Why is Seifer Bamidbar called 'Chomesh ha'Pekudim'?
Rashi (in Sotah, 36b): Because it begins with the appointment of the Nesi'im of the tribes. 1
Sh'lah (based on the Pesikta): Because B'nei Yisrael are counted in it [at the beginning and towards the end]. 2
What is the connection between the current Parshah and the previous one?
Ramban (in his Introduction to Seifer Bamidbar): Notwithstanding the break to present the Dinim of Shemitah and Yovel, 1 having discussed the Korbanos in Seifer Vayikra, the Torah now discusses the Ohel Mo'ed 2 - how they guarded it and its Keilim, how they encamped around it and how the people kept their distance, and how the Kohanim behaved when they were encamped, when they carried it and when they guarded it.
Ba'al ha'Turim: The Torah juxtaposes "be'Midbar Sinai" to "Eileh ha'Mitzvos" to teach us that unless a person makes himself Hefker like a desert he is not capable of becoming conversant with Torah and Mitzvos. 3
Oznayim la'Torah #1 (at the end of Bechukosai): Until now, the Torah was dealing with the Mitzvos that were said on Har Sinai; 4 from now on, it deals with those that were said in the Ohel Mo'ed. 5
Oznayim la'Torah #2: Yisrael were counted because Hashem loves them 6 and He only rests Hois Shechinah among them because of their pure pedigree - which the nations of the world cannot match. The Torah now juxtaposed the current Parshah to that of Temurah, to teach us that, even if the roles of Yisrael and the nations are ever reversed, 'Lo Yachelifenu ve'Lo Yamir oso' - Hashem will never exchange Yisrael for another nation. 7
What is the basic difference between the Mitzvos that are said in Seifer Bamidbar and those that were said previously?
Ramban (in his introduction to Seifer Bamidbar): The latter all relate to Mitzvos 1 that were commanded in the desert and that applied only at that time. 2
Ramban: Or to the miracles that they experienced - in order to relate the wondrous deeds that Hashem performed with them (It is unclear why the Ramban does not include the incidents where they sinned and the punishments that they received?)
Ramban: With the exception of a few Mitzvos and matters of Korbanos, the details of which they were not commanded earlier.
Why did Hashem order the counting of Yisrael at this time?
Rashi: Because Hashem was coming to rest His Shechinah on them, 1 one month after the Mishkan was erected.
Rashbam (on Pasuk 2): Because they were about to enter Eretz Yisrael, 2 and begin the conquest of the land and all those above the age of twenty (who were being counted) were eligible for conscription.
Seforno (on Pasuk 2): To prepare them to enter Eretz Yisrael and to posses it without raising a sword. 3
Moshav Zekenim: [He would have counted them earlier, only, until now, they were busy with building the Mishkan, erecting it, and with the Korbanos of the Nesi'im and Chanukas ha'Mizbe'ach. 4
Oznayim la'Torah #1: To elevate their status to tha hosts of Hashem - like the hosts of angels that came down at Matan Torah surrounding the Merkavah.
Oznayim la'Torah #2: To demonstrate to the nations of the world their pure family lineage. 5
Oznayim la'Torah #3. Refer to 1:1:6:3.
See Sifsei Chachamim.
Rashbam: See Beha'aloscha, 10:11 & 29.
Seforno: Because had they not sinned by the Meraglim, the Cana'anim would all have fled - as indeed some of them (the Girgashi) ultimately did, as the Pasuk states in Yeshayah, 17:9. See also Rashi in Devarim, 1:8. However, during the forty years that Yisrael were in the desert they deteriorated to such an extent that, when Yisrael entered the land, they had to be destroyed.
This seems to clash with the Midrash that the work for the Mishkan was completed on the twenty-fifth of Kislev. Refer to Sh'mos 39:32:1:1*. Moreover, He could have counted them after Pesach! (PF).
In answer to their question as to why the Shechinah dwelt with Yisrael and not with them. See Oznayim la'Torah.
Hashem counted Yisrael when they left Egypt and after they fell at the Eigel. Why did He need to count them at every opportunity?
Rashi #1: It is a sign that Hashem loves Yisrael. 1 Consequently, one month after He rested His Shechinah on them (on the first of Nisan), He counted them again.
Rashi #2 (in Pinchas, 26:1) and Moshav Zekenim: Hashem appointed Moshe over B'nei Yisrael. It is normal to count a flock when it is given to a shepherd, and when he returns them. 2 :
Da'as Zekenim and Hadar Zekenim #1 (both in Pasuk 2 and both citing the B'chor Shor): He counted them now because the previous censuses did not detail the total number of each tribe.
Hadar Zekenim: Hashem did not actually count them when they left Egypt, only the Torah said that there were approximately six hundred thousand men. This is actually the first census, which was synonymous with the count mentioned in Pekudei, where it was mentioned due to the calculation of the silver.
Ramban (on Pasuk 45): Based on Iyov, 12:23 & 5:18, that love is expressed by the fact that, although when He punishes the nations of the world, He destroys them, when He punishes Yisrael, He crushes them temporarily and withdraws.
Which is why Hashem will count Yisrael again (in Perek 26) shortly before Moshe's death - in Pinchas, 27:13 (PF).
Why does the Torah need to mention the fact that this took place in the Ohel Mo'ed?
Ramban (introduction to Seifer Bamidbar): Having interrupted the sequence with the Mitzvos concerning Shemitah and Yovel, which were told to Moshe on Sinai, 1 it mentions that, from now on, the Mitzvos will be said in the Ohel Mo'ed, like those that were said from the beginning of Vayikra until Parshas B'har.
Rashbam: In connection with all the commands that Hashem issued in the first year - before the Mishkan was erected, the Torah writes "Har Sinai"; 2 Once the Mishkan was erected, it writes "be'Midbar Sinai be'Ohel Mo'ed".
Oznayim la'Torah: The Torah presents the date and the fact that the census took place in Midbar Sinai to make it clear that, although the numbers tally with the census that took place before the Mishkan was built 3 - the half-Shekalim of which which were used to manufacture the sockets of the Mishkan - they cannot be one and the same census. 4 Bearing in mind that the Torah reckons their birthdays on Rosh Hashanah, this means that, from the moment they began donating towards the Mishkan after Yom Kipur until the twentieth of Iyar, more than six months later, nobody died! 5
See Vayikra 25:2.
Rashbam: See, for example, Ki Sisa, Sh'mos 31:18. This is also borne out by the fact that, later, in 3:1. the Torah inserts the words "Ve'eileh Toldos Aharon u'Moshe ... be'Yom Diber es Moshe ... be'Har Sinai", which it adds because, once the Mishkan was erected, Aharon's children no longer numbered four, but two, as the Torah stresses there, in Pasuk 4.
See 2.32 and Pikudei,, Sh'mos, 38:26.
See Oznayim la'Torah, DH 'ba'Midbar Sinai ... '.
Refer also to Sh'mos, 30:16:3:1* and to 2:4:1:1*.
What is the difference between the Mitzvos that were said on Har Sinai and those that were said in the Ohel Mo'ed?
Ramban (in his introduction to Bamidbar) and Moshav Zekenim: There is no basic difference between them. The Torah confines the Shechinah to an enclosed space in the Mishkan, 1 just as it was on Har Sinai; 2 It commands that 'a Zar who approaches will die' - later, in 1:51 & 18:7 - just as it did on Har Sinai; 3 'Not to come and watch as the Kodesh is put away' - in 4:20 - just as they were commanded at Har Sinai 4 and that the Kohanim should guard the Mishkan and the Mizbe'ach - in Korach, 18:5 - just as they were at Har Sinai. 5 .
Why does the Torah detail the exact date and location?
Rosh: This can be compared to a man who married a woman wthout writing a Kesubah, who then divorced her without a Get. He did the same with two other women. He then saw a woman of great lineage, whom he married with a Kesubah which detailed the location and the date. Similarly, after creating the world, Hashem ddestroyed the Dor ha'Mabul, the Dor ha'Felagah and the cities of S'dom, without specifying when they were created or when they were destroyed. But when dealing with the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov he decided that they would be different - that He would specify the time and location..
Refer to 1:1:6:3.
What is the significance of the fact that Hashem spoke to Moshe in the desert?
Moshav Zekenim and Rosh: Hashem gave the Torah via three things that are Hefker; fire, 1 water 2 and in the desert - to teach us that like them, the Torah is for free. 3
Refer to 1:1:3:1 and notes.
Refer to 1:1:151:2.
See Yisro Sh'mos, 19:18
See Shoftim, 5:4.
Moshav Zekenim: However, one who teaches may receive wages for what he could have earned; teachers of children were paid from Terumas ha'Lishkah. Also Ta'anis 24a implies that one may be paid to teach children.
