Making sense of the sedra: Bamidbar

Sunday 10 May might come to be remembered as a turning point for the Jewish community in the UK.

The rally outside Downing Street was more than a protest. It felt like a reset – a moment when British Jews, together with friends and allies, stood tall and refused to accept the normalisation of antisemitism. After months of intimidation, isolation, and fear, there was something deeply moving about seeing thousands gather not in silence or shame, but with dignity, pride, and moral clarity.

And perhaps fittingly, this week we also begin a new chapter in the Torah: the book of Bamidbar.

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Bamidbar opens with the Jewish people arranged carefully around the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary at the centre of the camp. But what is the significance of the Mishkan’s central position? In explanation, the Midrash describes the Mishkan not merely as a place of worship, but as a form of protection: “He guards them as the apple of his eye!… How much did he guard them? How much did he protect them… telling them to make a Tabernacle for him to dwell among them.”

Rav Dessler explains that there are two forms of strength. One is external and dependent on outside conditions. The other is internal – rooted in identity, purpose, and the knowledge that God dwells “within them.”

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Outwardness always remains vulnerable. When our confidence depends solely on public approval, political trends, or social acceptance, it can quickly disappear when those conditions change. And over the past months, many Jews have experienced precisely that shock. Institutions we trusted have disappointed us. Voices we assumed would speak up have remained silent. Friendships and alliances that felt secure have sometimes proven fragile.

But Bamidbar reminds us that Jewish survival has never depended purely on the outside world. Our ancestors lived in a wilderness surrounded by uncertainty, hostility, and danger. What protected them was not merely physical defence, but the Mishkan at the centre of the camp – the presence of God within the nation itself. Their strength came from inwardness: from knowing who they were even when the world around them was unstable.

That may be one of the great lessons of this moment for the Jewish community in the UK and around the world. Of course, we continue to fight antisemitism publicly and unapologetically. But alongside that external struggle must come an internal strengthening: deeper Jewish pride, stronger communities, more Torah learning, visible commitment to Jewish life. Because the greatest protection for the Jewish people has never only been what stands around us, but what stands within us.

Perhaps that is why Bamidbar begins not with a battle, but with the Mishkan at the centre. Before the Jewish people could face the wilderness, they needed an inner core that could not be shaken by the noise outside.

As we begin this new book, and perhaps a new chapter for our community, that is the challenge before us: not only to stand against antisemitism, but to stand more deeply within our Judaism.

Rabbi Alex Chapper is at Borehamwood & Elstree Synagogue