Counting People as an Expression of Love and Appreciation
B”H
Rabbi Daniela Szuster
This week we are starting the fourth book of the Torah, the book of B’midvar, which means “in the Wilderness” because it describes the wandering of the people of Israel in the desert.
This book is known in English as “Numbers” because of the census that is described in the first chapter. In some Rabbinic texts, it is called “Sefer Hap’kudim”, “The book of the census”.
It is written in the beginning of this book: “On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying: Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms”. (B’midvar 1:1-3).
Why did God asked Moses to take a census at this point?
Mainly for military purposes. They were about to enter the land of Israel and had to get ready in case they had to fight. They needed to know how many people they had in order to organize the camp for a possible war.
However, Ramban finds another explanation. According to Ramban, the census testifies to the miracle of Israel’s survival and increase despite the efforts of Pharaoh and Amalek and the rigors of the wilderness journey. He points to the enduring lesson of Jewish history: We have not succumbed in spite of devastating losses and persecution. So, the census shows the miracle of the existence of the people of Israel despite all their enemies.
Rashi finds another explanation (Rashi on Bamidvar 1:1): “Because they were dear to Him, He counted them often. When they left Egypt, He counted them (Exod. 12:37); when [many] fell because [of the sin] of the golden calf, He counted them to know the number of the survivors (Exod. 32:28); when He came to cause His Divine Presence (Shechina) to rest among them, He counted them. On the first of Nissan, the Mishkan was erected (Exod. 40:2), and on the first of Iyar, He counted them”.
According to Rashi, the census was an expression of God’s love of His people. Rashi mentions different moments where the people of Israel were counted. They were very important to God so He wanted to count them from time to time, showing them that He is concerned about them and thinks about them.
There is a Midrash that compares God to a person who has a store of precious jewels. From time to time, this person would take out the jewels and count them to take pleasure in their beauty and to be reassured that they were all safely there (Bamidvar Rabbah 4:2).
Therefore, we may affirm that the census was a way for God to express His love and show His concern for His people.
There is a Midrash that affirms that ten times the people of Israel were counted in the Tanach (Bible). Sometimes, it was after a crisis. Maybe, at those times God wanted to tell them through the census that despite their sins, mistakes and conflicts that He loves and forgives them.
It is interesting that we usually think that a census deals with numbers, people are considered only as numbers, but here we find that the objective of the census is more than to have a final number. It is about an expression of love and concern.
If you are counted, it means that you are taken into consideration. Someone is having you in mind. You are counted because you belong to a special group.
Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev connects the final total of 603.550 Israelites (verse 46) to a tradition that there are 603.550 letters in the Torah. Just as the absence of one letter renders a Torah scroll not kosher, the loss of even one Jew prevents Israel from fulfilling its divine mission. So, all of us are very important, like the letters of the Torah.
Thinking about counting, we usually count people for the Miniyan. We count because we need at least 10 people to make a Miniyan, to read the Torah and pray specific prayers. Counting people for a Miniyan is similar to the way God counted His people. When we count, we also are expressing our love and appreciation. We are saying that you are important to us, we are thinking of you, and if you are not here, it is not the same.
This is what we mean by community, to have in mind our people and appreciate their participation.
Therefore, we mainly learn two things from the census in the book of Bamidvar:
– The census is a way to objectively prove that the people of Israel could survive and grow in spite of their enemies. We are alive; we are now many Jews living around the world, and we desire to continue practicing and living our tradition.
-The census is an expression God’s love for us. It is a way of appreciating and taking care of our people as the owner of the jewelry did with his jewels.
So, let’s count our people in order to express our love and recognition.
Shabbat shalom!