Census Parshas Bamidbar

(1) ...
Now because it has not been explained here whether this is a commandment binding for all time or only for that particular period of when Moses was in the wilderness, David erred and counted the people without shekels, and on account of this a plague broke out amongst them. He confessed about this [sin], as it is said, And David said unto G-d, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. ...

(3) ... The whole matter of blessings and curses which was already spelled out in Deut. 27,15-26 and some of which has been debated in Niddah 31, i.e. that the person who is subject to a miracle being performed for him is unaware of that at the time, is the reason our sages said in Baba Metzia 42 that when one enters one’s grain storage chamber in order to measure the size of one’s crop, one should pronounce a benediction asking G’d to bless one’s store. If one first measured the size of the stored grain and pronounced this benediction only subsequent to having measured it, such a prayer is considered as using the name of G’d in vain as G’d had already decreed either blessing or curse on that grain. We have a principle that blessings are not bestowed on matters which have been measured, weighed, or counted. Only matters which have escaped our eye and its ability to measure it are subject to blessings. This is another way of saying that the principle we have called נס נסתר, the “hidden miracle,” is constantly at work. If such blessings could be applied to matters we have weighed or measured such a miracle would no longer be “hidden.” This was one of the major reasons the Torah forbade head-counts of people to ensure they would not be exposed to the “evil eye,” As long as the blessings apply to people in a manner which cannot be checked, the עין הרע, the evil eye, the negative influence brought to bear, does not have a precise target on which to focus. The evil eye can influence only matters which have been measured, weighed or counted. Having appreciated this you will understand why the count of the males over 20 years of age which is the subject of the early part of our Parshah had to be conducted by means of a coin, i.e. the half-shekel. (4) כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקודיהם ונתנו איש כופר נפשו לה' בפקוד אותם ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקוד אותם. “When you take a census of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, every man shall give Hashem an atonement of his soul when counting them so that there will not be a plague amongst them when counting them.” (5) According to the plain meaning of the text, the words כי תשא which do not contain a command are phrased in such a manner that it can be considered applicable for all future times as well as for immediate application. The words כי תשא certainly imply that at this time a census would take place. However, they also implied that a future census if and when it would occur would be performed in a similar manner. The Israelites were not to be counted by counting their heads.
The reason that David erred when he ordered a head count as reported in Samuel II 24,2 was precisely because the wording of the Torah at this point sounds ambiguous. He ordered Yoav at the time to count the people without resorting to shekalim or similar devices when he said: שוט נא בכל שבטי ישראל מדן ועד באר שבע ופקדו את העם וידעתי את מספר העם, “Make the rounds of all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-Sheba and take a census of the people, so that I may know the size of the population.” It is written further (verses 3,4, and 10) Yoav answered the king: “May the Lord your G’d increase the number of the people a hundredfold, while your own eyes see it! But why should my lord king want this? However, the king king’s command to Yoav and to the officers of the army remained firm; and Yoav and the officers of the army set out, at the instance of the king, to take a census of the people of Israel. But afterward David reproached himself for having numbered the people, and David said to the Lord: ‘I have sinned grievously in what I have done. Please, O Lord, remit the guilt of Your servant, for I have acted foolishly.’” (6) A Midrashic approach to the words כי תשא, based on Pessikta Zutrata on our verse. G’d said to Moses: “how are you going to raise the stature of the Jewish people? By the words כי תשא, seeing that it is written (Proverbs 14,34) ‘charity exalts a nation, the kindness of a nation is a form of sin.’” Rabbi Yehoshua interpreted this verse to mean that the nation mentioned first are the Jewish people who are elevated spiritually by giving charity. They are described in Samuel II 7,23 as “who else is like Your nation Israel unique on earth?” The second half of the verse contrasts the behaviour of the Gentile nations with that of the Jewish people, saying that whatever apparent kindness they perform is only a form of hidden sin. They do not perform good deeds for altruistic reasons but only in order to promote their own image. This perception is confirmed by Daniel 4,24 advising Nebuchadnezzar after explaining his dream to him: “redeem your sins by beneficence and your iniquities by generosity to the poor; then your serenity may be extended.” (7) ונתנו איש כופר נפשו בפקוד אותם, “every man shall give an atonement for his soul when counting them.” This refers to the census in the desert. ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקוד אותם, these words refer to counting the people in future generations. This is why the words בפקוד אותם were necessary a second time. It is also possible that the first time the expression בפקוד אותם was mentioned it means actual counting, whereas the second time the meaning of the word is: “supervising the fate,” just as in Jeremiah 10,15 בעת פקדתם יאבדו, “in their hour of doom they shall perish.” In that event the translation of the verse would be: “they shall each give an atonement for his soul to G’d when they are being counted so that there will be no plague affecting them when G’d exercises His supervision over their fates.” (8) The most important revelation of our verse is that all the people that were counted each enjoy individual supervision of their fates by the Lord G’d. All the deeds performed by any individual are recorded. This is why these people become potential victims of a plague. As long as they had only been part of a whole, and not individuals in their own right, the evil eye had not been able to focus on them, seeing they were not a number in themselves. The whole idea of enjoying individual supervision of one’s fate by G’d carries with it also the awesome responsibility of ensuring one does not become a candidate for punishment by G’d.
When the woman of Shunem for whom the prophet Elisha had offered to intercede with the king (Kings II 4,3) declined his offer by saying: “I live amongst my people,” (I do not need to be singled out), she had exactly this thought in mind. Once she would have become a known quantity at the king’s court, she was also liable to draw unwelcome attention to herself if she committed a mistake. As long as she was more or less anonymous, no trespass would be accounted as her personal fault specifically.
The day on which all our actions are reviewed by G’d is Rosh Hashanah, New year’s Day. On that day each one of us is treated as an individual and this is why it is such an awesome day. On that day our deeds are isolated from the fact that all of us are also members of the community at large (compare Jeremiah 32,19). We also find this thought in Ruth 1,1 where the prophet Samuel begins the Book by stressing the individuality of Elimelech and how by trying to be different from the community and suffering their collective fate he set himself up for punitive action by G’d involving both him and his sons. The Book stresses his name both when his emigration is reported and when he died (one verse later). [It would have sufficed to write “this man died,” without his name being mentioned again as there had not been a change of subject after his name had been mentioned first in verse 2.]

(4) Why was the number agreed upon counted on the thrust-out fingers and not on the individuals themselves? Because it is forbidden to count Israelites except by means of some other object, as it is written: "He numbered them by sheep" (I Samuel 15:4).

(3) Care should be taken not to take a head-count of people to verify whether there is a minyan, because it is forbidden to take a head-count of Jews even for the purpose of a mitzvah, for it is written: "And Saul gathered the nation and counted them by means of lambs." It is customary to count them by reciting the verse: Hoshiah es amecha etc which contains ten words.