“This week we begin the fourth book of Moshe, called B’midbar. Its English name comes from the fact that the initial chapters begin with a census taken of the entire assembly of ‘Am Yisra’el (People of Isra’el). Our parashah is very informative where the Tribes are concerned. Historically, the people stood poised to enter the Land which was promised to them through the Avot (Fathers), Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Ya’akov. War with the immediate inhabitants of the Land was inevitable, and HaShem was masterfully preparing a suitable army of those (20 years and older) who would be able to go in and fight.”