Perashat Bamidbar

Perashat Bamidbar

As the traditional Summer season begins this Memorial Day Weekend, it is also a time of year very special to us as Jews.  We celebrate three beginnings on these days: The new Month of Sivan, the Holiday of Shabuot, and the beginning of the fourth Book of the Torah – Bamidbar

We celebrated Rosh Hodesh Sivan - the new month of Sivan this week, representing the renewal of the moon cycle. The Jewish nation has been likened to the Moon cycle as it waxes and wanes during its life cycle.  So too the Jewish Nation throughout history has had its ups and downs; at times we have been strong, and at other times we have been weak and persecuted.   Through it all, we remain a proud nation with the blessings of Hashem.

The first day of Sivan represents the anniversary in which the Children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai, 46 days from their exodus from Egypt.

We celebrate the 3327th anniversary of Matan Torah, the Holiday of Shabuot, on the 6th Day of Sivan when we were gathered around Mount Sinai in the desert 49 days after leaving Egypt. On this holiday, we celebrate the emergence of Israel as a nation of laws and regulations. We are the Jewish People - from a gathering of a large family to the make up of a Nation and a People. 

And lastly, we begin the Book of Bamidbar, the fourth Humash of the Torah.  It is a census of the Children of Israel and the official encampment of the Tribes around the Tabernacle. 

I had the privilege of being in Israel during this past week, and it was an experience that calls for great meditation and thought. Celebrating a wedding and also a Bar Missva of Community members at the Kotel and its tunnels was incredible.  Remembering the thousands of years of Jewish Peoplehood and sovereignty, and observing and experiencing a very young Jewish State and Nation with a very old history, was truly a magnificent experience. Instructing the groom to break the glass in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem only a few steps from the site of the Temple, and inducting the Bar Missva boy into our People, was an honor and privilege that can only be experienced in our time.  

We are fortunate to have been chosen by the A-mighty.  Many millennia ago, he chose us to be the nation that carries the Divine laws and traditions to build a just society; a nation of laws and a harmonious civilization. 

We ought to appreciate this privilege and understand the honor bestowed upon us.  Unfortunately, some of the world’s  co-religionists do not understand the awesome privilege and responsibility that we have. Other nations and peoples regard us with jealousy and contempt. During our history, many lives have been sacrificed while trying to maintain and protect our values and our way of life while being loyal to our Torah and Traditions. 

As we celebrate Shabuot and proudly recall our own history’s heroes, let us also remember during this Memorial Day weekend all of the American Soldiers who gave up their lives defending our American way of life, our American values of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of  happiness; none of which should ever be taken for granted.

Shabbat Shalom, Hag Sameah and Tizku L’Shanim Rabbot.