In a nutshell<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Parashat Naso \u05e0\u05b8\u05e9\u05b9\u05c2\u05d0\u200e “lift up”, 8,580 Levite men between the ages of 30 and 50 are counted in a tally of those who will be doing the actual work of transporting the Tabernacle. The parashah addresses priestly duties, camp purification, restitution for wrongs committed, the wife accused of unfaithfulness to her husband (\u05e1\u05d5\u05d8\u05d4\u200e, sotah), the laws of the nazir, who may not drink wine, shall let his or her hair grow long, and is forbidden to become contaminated through contact with a dead body. Ahron and his descendants, the kohanim, are instructed on how to bless the people of Israel, with Birkat Hakohanim, the Priestly Blessing, and the consecration of the Tabernacle. The leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel each bring their identical gift offerings for the inauguration of the altar on a different day. Naso has 311 lines in a Torah Scroll, the largest number of letters, words, and verses of any of the 54 weekly Torah portions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three pilgrimages <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are three major holidays mentioned in the Torah: Passover<\/strong>, Shavuot <\/strong>and Sukkot<\/strong>. In biblical times during these holidays Jews from all over the ancient world of the Mediterranean were traveling to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, they would participate in festivities and ritual worship in conjunction with the services of the kohanim (“priests”) at the Temple. These festivals were their core of a community-building experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past 2,000 years, since the cessation of the pilgrimages to the actual Temple in Jerusalem, after the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., and until the building of the Third Temple, the actual pilgrimages are no longer obligatory upon Jews. The pilgrimage festivals continued to be celebrated primarily as synagogue-based worship services. Prayers have replaced the animal sacrifices. In Israel many people still make an effort to attend prayer services at the Western Wall, the remnant of the Temple and one of the holiest sites in Judaism, emulating the ancient pilgrimages in a way, during Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n