Bamidbar

Bamidbar (בַּמִּדְבָּר) is a Hebrew word, which is the fifth word of the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Torah (the first five books of the Tanach, or Hebrew Bible). It means "In the wilderness", ba midbar.

When used as a noun, Bamidbar might refer to:

Bemidbar (parsha)

Bemidbar, BeMidbar, or B'midbar (בְּמִדְבַּר – Hebrew for "in the desert of" [Sinai], the fifth overall and first distinctive word in the parashah), often called Bamidbar or Bamidbor (בַּמִדְבָּר – Hebrew for "in the desert"), is the 34th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the first in the book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 1:1–4:20. The parashah is made up of 7,393 Hebrew letters, 1,823 Hebrew words, and 159 verses, and can occupy about 263 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah).

Jews generally read it in May or early June.

The parashah tells of the census and the priests' duties.

Readings

In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or עליות, aliyot.

First reading – Numbers 1:1–19

In the first reading (עליה, aliyah), in the wilderness, in the second month of the second year following the Exodus from Egypt, God directed Moses to take a census of the Israelite men age 20 years and up, "all those in Israel who are able to bear arms." In verses 5 to 15 the heads of each of the tribes or army divisions are named.