Parashat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20)

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

We now begin the book of Bamidbar with Parashat BaMidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20). It opens up with a census. All of the Jewish males over the age of 20 are counted. We get very specific lists about who was in charge of each tribe and exactly how many people there were to be counted in each group.

Why are they counting only the males over the age of 20? What special job are they going to be expected to do where they number and ages would be important?
If there are 603,500 males over the age of 20, how many more people might there have been? Who else is with them that did not get counted?
One of the princes we learn about is Nachshon be Aminadav. He is famous for doing something else. What did he do? (Hint: He was the first to go across somewhere.)
We are told that the tribes had very specific place where they were expected to stand. Why is that important? Why can't they gather any old place?
The tribes all had a standard (a flag). If they were now one nation traveling together, why did each one need an individual flag? Do you know what the symbols for different tribes were? Have you ever seen them in a piece of artwork? Ask around and see if you can find out what they might have been.