Parshat Behaalotecha Numbers 8 1 - 12 16 First Portion Numbers Chapter 8 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying Speak to Aaron and say to him When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah Aaron did so he lit the lamps toward the face of the menorah, as the Lord had commanded Moses This was the form of the menorah hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower it was hammered work according to the form that the Lord had shown Moses, so did he construct the menorah The Lord spoke to Moses saying Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them This is what you shall do to them so as to cleanse them sprinkle them with cleansing water and pass a razor over all their flesh then they shall wash their garments and cleanse themselves Then they shall take a young bull with its meal offering of fine flour mingled with oil And you shall take a second young bull as a sin offering You shall bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting, and you shall gather the entire congregation of the children of Israel You shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites Then Aaron shall lift up the Levites as a waving before the Lord on behalf of the children of Israel, that they may serve in the Lord's service The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and make one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering to the Lord, to atone for the Levites You shall present the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and lift them as a waving before the Lord Thus shall you set apart the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, and the Levites shall become Mine Second Portion Following this, the Levites shall come to serve in the Tent of Meeting You shall cleanse them and lift them as a waving For they are wholly given over to Me from among the children of Israel instead of those that open the womb all the firstborn of Israel I have taken them for Myself For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine whether man or beast since the day I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I have sanctified them for Myself And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to perform the service for the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting and to atone on behalf of the children of Israel, so that the children of Israel will not be inflicted with plague when they approach the Sanctuary So Moses, Aaron, and the entire congregation of Israel did this to the Levites the children of Israel did in accordance with all that the Lord had instructed Moses regarding the Levites The Levites cleansed themselves and washed their clothes Then Aaron lifted them as a waving before the Lord, and Aaron atoned for them to cleanse them After that, the Levites came to perform the service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons they did to them just as the Lord had commanded Moses regarding the Levites The Lord spoke to Moses saying This is the rule concerning the Levites From the age of twenty five years and upwards, he shall enter the service to work in the Tent of Meeting From the age of fifty he shall retire from the work legion, and do no more work He shall minister with his brethren in the Tent of Meeting to keep the charge, but he shall not perform the service thus shall you do for the Levites regarding their charge Third Portion Numbers Chapter 9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the second year of their exodus from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying The children of Israel shall make the Passover sacrifice in its appointed time On the afternoon of the fourteenth of this month, you shall make it in its appointed time in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances you shall make it Moses spoke to the children of Israel instructing them to make the Passover sacrifice So they made the Passover sacrifice in the first month, on the afternoon fourteenth day of the month in the Sinai Desert according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel do There were men who were ritually unclean because of contact with a dead person, and therefore could not make the Passover sacrifice on that day So they approached Moses and Aaron on that day Those men said to him, We are ritually unclean because of contact with a dead person but why should we be excluded so as not to bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time, with all the children of Israel Moses said to them, Wait, and I will hear what the Lord instructs concerning you The Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to the children of Israel saying, Any person who becomes unclean from contact with the dead, or is on a distant journey, whether among you or in future generations, he shall make a Passover sacrifice for the Lord In the second month, on the fourteenth day, in the afternoon, they shall make it they shall eat it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs They shall not leave over anything from it until the next morning, and they shall not break any of its bones They shall make it in accordance with all the statutes connected with the Passover sacrifice But the man who was ritually clean and was not on a journey, yet refrained from making the Passover sacrifice, his soul shall be cut off from his people, for he did not bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time that person shall bear his sin If a proselyte dwells with you, and he makes a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, according to the statutes of the Passover sacrifice and its ordinances he shall make it One statute shall apply to you, to the proselyte and to the native-born citizen Fourth Portion On the day the Mishkan was erected, the cloud covered the Mishkan, which was a tent for the Testimony, and at evening, there was over the Mishkan like an appearance of fire, which remained until morning So it was always, the cloud covered it and there was an appearance of fire at night and according to the cloud's departure from over the Tent, and afterwards, the children of Israel would travel, and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would encamp At the bidding of the Lord, the children of Israel traveled, and at the bidding of the Lord, they encamped As long as the cloud hovered above the Mishkan, they encamped When the cloud lingered over the Mishkan for many days, the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not travel Sometimes, the cloud remained for several days above the Mishkan at the Lord's bidding they traveled and at the Lord's bidding they encamped Sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, and when the cloud departed in the morning, they traveled Or, the cloud remained for a day and a night, and when the cloud departed, they traveled Whether it was for two days, a month or a year, that the cloud lingered to hover over the Mishkan, the children of Israel would encamp and not travel, and when it departed, they traveled At the Lord's bidding they would encamp, and at the Lord's bidding they would travel they kept the charge of the Lord by the word of the Lord through Moses Numbers Chapter 10 The Lord spoke to Moses saying Make yourself two silver trumpets you shall make them from a beaten form they shall be used by you to summon the congregation and to announce the departure of the camps When they blow on them, the entire congregation shall assemble to you, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting If they blow one of them, the princes, the leaders of Israel's thousands, shall convene to you When you blow a teruah a series of short blasts, the camps which are encamped to the east shall travel When you blow a second teruah, the camps encamped to the south shall travel they shall blow a teruah for traveling But when assembling the congregation, you shall blow a tekiah long blast but not a teruah The descendants of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets this shall be an eternal statute for your generations If you go to war in your land against an adversary that oppresses you, you shall blow a teruah with the trumpets and be remembered before the Lord your God, and thus be saved from your enemies On the days of your rejoicing, on your festivals and on your new-moon celebrations, you shall blow on the trumpets for your ascent-offerings and your peace sacrifices, and it shall be a remembrance before your God I am the Lord your God Fifth Portion On the twentieth of the second month in the second year, the cloud rose up from over the Tabernacle of the Testimony The children of Israel traveled on their journeys from the Sinai desert, and the cloud settled in the desert of Paran This was the first journey at God's bidding through Moses The banner of the camp of Judah's children traveled first according to their legions Heading the legion was Nahshon the son of Amminadab Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon The Tabernacle was dismantled, and the sons of Gershon set out, together with the sons of Merari who carried the Tabernacle Then the banner of the camp of Reuben set out according to their legions Heading its legion was Elitzur the son of Shdeur Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Reuel The Kohathithes, who carried the holy equipment set out, and they had erected the Tabernacle before they had arrived Then the banner of the camp of Ephraim set out, according to its legions Heading its legion was Elishama the son of Amihud Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Menasseh was Gamliel the son of Pedahzur Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gidoni Then the banner of the camp of Dan set out, the collector for all the other camps, according to its legions Heading its legion was Achiezer the son of Amishaddai Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enon These are the travels of the children of Israel according to their legions, and then they traveled Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses's father-in-law, We are traveling to the place about which the Lord said, I will give it to you Come with us and we will be good to you, for the Lord has spoken of good fortune for Israel He said to him, I won't go, for I will go to my land and my birthplace He said, Please don't leave us, for because you are familiar with our encampments in the desert and you will be our guide And if you go with us, then we will bestow on you the good which God grants us They traveled a distance of three days from the mountain of the Lord, and the Ark of the Lord's covenant traveled three days ahead of them to seek for them a place to settle The cloud of the Lord was above them by day, when they traveled from the camp Sixth Portion So it was, whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, Arise, O Lord, may Your enemies be scattered and may those who hate You flee from You And when it came to rest he would say, Repose O Lord, among the myriads of thousands of Israel Numbers Chapter 11 The people were looking to complain, and it was evil in the ears of the Lord The Lord heard and His anger flared, and a fire from the Lord burned among them, consuming the extremes of the camp The people cried out to Moses Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down He named that place Tab'erah, for the fire of the Lord had burned among them there But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, Who will feed us meat We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic But now, our bodies are dried out, for there is nothing at all we have nothing but manna to look at Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance was like the appearance of crystal The people walked about and gathered it Then they ground it in a mill or crushed it in a mortar, cooked it in a pot and made it into cakes It had a taste like the taste of oil cake When the dew descended on the camp at night, the manna would descend upon it Moses heard the people weeping with their families,each one at the entrance to his tent The Lord became very angry, and Moses considered it evil Moses said to the Lord, Why have You treated Your servant so badly Why have I not found favor in Your eyes that You place the burden of this entire people upon me Did I conceive this entire people Did I give birth to them, that You say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as the nurse carries the suckling,' to the Land You promised their forefathers Where can I get meat to give all these people For they are crying on me, saying, 'Give us meat to eat ' Alone I cannot carry this entire people for it is too hard for me If this is the way You treat me, please kill me if I have found favor in Your eyes, so that I not see my misfortune Then the Lord said to Moses, Assemble for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the people's elders and officers, and you shall take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with You I will come down and speak with you there, and I will increase the spirit that is upon you and bestow it upon them Then they will bear the burden of the people with you so that you need not bear it alone And to the people, you shall say, 'Prepare yourselves for tomorrow and you shall eat meat, because you have cried in the ears of the Lord saying, Who will feed us meat, for we had it better in Egypt Therefore, the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat You shall eat it not one day, not two days, not five days, not ten days, and not twenty days But even for a full month until it comes out your nose and nauseates you Because you have despised the Lord Who is among you, and you cried before Him, saying, Why did we ever leave Egypt ' Moses said, Six hundred thousand people on foot are the people in whose midst I am, and You say, 'I will give them meat, and they will eat it for a full month' If sheep and cattle were slaughtered for them, would it suffice for them If all the fish of the sea were gathered for them, would it suffice for them Then the Lord said to Moses, Is My power limited Now you will see if My word comes true for you or not Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said, and he assembled seventy men of the elders of the people, and stood them around the Tent The Lord descended in a cloud and spoke to him, and He increased some of the spirit that was on him and bestowed it on the seventy elders And when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did not continue Now two men remained in the camp the name of one was Eldad and the name of the second was Medad, and the spirit rested upon them They were among those written, but they did not go out to the tent, but prophesied in the camp The lad ran and told Moses, saying, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant from his youth, answered and said, Moses, my master, imprison them Moses said to him, Are you zealous for my sake If only all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would bestow His spirit upon them Seventh Portion Then Moses entered the camp he and the elders of Israel A wind went forth from the Lord and swept quails from the sea and spread them over the camp about one day's journey this way and one day's journey that way, around the camp, about two cubits above the ground The people rose up all that day and all night and the next day and gathered the quails Even the one who gathered the least collected ten heaps They spread them around the camp in piles The meat was still between their teeth it was not yet finished, and the anger of the Lord flared against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very mighty blow He named that place Kivroth Hata'avah Graves of Craving , for there they buried the people who craved From Kivroth Hata'avah the people traveled to Hazeroth, and they stayed in Hazeroth Numbers Chapter 12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses regarding the Cushite woman he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman They said, Has the Lord spoken only to Moses Hasn't He spoken to us too And the Lord heard Now this man Moses was exceedingly humble, more so than any person on the face of the earth The Lord suddenly said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, Go out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting And all three went out The Lord descended in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tent He called to Aaron and Miriam, and they both went out He said, Please listen to My words If there be prophets among you, I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision I will speak to him in a dream Not so is My servant Moses he is faithful throughout My house With him I speak mouth to mouth in a vision and not in riddles, and he beholds the image of the Lord So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses The wrath of the Lord flared against them and He left The cloud departed from above the Tent, and behold, Miriam was afflicted with tzara'ath, as white as snow Then Aaron turned to Miriam and behold, she was afflicted with tzara'ath Aaron said to Moses, Please, master, do not put sin upon us for acting foolishly and for sinning Let her not be like the dead, which comes out of his mother's womb with half his flesh consumed Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, I beseech you, God, please heal her The Lord replied to Moses, If her father were to spit in her face, would she not be humiliated for seven days She shall be confined for seven days outside the camp, and afterwards she may enter So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not travel until Miriam had entered Then the people departed from Hazeroth, and they camped in the desert of Paran