Rabbi's Derasha

The Parasha has no real date stamp.  Rashi, via the Midrash I will mention soon, connects it to the end of last week’s Parasha.  That would mean the rebellion comes right after the episode of the spies during the second year since the exodus.  But the verses themselves give no hint.  

There is, on the other hand, circumstantial evidence about where it fits.  Close to the beginning of...Read more...

I always concentrate on the transition point in this Parasha, the point at which catastrophes take over the story in the wilderness.  That is the pivot point of the Parasha and of the book as a whole.  All of the preparation for the first two and a half Parashiot runs aground in what seems to be minutes.  The ideal situation turns into the fallen situation with which we still live.  So I usually...Read more...