Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
In This Week’s Parashah: מָה בַּפָּרָשָׁה
Full Parashah Reading: Bemidbar 30:2-36:13
- נְדָרִים (nedarim) are obligations you can accept upon yourself, and they have to be taken seriously. Certain nedarim can sometimes be canceled.
- Benei Yisrael fight against Midian. They win, capture spoils of war, and divide it all up. A portion was given to the mishkan.
- The tribes of Reuven and Gad want to stay outside Eretz Yisrael, just to the east of the Jordan River, where there is lots of room for their cattle. They make a deal with Moshe. First they’ll join Benei Yisrael in fighting for Eretz Yisrael, and then they can return to live where they prefer.
- The Torah lists all 42 stops that Benei Yisrael made while wandering in the wilderness.
- Now they are at the edge of Eretz Yisrael. They are commanded to conquer the land and settle there.
- They learn how to divide the land among their families, and to establish cities for לְוִיִּם (Levi’im, members of the tribe of Levi). These include six עָרֵי מִקְלָט (arei miklat, cities of refuge). If a person accidentally kills someone else, they have to move to one of these cities.
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