In this moving conversation, we explore the book of Numbers through the lens of a short journey to a promised land that suddenly went awry, in search of emotional guidance in the face of a war that has continued for longer than the Israeli public anticipated. What does the book of Bamidbar have to tell us about daily life in the face of fear? Why does living in proximity to God feel so scary sometimes? What was the greatest strength of the wilderness generation?

This episode is dedicated in memory of Maj. (res.) Eliav Abitbol, a childhood neighbor of our guest who fell in Lebanon on Oct. 26th, 2024 and is survived by his wife, Tal, and their four children.

Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-based writer and educator, who lectures internationally about the intersections between Jewish texts, life in Israel, and the art of storytelling. In addition to teaching torah at Matan, Pardes and other, online, venues, Rachel is the co-editor of the recently published anthologies of prayers "Az Nashir: We Will Sing Again - Women's Prayers for Our Time of Need" and "Az Nashir: Between Silence & Song -- Women’s Prayers for Our Days of Remembrance & Celebration" and is currently working on a book about family stories in the Book of Judges as a Sefaria fellow.

This is a special podcast miniseries produced by Matan and hosted by Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble which will drop each week of the Omer counting between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuot. In each episode, a Bible scholar explores an iconic biblical text in light of the changing Israeli, Jewish, and world realities.