How to Keep Irrigated Through Life’s Wilderness

A Taste of Text—Bamidbar

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How to Keep Irrigated Through Life's Wilderness: A Taste of Text—Bamidbar

When we realize the importance of our individual roles, we are empowered to tackle and transform our personal wildnerness.

Handouts:	Bamidbar
Audio:	Listen to Audio \| Download this MP3
Topics:	Census of the Israelites, Bamidbar

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Chana Weisberg is host of the Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories podcast and curator of advanced learning experiences on Chabad.org. She lectures internationally on issues relating to women, relationships, meaning, self-esteem and the Jewish soul. She is the author of six books. Her latest book, Shabbat Delights, is a two-volume series on the weekly Torah portion.

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Cornelius Bruin Christchurch, New Zealand June 14, 2024

Why does Numbers 4:6(b) teach ' ...and you will put in its poles', when in Exodus 25:15, it teaches ' The poles will be in the rings of the Ark, they will not be taken from it.' Reply

Niklas (Noahide) May 15, 2023

I wish I had a good family.

When should you work with the family you were born into, and when should you protect yourself and leave? Reply

Anonymous November 15, 2013

Amazing! This is great! Thanks for posting :) Reply

ruth housman marshfield hills, ma May 23, 2012

Ah Wilderness/AWE Wilderness! The metaphoric connect in the title is so apt, as life does present us all with wilderness, in terms of the wild, unpredictable, and also heavy burden of sadness, as we traverse the high ways and bye ways of life. Loss is ever present, but gain is also part of what we experience, in spades, and I think about this as I water my own garden, both literally, and metaphorically, as vast and ongoing connectivity through metaphor itself, dominates all our lives. We are all here for a reason, and sometimes that reason, in despairing, needs space, to be "divined" but it's true. And sometimes we don't perceive the good that we do, in being, and need, particularly at the end times, when life seems fragmented, to ask, as did my good friend Sarah, as she lay dying. "What did I do, with my life?"

We were able to tell her how she created a loving circle of friends, and how her cooking, cemented that love, through constant culiinary get togethers. She was the "spice" of our lives. Reply

Justin Roth Staten Island, NY May 22, 2012

Excellent discussion led by Ms. Weisberg... Yes, we all are unique individuals with a special role to play in this world.
Towards the end of this video, the woman in the black hat says something to the effect that one's job or profession gives one a sense of having a role to play in the world.
While that may be true for some, I must ask, what about people who work and hate their jobs? They surely do not feel that what they do to make a buck fulfills the role G-d gives them to do in the world.
What about the women (and in these times, men too) who stay home to raise a family and forgo a "job" in the way many people view that word? Surely, these people are doing wonderful things with their lives and are fulfilling the duties that Hashem created them for.
I liked that Ms. Weisberg acknowledged that Aharon HaKohen was appointed to count the people of Israel, as if to say "I, the mighty Kohen, see you as a unique individual."
Confucius says: What the gentleman seeks is in himself. What the inferior man seeks is in others. Reply

Margarita Sosa Juarez, Mexico May 21, 2012

MIDBAR COUNT Thank you for such a beautiful spiritual explanation of this census, if I may call it so.
A clean house where children live at, most always reflect a ever cleaning mom, today I understood that I must train my children to help, this way they will know what their house chores are and feel part of the team, the family army that tackles “mess” . . . their well done job will be noticed and they will know without a doubt that they are counted and an important part of our home.

But I do not understand later on why King David raised G-d’s anger when he had the people counted. Reply

gail whitworth madison, kansas May 20, 2012

gail. this video is very good. I look forward to watching chana's videos every week.
have a happy and a wonderful day. may god bless you in everything you say and do for him. Reply

A Taste of Text

Each 20-minute video class uses a text from the weekly Torah portion to convey a contemporary insight on leading a more enriched life. Source sheets are included to help students follow along and gain a "taste" of the actual texts studied.

How to Keep Irrigated Through Life's Wilderness: A Taste of Text—Bamidbar

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