Parashat B'midbar Numbers 1:1-4:20
This week's Torah portion, the first in Sefer B'midbar, the Book of Numbers, focuses on two topics: a census of male Israelites (excluding Levites) between the ages of 20 and 50 (and thus eligible for military service) and a summary of some duties of the priests.
By coincidence, the last drash I wrote for this series, for Parashat Shmot, also begins with a census, though that one resulted in a count of 70 while this one yielded a count of 603,550. "Be fruitful and multiply" indeed!
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