As we seem ready to enter Israel, a counting of the Jewish People takes place. Nachmanides offers several rationales for this census (Numbers 1:45). First, it expresses God’s mercy. When Jacob came to ...

putting one slow foot in front of the other. Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 28 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at ...

Sinai, Tabernacle (also called Ohel Moed, the Tent of Meeting) and midbar (desert). At the outset of the Book of Numbers, the Torah mentions these three places in a sentence: “The Lord [spoke] to ...

Our guest this week is Rabbi Andrea London, Senior Rabbi of the Beth Emet synagogue in Evanston, Illinois. Rabbi London holds a degree in applied mathematics from Brown University and worked as a ...

The name of the fourth of Moses’ five books of the Torah is called Bamidbar in Hebrew, meaning “in the desert.” As with the four other books, it is also the name of the first Torah portion of its ...

Each week ‘In Song’ links the weekly Torah reading — however tenuously — to classic works of rock ‘n’ roll. This week’s parsha, Bamidbar (in the desert), kicks off the Book of Numbers, starting with a ...