A census is a boring thing and many people skip over the biblical tallies of the members of one tribe after another. Thousands of years later, who cares and why does it matter? And yet, as demographers and statisticians will tell you, there are important stories buried in population numbers. There's a disturbing and fascinating one buried in the Jewish census. After going through the counts of the various tribes, which range from the fifty and sixty thousands to the low thirties. The Levites, which are the least of the tribes, are counted separately. Unlike the Israelite census, which counted only men from twenty to sixty, the Levites were counted from a month of age. And they still only numbered 22,000. Then the ritual of the redemption of the First Born was performed. The Levites were exchanged for the First Born, who had been sanctified by G-d, for the Levites. There are slightly more First Born Israelites than there are Levites and they are redeemed separately. What...

Parshas Ki Sisa begins with the commandment to raise up the heads of the people of Israel by having them contribute a half shekel of silver. How does this contribution raise them up? The phases of the Mishkan had involved first raising up Aharon as the Kohen Gadol, then the Kohanim as a whole, then the sons of Levi, each Kiper uplifting the designated group to a new higher state. This was the turn of the Jewish people as a whole. As the Kohanim were analogous to the Kodesh HaKedeoshim, the Leviim were analogous to the interior of the Mishkan whose vessels they bore on their shoulders, the people of Israel were analogous to the walls of the Mishkan itself, creating the border and boundary of the House of G-d. So the Jewish people were raised up by contributing the half-shekel of silver. This silver was used to form the sockets that held the beams that formed the wall of the Mishkan. So while the Kohanim and Leviim might minister within it, it was the Jewish people who were its wal...

Parshas Tetzaveh begins with the words, וְאַתָּה תְּצַוֶּה אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית--לַמָּאוֹר לְהַעֲלֹת נֵר, תָּמִיד And you will command the children of Israel, that they will bring you pure olive oil, pressed to be burned, to be lit, eternally. Why first of all is the entire Jewish people being directed in the performance of the mitzvah of providing oil for the menorah, which is lit by the Kohanim. Secondly, why do we need Shemen Zayit Zach Katit, pure olive oil of only the first drop of oil squeezed from the olive, if it's only going to be burned anyway. The answer to that is in the rest of the pasuk. Lehaalot Ner Tamid, we need only the purest oil for it to create a truly eternal light. The Kohanim were expected to set an example in the purity of their behavior, down to the smallest of details. That is why their elevation is described as Kaper, a word usually used for atonement, because their elevation requires them to achiev...

Parshas Bo begins with a command, now the urgent time has come when events will come together to finally bring Israel's Egyptian slavery to an end. Yet before they leave, the Jews are expected to slaughter a sheep, the Korban Pesach. Unlike the Matza, which resulted when unleavened dough did not have time to leaven because of the speed with which the Jews had to leave Egypt, the Korban Pesach was eaten at leisure. In fact it was forbidden to eat it quickly. What is the difference between the Korban Pesach and the Matza, both of which were obligations that one had to perform on the Seder night of the first day, or one had not fulfilled his paschal obligation. During the Haggadah we say, "Korban Pesach Zu Al Shum Ma, Al Shum shePasach Hakadosh Baruch Hu..." What is this Paschal regarding, because the Holy One Blessed Be He passed by our houses when he came to slay the Egyptian first born. What is the significance of the entire event. Why the first born and why the lamb ...