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Home » B'Midbar Parshah

B’Midbar : The Counting Paradox

Submitted by on May 21, 2006 – 3:09 amNo Comment | 2,186 views

To Count or not to Count?

In this week’s Torah reading, (1), we read, in detail, about one of the several censuses taken of the Children of Israel in the years following their Exodus from Egypt.

Counting the Jewish people creates a paradox. On the one hand, our sages tell us that G-d wants our census taken because he loves us: precious things are counted and recounted by the one to whom they are dear. On the other hand, census taking can be a harmful endeavor that exposes us to great danger. Our sages speak of the “evil eye” that can befall a people when they are enumerated.

This is because a census achieves two contrary aims. By focusing on the total sum of the nation, it asks the individual to suspend his individuality for the purpose of the count. At the same time, by arriving at a number that is comprised of the sum of its parts, all Jews are forced to ask themselves if they are worthy of contributing to the total.

Every Jew is a child of G-d and is therefore beloved to G-d as children are beloved to their father. Individual level of observance does not enhance or detract from this love. G-d’s love for the Jewish people is, at least on this level, universal. This is reflected in a census because every Jew contributes equally to the total number regardless of his or her level of piety or observance. (2)

On the other hand, the individual’s lack of piety exposes the whole nation to the danger of a census. Drawing attention to the strength of our numbers arouses the jealousy of our neighbors, which in turn exposes us to the dangers of the evil eye. The evil eye is aroused when one’s actions trigger thoughts of jealousy in a neighbor’s mind.

When others think jealously of our success, G-d questions whether we deserve it any more than our neighbors do. Since every individual contributes to the total sum of the nation, it is appropriate for G-d to scrutinize the behavior of the individual in judging the fate of the nation. The consequence for the entire nation can be catastrophic. (3)

Counting by not Counting

It is for this reason that G-d instructed the Jewish people to offer a coin of atonement to charity when their census was taken. This contribution was to offer protection against exposure to the dangers of the evil eye. (4)

The coin had another significance. When Moses took the census, he did not count the people. counting - innerstreamHe counted their coins. Each person gave one coin, and the total number of coins comprised the census of the nation. This method removes the evil eye by one more step. The Jews who were susceptible to the evil eye were not counted, at least not directly. The inanimate coins that were counted were naturally not susceptible to the evil eye. (5)

This is why the common practice today in counting for a Minyan is to count by subtraction. We don’t say one, two, three, etc. Instead we say not one, not two, not three, etc. In this way, it cannot be said that one has counted Jews. One has clearly not counted them.

Another common method is to utilize the words of a ten-word verse from the Torah. Instead of tracking the completion of a Minyan by saying one, two, three as we count the individuals in the room, we utter one of the ten words from the verse as each man arrives. In this way we have not counted, but merely recited a verse of Torah. This method is even more advantageous as the merit of the Torah offers further protection from the evil eye.

In his day, King Saul took a census of the Jewish people two different times and implemented similar precautions. Once he asked each person to take  one sheep from the royal herd and then counted the sheep. Another time he asked each Jew to give one stone (or according to some opinions, a pottery shard) and he counted the stones (or shards.) (6)

King David, on the other hand, once commissioned a census of the Jewish people and did not employ these precautions. As a direct result, the nation was punished and some of its glory was removed. (7)

In a Time of Merit

The vulnerability to which we are exposed through the census is a concern only when we are afraid that we would be found lacking in virtue if we should be judged by G-d. When the Jewish people are in a meritorious state, we are clearly safe from the negative consequence of the census. At a time like that, the census will be only positive and will present no danger whatsoever. (8)

This may be one reason why the Jews are compared to stars of heaven. Every star is a shining luminescence, yet one star on its own would barely be noticed here on earth. It is only through the combination of the light from millions of stars that a beautiful canopy of points of light appears to us.

When a group of Jews are numbered the individual shines through the total sum. It is true that in comparison to the whole, the individual pales, yet his contribution is vital and very much present.

On an even deeper level the Jewish people are compared to one very large human body. There are many limbs on the human body, and every one of them provides a crucial function that cannot be duplicated by another. No single limb makes up the entire body, yet without any one limb, the body would be deformed and even handicapped. A healthy body is comprised of individual healthy limbs working perfectly together. (9)

As long as every star shines or every limb is healthy, there is no danger to the greater body. Once the individual star dims or the individual limb weakens, the impact upon the entire body can be felt.

We now understand why our sages taught that a census should only be taken when the Jewish people are in a meritorious state. When the individual Jew shines like a star and contributes to the Jewish people in a positive sense, then shining a spotlight on him is advantageous to the whole. When the Jew does not fulfill the will of G-d, then taking the census of the people underscores the paucity of the individual’s contribution, and that can impact negatively upon the entire nation.

A Turn of Phrase

This paradox is reflected in the choice of terminology that the Torah employs with regard to the census. Instead of the asking Moses to count the Jewish people, G-d asked Moses to raise the Jewish people. The Hebrew word for “raise’ is “seu”. The word “seu” has dual connotations. It means to raise but it also means to remove. It is used in the Torah in a positive sense, as in raising oneself to a higher level, but also in a negative sense, as in Yosef’s prediction to the Egyptian minister of baking, “Pharoah will raise, i.e. remove, your heads from your shoulders.” (10)

The Torah also uses the Hebrew word “lifkod,” which means to count. The literal translation of the world lifkod is to remember. Indeed, when something is counted, it is remembered. But the same word also means to be absent. The dual translation of this word also raises notions of paradox. (11)

When someone counts a group of people, the individuals being counted are at once raised and removed, remembered and absent. On the one hand, every individual is asked to remove himself and his individuality for the greater benefit of the whole group. This raises the individual to the level of the whole. On the other hand, every individual is crucial in comprising the total number of the group. In this sense, the individual is very much remembered. (12)

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:1-4:20
  2. See commentary of Rashi to Numbers 1; 1 and Likutei SIchos v. 8 p. 1
  3. See Commentary of Klei Yakar on Exodus 30; 12 and Numbers 1; 1. For an alternate view of the evil eye, see Noam Elimelech on Numbers 1; 1. In fact, our sages considered the counting of Jewish people a Biblical prohibition. Bab. Talmud Yoma 22b
  4. See commentary of Rashi, Numbers 1; 2. See also Ramban and Malbim, ibid. For an alternate view, see Kli Yakar and Abarbenel, ibid., and Ramban on Exodus 30; 12
  5. See Commentary of Rashi and Ramban on Exodus 30; 12
  6. Samuel I 11; 8 and 15; 4. For the alternate views on stones versus pottery shards, see commentary of Rashi, ibid. See also commentary of Orach Chayim on Exodus 30; 12
  7. Samuel II chapter 22. See also Bab. Talmud Berachos 62b. For commentary, read commentary of Ramban, Numbers 1;1, li Yakar Numbers 1, 2 and Orach Chayim on Exodus 30, 12. See also commentary of Radak and Ralbag on Samuel II 24; 1. Several commentators argue that David did make use of coins in taking his census. The problem was that his motivation for the census itself was self serving, either to boast about the glory of his kingdom or to determine the strength of his army. In either case, this was wrong because he should have been humble and placed his trust in G-d. Most commentators, however, agree that David did not use coins in taking his census.
  8. Bab. Talmud Yoma 22b. This follows the commentary of Noam Elimelech Numbers 1;1. It is important to note that the conventional reading of this text (as detailed also in Bamidbar Rabbah) 2; 18 is in the reverse. When the Jews are meritorious, they are not countable since their numbers exceed that of the stars in heaven.
  9. See Commentary of Malbim Numbers 1; 2. See also Kli Yakar, ibid., for an interesting perspective on emphasizing the individual star within the greater canopy.
  10. See Commentary of Ramban and R. Bachya on Numbers 1; 2. In talking to two of Pharoah’s ministers who were incarcerated for insubordinate acts, Joseph predicted that one would be reinstated and the other would be executed. In both cases, Joseph used the Hebrew word “seu.” Pharoah will raise your head and return you to your post.. Pharoah will raise your head from you.” (Genesis 13 and 19) See also Leviticus 9; 4.
  11. See Samuel I 2; 18. And Yehonotan said to David, “Tomorrow is the first of the month and you will be remembered, for your seat will be empty (you will be absent from your seat).” See Sefer Maamarim Melukat v. 5 p. 243 for an in-depth explanation of why the contrary words remembered and empty are reflected in the same Hebrew word.
  12. This may explain a curious Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 2; 17.) The Midrash states that Moses compared the Jewish people to stars, Billam compared them to dust and Hoshea compared them to sand. The Midrash comments that Moses spoke out of love for the Jews, Bilam spoke out of hatred and Hoshea spoke from a position of neutrality.It is quite possible that the Midrash refers to a time when the Jewish people are in a meritorious state and drawing attention to the individual is beneficial to the nation.

    The difference between stars, earth and sand is in the emphasis on the individual. There are a vast number of stars but independent of the others, each star is individually luminescent. Particles of dust are individually useless. Their strength lies in numbers. When many particles are made moist and clump together, they are capable of hosting a growing seed. Sand lies somewhere in between.  A grain of sand has no particular value, yet when many grains are fashioned into forms and shapes, you can appreciate each grain of sand in its position in the greater castle.

    A lover of Jews would point out that each Jew shines individually and contributes to the greatness of the whole. A hater of Jews would deny these individual contributions and acknowledge only the achievements of the whole. The neutral one would recognize the individual, but not trumpet his contribution.

 

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