Family Parshah
Bamidbar Q & A

Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel. (1:2)

Question: Our sages say that G-d always counts the Jewish people because of His love for them. What lesson can we learn from the counting of the Jewish people?

Answer: There are different levels of observance among Jews, with some keeping G-d's commandments more strictly and some less. A person may belittle the worth of a less observant Jew, saying: "He is a nothing!"

When G-d commanded Moses to count the Jewish people, He instructed him to count each Jew as "one," no more and no less. G-d's message was that the Jewish people are His children; each one is equally beloved and has equal value.

These are the generations of Aaron and Moses... and these are the names of the sons of Aaron. (3:1-2)

Question: The Torah only lists the four sons of Aaron. Why does the verse refer to "the generations of Aaron and Moses"?

Answer: In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Jews that G-d had been very angry with Aaron for his involvement with the golden calf and that he wanted to destroy him: "And I prayed for Aaron at that time" (9:2). The commentator Rashi explains that G-d considered killing all four of Aaron's children. Moses' prayers was able to save two of the sons--Elazar and Itamar.

Since two of Aaron's children were saved through Moses' intervention, they are also called the children of Moses.

And Nadav and Avihu died... and they had no children. (3:4)

Question: Why does the verse use the singular word, "and he died" (vayamat), instead of "and they died" (vayamutu)?

Answer: According to Kabbalah,1 before a person marries he is considered a half person. After acquiring a wife, he becomes a complete entity. At the time of their death, Nadav and Avihu were both single, and therefore each was only considered one half. Thus, together they constituted one person.