19 May Parshas Bamidbar; The Powers of the 12 Tribes and an intro to the Kabbalistic Zodiac
Parshas Bamidbar
The Powers of the 12 Tribes and an intro to the Kabbalistic Zodiac
Inspired by the teachings of Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh and Rabbi Moshe Genuth
In parshas Bamidbar a census was taken for the 3rd time. This taking of the census however was not just to count the collective numbers of Jews but included the counting of each member of each tribe. Each tribe had a unique attributes (powers) and a relationship to the calendar months. Although we may say we have ‘lost 10 Tribes upon the Final Redemption when Moshiach arrives there will once again be a determining of tribal heritage and tribal attributes (powers) which would include relationship to; month, letter, zodiac, sign, sense, controller (body part), color. These are mesorah (traditional teachings) of the Kabbalistic Zodiac.
We can take note that the diagram is constructed of 6 triangles plus 6 triangles in the ‘negative’ space as is the form of the Star of David.
The Mishkan stood in the center of the camp, surrounded by the tents of the Levites. Beyond the Levite camp were the camps of the twelve tribes. To the east were the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, together comprising the greater “Camp of Judah.” To the south was the
“Camp of Reuben,” encompassing the camps of Reuben, Simeon and Gad. To the west, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin made up the “Camp of Ephraim.” To the north was the “Camp of Dan” with Dan, Asher and Naphtali.
This formation was preserved as the people journeyed through the desert, with the Camp of Judah at the head of the procession and the Camp of Dan bringing up the rear.
Where there is the idea that we have ‘lost’ 10 of the tribes, the powers of those tribes are still amongst toda and will be resurrected at the time of the Final Redemption and Moshiach.
Leib Getzel (Lawrence) Lax
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