Hello!

Hope you all had a great week! Ready for Shavuot?

This week’s parsha is Parshat Bamidbar. Here’s a little summary of what the parsha talks about:

–          The parsha starts off with Hashem telling Moshe to count the Jews. They were counted by everyone donating a half Shekel (a kind of coin). The tribe of Levi was counted separately.

–          Next, the parsha discusses how the Jews camped, meaning the mishkan (tabernacle) was in the middle of the camp, and around it the tribes camped in a specific way. We also read who carried what parts of the mishkan when it was taken apart for traveling.

–          Lastly, the parsha discusses the sons of Aharon, who were the Kohanim (priests), and the Leviim (Levites) who did the service in the mishkan. Originally, the firstborns were supposed to do the service, but when they joined in the sin of making the golden calf, they lost this privilege.

Now for the Dvar Torah:

In this week’s parsha, the Jews are in the wilderness after being taken out of Egypt. Sometimes we are in our own wilderness. We have our own troubles and challenges.

Once, a boy was in the hospital with a critical disease. He was miserable. Knowing that the boy was Jewish, the hospital called in a rabbi to talk to him. The boy said, “Rabbi, don’t just tell me G-d loves me. There’s nothing to love about me! My life is so terrible!” The rabbi had to think of something to say that would not discourage or upset the boy. After a few seconds, he said, “You might be right. I don’t know if G-d loves you or not. But what I do know is that G-d needs you.”

We sometimes think we are not important, especially during a difficult time. Yet Hashem needs us. We all have specific talents and abilities in order to fulfill a specific mission that Hashem wants us to fulfill. We count! When Hashem counted the Jews, he was saying exactly that. Every Jew counts.

So here’s the question: Sometimes people around us feel upset and unimportant. What are some ideas to make someone feel like they count?

<3 Tamar

P.S. Some of this I got from chabad.org. LOVE the website!