MaseiBamidbar (numbers)

They journeyed from Eitam and returned to Pi HaChirot, which faces Ba’al Tzefon, and camped before Migdol.

They journeyed from Eilim and camped by the Sea of Reeds.

They journeyed from the Sea of Reeds and camped in the Sin desert.

They journeyed from the Sin desert and camped at Dofkah.

They journeyed from Dofkah and camped at Alush.

They journeyed from Alush and camped at Refidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink.

At Mount Sinai
They journeyed from Refidim and camped in the Sinai desert.

They journeyed from the Sinai desert and camped at Kivrot HaTa’avah.

They journeyed from Kivrot HaTa’avah and camped at Chatzeirot.

They journeyed from Chatzeirot and camped at Ritmah. The word ritmah means “slander”; this place was so named because it was here that the spies slandered the Land of Israel.

They journeyed from Kadeish and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of Edom.

Aaron’s Death
Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at GOD’s bidding and died there “by God’s kiss,” on the first day of Av, the fifth month, in the 40th year of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

Aaron was 123 years old when he died at Mount Hor.

Amalek Attacks
The Amalekite king of Arad, disguised as a Canaanite, who dwelt in the south of Canaan, heard that Aaron died when the Israelites came to Mount Hor, and therefore attacked them.

They journeyed from Mount Hor and camped at Tzalmonah.

They journeyed from Tzalmonah and camped at Punon.

They journeyed from Ovot and camped by The Ruins of the Passes, on the Moabite border.

They journeyed from The Ruins of the Passes and camped at Divon Gad.

They journeyed from Divon Gad and camped at Almon Divlataimah.

At the Threshold of the Land of Israel
They journeyed from The Mountains of the Passes and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.

They camped along the Jordan River; their encampment extended from Beit Yeshimot to Aveil, the plain of Shitim, in the plains of Moab, a distance of 24,000 cubits. From this chronicle, it is clear that God did not exhaust the people by making them wander continuously during the 38 years between the sin of the spies and the entry into the land. Of the 42 stations, 14 occurred between the Exodus (15 Nisan 2448) and the decree (9 Menachem Av, 2449), and 8 between Kadeish (1 Nisan 2487) and the plains of Moab (after Tishrei 2488). The people spent 19 years at Ritmah (from 2449 to 2468), so, in the remaining 19 years (between 2469 and 2487), they camped at only 20 stations. They thus spent an average of a year at each of these stations.

You will be privileged to give the land as an inheritance to your families by lot, as I have told you: you will give a larger inheritance to the large tribe and you will give a smaller inheritance to the small tribe; wherever the lot falls for a person, that will be his inheritance; you will inherit according to the tribes of your fathers who came out of Egypt, and furthermore, you will inherit the land in 12 districts, according to the tribes of your fathers.

The Boundaries of the Land
GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

For the tribe of Reuben’s descendants according to their fathers’ house, the tribe of Gad’s descendants according to their fathers’ house, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already taken their inheritance.

These two-and-a-half tribes have taken their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, opposite Jericho.”

The prince for the tribe of the descendants of Dan, Buki son of Yogli.

For the descendants of Joseph: the prince for the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh, Chani’eil son of Eifod;

and the prince for the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim, Kemu’eil son of Shiftan.

The prince for the tribe of the descendants of Zebulun, Elitzafan son of Parnach.

The prince for the tribe of the descendants of Issachar, Palti’eil son of Azan.

The prince for the tribe of the descendants of Asher, Achihud son of Shelomi.

The prince for the tribe of the descendants of Naphtali, Pedah’eil son of Amihud.

These are the ones whom GOD commanded to assign the Israelites their estates in Canaan.”

Levite Cities
GOD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River, opposite Jericho, saying,

“Since the tribe of Levi will receive no portion of the land, command the rest of the Israelites that they give the Levites cities in which to dwell from their hereditary estates, and tell them also: ‘You must give the Levites open spaces around the cities, which are not to be used for residential purposes.

These cities must be theirs for dwelling in, and their open spaces must be for their cattle, their property, and for all their other needs.

The areas of open space around the cities that you must give the Levites for pasture must extend from the wall of the city outward, one thousand cubits all around. In addition, you must give them another thousand cubits in each direction for cultivating crops.

Thus, you must measure from outside the city 2000 cubits on the eastern side, 2000 cubits on the southern side, 2000 cubits on the western side, and 2000 cubits on the northern side, with the city in the middle; this will be their cities’ extended open spaces.

The cities you must give the Levites must include the six cities of refuge whose function will be described presently, which you must provide as places to which a murderer can flee. In addition to them, you must provide the Levites with 42 other cities.

Thus, all the cities you must give the Levites will number 48 cities; give them to them together with their open spaces.

And as for the cities that you must give the Levites from the Israelites’ estates, you must take more land from a tribe with a larger land-inheritance and less land from a tribe with a smaller one, so that each tribe gives of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the estate that it will eventually take possession of.’”

Cities of Refuge
GOD now gave Moses the laws of the cities of refuge. He spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan River, into Canaan,

you must designate six cities for yourselves that will serve as cities of refuge for you: a murderer who killed a person unintentionally but nonetheless is guilty of negligence must flee there from the close relative of the murdered person who, in such a case, is allowed to avenge the victim’s death, as will be explained presently.

These cities must serve you as a refuge for the unintentional murderer from this avenger, so that the unintentional murderer not die until he stands in judgment before the community’s judges.

The cities that you provide will function as cities of refuge only when all six cities of refuge have been designated for you.’” Thus, even though Moses later designated three cities in Transjordan as cities of refuge, they did not begin to function as refuge cities until the three in Canaan were also designated.

God foresaw that there would be a similar number of incidences of unintentional murder on both sides of the Jordan River, even though only two and a half of the 12 tribes settled on the east side, so He told Moses to tell the people, “You must provide three of the cities in Transjordan and three of the cities in Canaan to serve as cities of refuge.

These six cities will provide refuge for both the Israelites and for the convert and resident alien among them, so that anyone who unintentionally kills a person can flee there.

Intentional Murder
Now, these cities do not offer asylum for an intentional murderer: If the assailant struck the victim intentionally with an iron instrument of any size and he died, he is a full murderer; such a murderer must be put to death.

Or if he struck him with a fist-sized wooden instrument, which is large enough to be deadly, and he dies, he is a full murderer; such a murderer must be put to death. (If, however, the stone or wooden instrument was not large enough to cause death normally, but the victim died of the blow anyway, the assailant is not guilty of intentional murder.)

You must not defile the land where you reside, in which I dwell, for this will cause Me to dwell in defilement, inasmuch as I am GOD, who continues to dwell among the Israelites even if they are defiled.”

The Laws of Inheritance
The paternal heads of the family of the sons of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the families of the sons of Joseph, approached and spoke before Moses and the princes, the paternal heads of the Israelites, when they were all assembled for study. They asked Moses about the law and addressed the princes as litigants.