34)
  • Which group of three tribes went second when the camp marched through the desert?
  • Which tribes camped on the northern side?
Aliyah 4 (Bemidbar 3:1-13)
  • Which tribe was assigned the job of serving Aharon?
  • Who receives someone else’s role?
Aliyah 5 (Bemidbar 3:14-39)
  • What was the name of the נָשִׂיא (nasi, chief) of the family of Merari?
  • Which family was in charge of the mishkan’s bars, pillars, sockets, and vessels?
Aliyah 6 (Bemidbar 3:40-51)
  • How much silver was collected from the Israelite firstborns?
  • How many extra firstborns were there?
Aliyah 7 (Bemidbar 4:1-20)
  • What color cloth went on top of the main מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbei’ah, altar)?
  • Which of the mishkan’s כֵּלִים (keilim, vessels) was covered with a cloth the color of אַרְגָּמָן (argaman, purple)?
Look anywhere in the parashah to find the answer to these questions!
  • On which side of the camp did Moshe live?
  • When you try to add up the three families that made up the tribe of Levi, there is an addition problem. What is it?
  • Which of the heads of the tribes shares his first name with a famous rabbi from the Mishnah?
  • Who shares a name with Moshe’s father-in-law?
  • When you try to add up the three families that made up the tribe of Levi, there is an addition problem. What is it?
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  • How many people understood the meaning of the code that Yehonatan said when he shot his arrows?

Scroll down to see the answers!
Answers: 
Aliyah 1
  • The first day of the second month (in the second year since the people left Egypt) (1:1)
  • מִדְבַּר סִינָי (Midbar Sinai, the wilderness of Sinai) (1:19)
Aliyah 2
  • Menasheh—32,200 (1:35)
  • Yehudah with a count of 74,600 and Dan in second place with 62,700 (1:27, 1:39)
Aliyah 3
Aliyah 4
  • Levi (3:6-7)
  • The tribe of Levi receives the role that was originally for firstborns (3:12)
Aliyah 5
  • Tzuriel ben Avihayil (3:35)
  • Merari (3:36)
Aliyah 6
  • 1,365 shekels (3:50)
  • 273 more firstborns than Levi’im (3:46)
Aliyah 7
  • אַרְגָּמָן (argaman, purple) (4:13)
  • The מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbei’ah, altar) (4:13)
From anywhere in the parashah
  • East (3:38)
  • The family of Gershon has 7,500 (3:22), the family of Kehat has 8,600 (3:28), and the family of Merari has 6,200 (3:34). That adds up to 22,300. But the Torah tells us (in 3:39) that the total Levi count was 22,000!
  • Gamliel ben Pedatzur, the head of Menasheh, shares a first name with Rabban Gamliel, one of the most important rabbis after the destruction of the Second Beit Ha-Mikdash (1:10, 2:20)
  • The נָשִׂיא (nasi, chief) of the tribe of Gad was named Eliasaf ben Re’uel (2:14); Re’uel is one of the names of Moshe’s father-in-law (more commonly called Yitro).
  • The family of Gershon has 7,500 (3:22), the family of Kehat has 8,600 (3:28), and the family of Merari has 6,200 (3:34). That adds up to 22,300. But the Torah tells us (in 3:39) that the total Levi count was 22,000!
Haftarah