Bat Kol International, Weekly Torah Nuggets
Parashat Bamidbar | Numbers 1:1–4:20
The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying: ‘Take a census of the whole Israelite company…’ (Num. 1:1-2).
Many Jews today are wary of the thought of Jews being ‘counted’. Historically, the counting of Jews has been associated with terrible crimes, such as the meticulous records kept by the Nazis.
However, Jewish tradition includes a very positive take on the counting of the Israelite clans, which features in the opening verses of Numbers/Bamidbar. Say the sages, God had already counted the Children of Israel on the day they departed Egypt, and after the sin of the Golden Calf. Why did God count them so often, three times in one year? It is because of their dearness to Him, says the 11th century scholar Rashi (see too Gur Aryeh).
Here, counting is interpreted as a sign of precious care, of loving relationship.
Reflection:
‘Do I count?’ is often a cry of the individual human heart, seeking acknowledgment. Do I feel ‘counted’ in the loving eyes of God? Do I communicate to others that their presence and gifts ‘count’?
Teresa Pirola, Australia
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“Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies.”
Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate, No. 4