Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish life

Counting

This week’s parashah talks about counting, with its name Naso referring to taking a census. In turn, it is part of the biblical book called Numbers because of the census recorded in its first chapter.

Our Jewish tradition is adverse to counting; counting what you have may cause you to lose it. In the first biblical mention of a census of the people, we read: “And each should pay a ransom…when being counted, so no plague may come upon them in their being counted”. To avert calamity, the Israelites were counted by means of the half-shekel which each donated for the upkeep of the Tabernacle. Likewise, today, in counting a minyan, we recite a verse from Psalms containing ten words rather than directly counting ten people.

In our world, when one’s identity is said to be secured through a Personal Identification Number, we understand how one might be discounted through counting. COVID-19 has compelled us to count. In the growing count of its collective victims, we lose sight of the individuals who have passed without loved ones by their side or proper funerals to honour them and their place in our lives.

The Kabbalah teaches that the souls of the 600,000 Israelites in the wilderness correspond to the 600,000 letters of the Torah. The Hasidic tradition adds that when Moshe counted each Israelite he was coming to understand another letter in the Torah and the singular importance of each individual within the collective narrative of the people.

As the COVID-19 curve begins to flatten and we come together once again as an Emanuel community, may each of us be blessed in cherishing more than ever that which truly counts.