Bamidbar book cover

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Numbers: The Wilderness Years
Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible

Publication Date: 1 May 2017

This collection makes Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ brilliant essays on the weekly Torah portion available in book form for the first time. Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under God’s sovereignty. This fourth volume in the five-volume series includes several concise essays for each portion of Numbers.

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The book of Numbers – in Hebrew, Bamidbar, “In the Wilderness” – is a key text for our time. It is among the most searching, self-critical books in all of literature about what Nelson Mandela called “the long walk to freedom.” Its message is that there is no shortcut to liberty. Numbers is not an easy book to read, nor is it an optimistic one. It is a sober warning set in the midst of a text – the Hebrew Bible – that remains the West’s master narrative of hope.

The Mosaic books, especially Exodus and Numbers, are about the journey from slavery to freedom and from oppression to law-governed liberty. On the map, the distance from Egypt to the Promised Land is not far. But the message of Numbers is that it always takes longer than you think. For the journey is not just physical, a walk across the desert. It is psychological, moral, spiritual. It takes as long as the time needed for human beings to change... You cannot arrive at freedom merely by escaping from slavery. It is won only when a nation takes upon itself the responsibilities of self-restraint, courage and patience. Without that, a journey of a few hundred miles can take forty years. Even then, it has only just begun.
 


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quotemarks
Rabbi Sacks’ gift to his readers is his lucid explanations that make use of stories from the Jewish tradition, scholarly explanations, and personal philosophies in a humane and kind tone that illustrates his intense love and knowledge of his topic and a deep respect for the reader… a fresh look at the text and original contribution to the ongoing conversation of our tradition.
Jewish Book World
Concise yet profound, these frequently poetic ruminations make for perfect reading for the lay person or scholar.
Rabbinical Council of America
A great scholar and a great communicator, Rabbi Sacks has done a superb job in crafting commentary that is erudite and accessible to the average reader.
The Jewish Standard
Powerfully interwoven themes transform years of careful reflection into the fresh insights of a moment… Jonathan Sacks at his philosophical, exegetical best.
The Jewish Chronicle