The book of Bamidbar (Numbers) chronicles the experience of the Jewish Nation during their forty-year odyssey in the desert. It first details how they were camped in the desert and then describes what occurred during that time, including the incident of the spies and Korach’s rebellion. Certain laws are also mentioned, such as the commandment to wear tzitzis, fringes on a four-cornered garment.

The first portion in the book of Numbers, Parshas Badmidbar, begins with a census of the Jewish People. The Torah counts each of the twelve tribes separately and arrives at a total of 603,550 men between the ages of twenty and sixty (or an approximate total national population of 3 million people). The Torah then describes the encampment of the Jews. The Mishkan (Tabernacle) was placed at the center of the camp with the tribe of Levi around it, to safeguard it. The tribes were divided into four groups of three tribes each. One group flanked the Mishkan to its North and one group towards the South, East, and West sides, respectively. Each individual tribe flew its own flag in the encampment. riorit