Readings for Saturday, May 16, 2026, and Pirke Avot Chapter Six

Readings for Saturday, May 16, 2026

Bamidbar or Numbers is the fourth book in the Torah.  It takes its name from the fifth Hebrew word in the opening sentence of the book.  “And the Lord spoke to Moshe in the Wilderness (‘Bamidbar’) of Sinai.”  At one time, the book was called Sefer Va-yedaber, taking its name from the very first word in the book, “Va-yedaber” which literally means “And He spoke….”  The name change was probably adopted because so many verses in the Torah began with the word “Va-yedaber.”  Using this word to name a sedrah might have led to confusion.  In English this book is known as Numbers because it begins with a census and ends with a census.  As a matter of fact, the Talmud refers to Bamidbar as the Sefer Ha-pedkudim variously translated as the Book of the Counting or Book of the Census.  Bamidbar is divided into ten weekly readings.  However, in some years there are two occasions where two of the weekly readings are paired so that the ten readings are covered on eight Sabbaths.  From the point of view of the narrative, The Book of Bamidbar picks up where the Book of Shemot left off.  It covers the last 38 years that the Israelites spent in the Wilderness moving from Mount Sinai to the east bank of the Jordan River.  The term Wilderness refers to an area that comprises the Sinai Peninsula and part of the Negev.  Commentators divide the material covered in the text in various ways.  The editors of Etz Hayim see a pattern of eleven groups of laws, followed by narrative, followed by law, etc.  The Plaut Chumash divides the material into four sections:  Regulations Promulgated at Sinai (1:1-10:10); Events during the Travels (10:11-20:1); The Story of Balaam (22:2-24:25); and Preparation for Entering the Promised Land (25:1-36:13).

If Bamidbar were a Patriarch, it would be Isaac, the Patriarch of Continuity.  Just as Isaac was the link between his dynamic father and his dynamic son, so the material in Bamidbar is the link between the amazing events of Shemot and the excitement of crossing the Jordan into Canaan.  In Bamidbar the Israelites must leave Sinai in all its glory and begin the daily task of living.  Instead of such splendid events as the Exodus, the Splitting of the Sea or the Revelation at Sinai, we read about rebellions, lack of faith, talking animals, death-dealing zealotry and the death of a generation.  In Shemot, we read of the excitement of building the Tabernacle.  In Bamidbar, we are faced with the drudgery of packing and unpacking the sacred dwelling.  But in reading Bamidbar we see how our ancestors dealt with the challenges of life.  We see how they persevered despite doubt.  We see how they bounced back after each apparent setback.  We see the promulgation of some very practical law in a book that is not “thick with the law.”  And yes, there are some sublimely spiritual moments, which have become part of our daily morning service.

Bamidbar (In the wilderness)

1:1-4:20 Bamidbar (Numbers)

Bamidbar is the name of the first sedrah in the book of Bamidbar (Exodus).  This follows the naming pattern for the first sedrah in each of the Five Books of Moses.  Thematically, the material divides into three basic parts - The Census, The Encampment, and Matters Pertaining to the Levites.

The Census (1:1-1:54).  In the second year after the Exodus, on the first day of the month we now call Iyar, God tells Moshe to take a headcount of all the males of military age i.e., from twenty until sixty.  The count is by family, clan and tribe.  The count was taken by having each of those eligible contribute a half-shekel to the Tabernacle.  This is not the first census in the Torah, nor is it the last.  But this census has a very practical purpose.  The Israelites are going into hostile country and Moshe needs to know how many fighters he has.  Moshe tallies each of the tribes separately and comes up with an aggregate figure of 603,550.  As always, Moshe counts twelve tribes, but as we know, the twelve are not always the same.  Here he gets to twelve by counting each of the half-tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, as separate tribes.  Per God’s instruction, Moshe does not count the Levites.  In effect, they get one of the first exemptions from military duty in history.  The Levites are to be responsible for the Tabernacle and all that it contains.  They will not join the regular encampment since they will be camped around the Tabernacle serving as its protectors.

The Encampment (2:1-2:34).  God tells Moses and Aaron how the tribes are to be positioned while in camp and when traveling in the Wilderness.  The camp was rectangular, with the Tabernacle in the center.  The tribes were grouped into four divisions of three tribes each which were called “d’galim” (banners).  In other words each group probably had some sort of standard or banner marking its place.  Judah's Division camped on the east and included Issachar and Zebulun.  Reuben’s division camped on the south and included Gad and Simeon.  Ephraim’s Division camped to the West and included Benjamin and Manasseh.  Dan’s Division camped to the north and included Asher and Naphtali.  This layout would also provide the line of march when the Israelites traveled.  Once again, the headcount is given and the text announces that the Levites were not counted.

Matters Pertaining to the Levites (3:1-4:20).  Following the pattern of taking care of the Israelites first and their leaders second, God now turns to the Levites and the Kohanim.  Having acknowledged the lineage of the House of Aaron, God tells Moshe that the Levites are to serve in the Tabernacle under the direction of the Kohanim.  The Levites will serve an extra purpose.  God will take them in place of all the first-born Israelites who are His special possession because He spared them at the time of the Tenth Plague.  Moses is to take a count by house and clan of all the male Levites over the age of one month.  The total came to 22,000 which made them the smallest of all of the tribes.  In the process of counting each ancestral house, Moshe was instructed to tell each group what their duties would be in and around the Tabernacle.  The last part of the sedrah begins with a process that will carry into the next sedrah.  God tells Moshe to take another census of the Levites.  Once again it is to be by ancestral house, but this time only men ranging in age from thirty to fifty are counted.  As Moshe counts each ancestral house, he assigns them their duties when it comes time to move the Tabernacle from place to place.  Bamidbar ends with a description of the packing chores to be performed by the Kohathies.  We will have to wait for the next sedrah to find out the chores of the rest of the Levites.

Themes

Commandments

There are none in this sedrah!

Bamidbar

The prefix “Ba” is translated as “in the” and “Midbar” means “wilderness.”  Why is it so important that narrative is taking place “in the wilderness?”  According to some, the term “Midbar” or wilderness connotes a place devoid of resources and shelter.  This meant that the Israelites were dependent upon God for their sustenance and physical well-being.  We dwell in a spiritual “Midbar” where God’s Torah is the source of our sustenance.

Customs and Ceremonies

Pidyon ha-ben - Redemption of the First Born

The custom of redeeming the first born male has its origins in Bamidbar 3:13, “Every first-born is Mine.”  To be eligible, the male child must be at least thirty days old, he must be the first issue of his mother’s womb and neither parent can come from the tribe of Levi or the House of Aaron.  The ceremony consists of giving a recitation of two blessings by the father in the presence of a Kohein to whom the father gives five coins.  A party usually follows the ceremony.  At least one sage, the Vilna Gaon, went through this ceremony with every Kohein he met since he did not trust the purity of anybody’s lineage living in the Diaspora.

Spirituality

“God spoke to Moses and Aaron saying…” (2:1 and 4:1).  According to one Midrash, the Torah contains 18 passages where God speaks to the two brothers equally.  This is one of the explanations for the Amidah containing eighteen blessings.  Also, as Rabbi Schneerson points out, when the text invokes the two brothers at the same time, it is reminding us of two ways in which the world becomes spiritual.  One is the bringing down from above as represented by Moshe.  He brought down the law from the top of the mountain into the world of men.  The second is raising up from below as represented by Aaron.  For as the Kohein Gadol, he would raise high the offerings to reach to the heavens.

The Calendar

The sedrah of Bamidbar is always read prior to Shavuot.  Why?  After all the events described took place after the Revelation at Mount Sinai, which is part of the reason for celebrating Shavuot.  According to some, the juxtaposition exists to remind us that we received the law in the Wilderness.  The challenge of the Israelites was to carry that Law through the Wilderness and take it to the Promised Land.  The challenge of the Jew is take our commandments in the wilderness of the “every day” world and use them to make our lives a “Promised Land.”

The Numbers in Numbers

The figures seem awfully large.  Based on the count given, some estimate that there would have been two million Israelites moving through the Wilderness.  In an attempt to harmonize the text with what seems to be reality, there are those who suggest that in ancient times the Hebrew word “elef” did not mean the number 1,000.  Instead it referred to a unit of military command that may have been more like a squad or platoon in modern military parlance.  This would have meant a fighting force number of more than 3500 men but less than 7000.  There is an on-going debate as to whether or not a migration such as the one described in Bamidbar could have taken place.  While there is no conclusive evidence on way or the other, we do know that there were several major population movements going on at this time throughout the Mediterranean World including the one that would bring the Philistines to Canaan.  For those who read the Torah seeking an explanation of history and not as literal history, the question of actual head-count may be of secondary importance.

The Leaders

In Bamidbar Moshe names twelve leaders, one for each tribe.  How did they come to be chosen for this honor?  Do you remember the story of the Splitting of the Sea?  When Moshe calls out for God’s help, He says, “Why do you cry out to Me?  Speak to the Children of Israel and let them journey forth” (Shemot 14:15).  According to Midrash, Nahshon plunged into the waters followed by eleven others.  It was their act of faith and leadership, which provided the human dimension to our escape from the Egyptians.  Their courage at the Sea of Reeds earned these twelve men the leadership positions mentioned in the opening lines of Bamidbar.  There is a Divine Plan but man must act for the Divine Plan to come to pass.

The Missing Sons

Everybody seems to be counted or mentioned in Bamidbar.  Even the names of Aaron’s two sons who died “by strange fire” are cited.  But Moshe’s two sons, Gershom and Eliezer are conspicuous by their absence.  If they are not worthy of an honor, are they not at least worth a mention?  Their disappearance from the narrative continues to puzzle me even if does not bother anybody else.

“To The Wilderness” by Micha Odenheirner as edited and revised

Revelation came in the wilderness, the first sentence of the Book of Numbers stresses:  "And God spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, from the Tent of Meeting ….”  And, says the midrash in Bamidbar Rabbah, wilderness is a necessary condition for every revelation, for every true internalization of the Torah's teaching:  "Whoever would wish to acquire Torah, must make himself ownerless like the wilderness."  What does it mean to be ownerless?  Why wilderness?

For Maimonides, writing in the twelfth century, wilderness represents the means of escaping the seductive influence of an evil society, an influence powerful enough to "own" you.  "If all the countries he knows or hears of follow evil ways, as is the case in our time," he says in his Mishneh Torah, then one must "go out into the caves, the clefts of mountains, and the wilderness" to save himself from a degenerate society's mores.  But how does one escape, even momentarily from a world like ours; a world where materialism, wealth, social status and power dominant our existence?  One escapes through prayer.  Prayer, real prayer, prayer that is the private conversation with the Divine Being is the only way to shift from a world centered on things to a world centered on God.  Prayer is the antidote to society's obsessions because it alone has the power to lift consciousness out of the web of socially conditioned desires into a new matrix whose center is God.  “Prayer, the effort to reach out and in-toward the transcendent, to stand before the One, creates a wilderness within, where a person can be alone with God.  Even during public prayer, the crescendo of intensity is reached during the whispered Amidah (called by some The Silent Devotion) whose sound should not be heard by another human being.”  “To become a master of prayer involves breaking, at least for a few precious moments, the norms for ‘proper’ behavior, whose first principle is the constant, vigilant awareness of oneself as a social animal.”

For most of us real Wilderness has been replaced by theme-park visits to nature complete with RV hook-ups and all the comforts of home.  For most of us prayer has become some stylized group activity called “going to services.”  Yet we need prayer.  We need to ground our identity in the hope of the absolute.  Only through prayer can we “acquire the Torah,” find meaning in language, and receive transmitted truth.  This concept does not mean shouting Allahu akbar while detonating a car bomb or reciting Sim Shalom and then assassinating a Prime Minister.  It means praying for peace and then working for peace.  Real prayer takes to Bamidbar, the Wilderness, a place where our definition “things” weigh down the traveler and life is stripped to its essentials where only that which of true value has any value.

Counting Who Counts

According to some, counting men and not women for the minyan stems, in part, from the census in Bamidbar which only counted males.  The headcount in Bamidbar was taken to determine how many people would be available to serve as soldiers.  Men were counted because at that time only men served as soldiers.  In the modern state of Israel, women serve as soldiers which would indicate that if availability for fighting is the criteria for being counted, then women should be counted for the purposes of the minyan.  Furthermore, since there are groups of men in Israel who refuse to serve in the army, does this mean they should not be counted in the minyan? 

Haftarah

2:1-22 Hosea

The Man:  We have only limited knowledge about the historic figure of Hosea.  He probably lived during the middle of the eighth century, B.C.E.  He preached between 750 and 720 B.C.E. in Northern Kingdom, also called the Kingdom of Israel.  The leading Israelite monarch at the time was Jeroboam II.  This was a turbulent period of moral decay when the leadership of the Northern Kingdom was divided between those who wanted to make an alliance with Egypt against Assyria and those who wanted to come to terms with Assyria.  Hosea warned against doing either.  Instead, he called for moral and religious revival with the people putting their faith in God as a solution to their temporal problems.  In the end, the people failed to heed his words and the Israelites were exiled in 721 B.C.E.  In the collection of the Minor Prophets, Hosea is the first of the Twelve.  From a chronological point of view, this is misleading since Amos lived and preached before Hosea did.  Hosea is listed first because his fourteen chapters of writings are the larger than Amos.  It is the size of the text that gives him precedence.  Understanding the message of Hosea can be quite difficult.  As one commentator puts it, “The style of Hosea is highly poetic and difficult to follow.  Many passages…are not clearly understood because we are no longer fully acquainted with certain events to which they allude.”  The first three chapters of Hosea describe how he came to prophesy.  The last eleven chapters alternate between admonishments and words of hope.  There will be punishment but ultimately God will redeem us.

Hosea married a woman named Gomer.  How this marriage came to be is open to some question.  But the fact is that she betrayed him.  He took her back and forgave her. 

In delivering his message, Hosea portrays the Israelites as the wayward wife. God is portrayed as the long-suffering husband who always loves her and who forgives her and redeems her.  Hosea refers to the Northern Kingdom as Ephraim.  This is because the tribe of Ephraim led the original revolt against the House of David.  Hosea did not approve of the revolt and saw Jerusalem as the holy place, thus placing a permanent cloud over the Northern Kingdom.  I mention this only so that you will understand that when Hosea talks about Ephraim he is talking about the Kingdom of Israel and not just one tribe.

The Message:  In Chapter 1 of Hosea, the chapter that precedes this week’s haftarah, Hosea obeys God’s command to marry a harlot.  He marries Gomer who bears him three children.  In chapter 2, this week’s haftarah, the imagery shifts between the harlot-wife, Gomer, and the harlot-nation, Israel.  Just as Gomer looks to other men for her sustenance (2:11) so do the Israelites turn away from God and seek other gods.  And just as the harlot suffers for being unfaithful to her spouse, so will the Israelites suffer the same shame, humiliation and exile visited upon Gomer.  But just as Gomer repents, so do the Israelites repent.  Just as Hosea takes her back because he always has loved her, so will God remain true to His marriage with His people.

Keeping in mind the husband-wife, God-Israel metaphor, there is an interesting play on words in verse 18 that carries a message both for domestic relations and our relationship with God.  Bear with me since it takes a little bit of explaining.  According to verse 18, in the future, the wife-Israel, will refer to her husband-God as my “Ish” and not my “Baal.”  Both of these words may be translated as meaning husband.  “Ish” literally is translated to mean man or mortal.  It would carry the connotation of a partner.  On the other hand, Baal is the name of a Canaanite god whom apostate Israelites worshipped.  (You may remember him from the story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel.)  Baal also is translated as master, so a husband who is a Baal is the master to a wife who plays a servile role.  In the future, the Israelites will no longer follow Baal.  In the future, while God will still be God, the Israelites will accept the pro-active role that they have for bringing the message of the divine into the world of the mundane.

Theme-Link:  The sedrah begins with a counting of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness.  It is filled with the references to the number of our ancestors.  The haftarah opens with a reference to “the number of the children of Israel” which “shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered” (2:1).  Also the sedrah lists the head or “Rosh” of each tribe while the haftarah describes a future time when the Israelites will select a head or “Rosh.”

Customs and Ceremonies:  “And I will betroth you to Me forever; and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness, with justice, with kindness and with mercy; and I will betroth you to me with fidelity and you shall know the Lord” (Hosea 2:21-22).  These are the last two sentences in the haftarah.  They are also the lines uttered when wrapping the tefillin around the left hand.  This wrapping spells “Shadai” which is one of the names of God.  This is also reminiscent of the groom placing the betrothal ring on the bride’s finger.  So when we put on tefillin we are symbolically recommitting our betrothal to God.

(Pirke Avot is a collection of sayings, teachings, and ethical maxims.  A popular and eminently quotable work, it is one of the sixty-three tractates of the Mishnah.  The Mishnah, consisting of centuries of oral teachings passed down from one generation to the next, was finally codified by Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi in 200 C.E.  Pirke Avot is unique among the tractates of the Mishnah in that it doesn't contain any Halachah (law), only aggadah (stories or legends).  Its popularity is reflected in the fact that it is included in most prayer books (including, in part, in Gates of Prayer).  Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut one of the great teachers of the Reform Movement suggests that Pirke Avot "teaches us the essentials of what life might be at its best."  It deals with some of life's most basic and important questions:  What is our purpose and destiny?  What is sin, and how do we conquer it?  What is wisdom?  What is my relationship to God?  Pirke Avot is divided into chapters, and each chapter is further divided into individual statements, each called a Mishnah.  It is customary to study a chapter of Pirke Avot starting with the first Shabbat after the end of Pesach (Passover).  Since Pirke Avot consists of six chapters, the work may be completed by the start of Shavuot.  However, other groups of Jews follow a cycle where they study and re-study each of the chapters until the last Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.  Regardless of the format you choose, each week the Torah page will include one or more verses from the chapter of the week with a few comments from a variety of sources.)

Rabbi Chananyah ben Akashyah says:  “God desired to grant merit to Israel; that is why He gave them the Torah and the commandments in such abundance.  As it is said: ‘The Lord desired for the sake of His righteousness to make the Torah great and glorify it.’”

This statement is actually not a part of Chapter Six.  Rather it is the verse recited when concluding each of the six chapters of Pirke Avot.  The term “His righteousness” is interpreted to mean “the righteousness of Israel.”  For when the Israelites behave in a righteous manner, they are behaving in a manner that brings honor to the name and the teachings of God.  Rabbi Chananyah lived in the middle of the second century C.E.  The simple message of the verse is that the study of Torah and the performance of good deeds are each a “Divinely conferred privilege.”  On a more sophisticated level, he may have been asserting that there was no greater proof of God’s love for the Israelites than the multiplicity of mitzvoth that He had bestowed upon them.  This statement is found in the Mishnah.  Specifically, it comes from the last paragraph in Makkot (Lashes), the Fifth Tractate of Nezikin (Damages), which is the fourth of the sixth Orders in the Mishnah.  Avot, which we are studying as Pirke Avot, is the Ninth Tractate in Nezikin.

Chapter six is a little different from the first five chapters of Pirke Avot.  It is not from Avot, a tractate of the Mishnah.  Rather it collection of “baraisos.”  This is a plural form of the word “baraisa,” which means outside.  It refers to teachings that were not included in the Mishnah “but were preserved ‘outside’ of it.  They were written in the style of the Mishnah and supplement it.”  This collection of baraisos into a sixth chapter made it possible to have six readings for the six Shabbatot between Pesach and Shavuot.  “This chapter is studied on the Shabbat preceding Shavuot, the Festival commemorating the giving of the Torah because it deals with acquiring Torah knowledge.”  When not otherwise acknowledged, the verses in this chapter are credited to Rabbi Meir, the Rabbi mentioned in the opening words of the first verse.  Little is known about Reb Meir’s early life.  According to some, he was from Caesarea and was the son of a family of converts.  There is some credence to this since Caesarea was seaside city in Israel built by the Romans who preferred the cooling breezes of the Mediterranean to the heat of Jerusalem.  What we do know is that Meir was the most prominent of Rabbi Akiva’s students and his successor.  Meir was known for his unconventional and mystical interpretations.  When asked “whether the Shema must be recited aloud or whether it may be recited inaudibly, Meir replied: ‘In accordance with the concentration of the mind, so the value of he words.’  In other words, it doesn’t matter whether it is said silently or aloud; what matters is the sincerity with which it is recited.”  The household of Meir must have been a lively place since he was married to Beruryah, the daughter of a famous sage and a Torah scholar in her own right.

(6:4) “Seek not greatness for thyself, and court not honor; let thy deeds exceed thy learning; and crave not after the table of kings; for thy table is greater than theirs and thy crown is greater than theirs, and thy Employer is faithful to pay thee the reward of thy work.”

This is another pithy statement on the value of study and the need to avoid what the sages called “worldly ambition.”  It is consistent with other admonitions we have read about keeping your distance from those with temporal power.

(6:5) “Do not seek greatness for yourself and do not covet honor; let your performance be more than your learning.  Do not lust for the table of kings for your table is greater than their table, and your crown is greater than their crown; and your Employer is trustworthy to pay you’re the wage of your labor.”  “Do not seek greatness for yourself and do not covet honor” is another reminder that one should study Torah for the sake of studying Torah, not to gain fame or fortune.  It is a continuation of the concept that the reward for performing a Mitzvah is the performance of the Mitzvah itself.  “Do not lust for the table of kings” is a repetition of the previously seen admonition of not compromising one’s values for temporal gain.  As we have seen before, the “Employer” is God who is more reliable than any temporal figure of power be it a King or CEO.

(6:9) Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma, said, “I was once walking by the way, when a man met me and saluted me, and I returned the salutation.  He said to me, 'Rabbi, from what place art thou?'  I said to him, 'I come from a great city of sages and scribes.'  He said to me, 'If thou art willing to dwell with us in our place, I will give thee a thousand thousand golden dinars and precious stones and pearls.'  I said to him, 'Wert thou to give me all the silver and gold and precious stones and pearls in the world, I would not dwell anywhere but in a home of the Torah'; and thus it is written in the book of Psalms by the hands of David, King of Israel, 'The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver'; and not only so, but in the hour of man's departure neither silver nor gold nor precious stones nor pearls accompany him, but only Torah and good works, as it is said, 'When thou walkest it shall lead thee; when thou liest down it shall watch over thee; and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee'; 'when thou walkest it shall lead thee' - in this world; and 'when thou awakest it shall talk with thee' - in the world to come.  And it says, 'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.'“

According to some traditional commentary on this verse, the sage is reminding of us how much more valuable the study of Torah is than earthly wealth.  Furthermore, he is cautioning us not live in a community that does not value the study of Torah since the inclination to study might be overwhelmed by the prevailing communal value.  One might deduce a different lesson from this if one considers the history of the author.  Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma (Joseph the son of Kisma) lived at the time of the Bar Kochba Rebellion.  Reportedly he cautioned his fellow Rabbis not to take part in the war against Rome.  He was not involved in the fight and, unlike the Martyred Rabbis, was left alone by the Roman authorities.  In other words, he played it safe.  The question that his statement raises is what part of the world should not be a place for the study and practice of the Torah?  If we are only to live where Torah is already studied and practiced, how do we explain outreach programs such as that performed by the “Lubavitcher Lamplighters”?  Questions like this are appropriate when the accompanying Torah portion is from Bamidbar (Numbers).  According to some, the generation that left Egypt and listened to the advice of the Ten Spies, did not want to go into the Promised Land because they felt close to God in the Wilderness.  They were afraid that they would lose that affinity by going into Canaan, a dwelling where there was no Torah.  Consider what the world would be like if the Rebbe had not sent out a Shaliach or if a Chalutz had not made Aliyah, or if a Rabbi would only serve in a city with a large Jewish community instead of being willing to serve in a place with lone, small synagogue or temple like Cedar Rapids, IA.