וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד בְּאֶחָד֩ לַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְצֵאתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃ שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃ מִבֶּ֨ן עֶשְׂרִ֤ים שָׁנָה֙ וָמַ֔עְלָה כׇּל־יֹצֵ֥א צָבָ֖א בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל תִּפְקְד֥וּ אֹתָ֛ם לְצִבְאֹתָ֖ם אַתָּ֥ה וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃
On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, יהוה spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying: Take a census of the whole Israelite company [of fighters] 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.
Midrash: Bemidbar Rabbah 4:2
(ב) דָּבָר אַחֵר, פְּקֹד כָּל בְּכֹר זָכָר וגו', הֲדָא הוּא דִּכְתִיב (שיר השירים ו, ח ט): שִׁשִּׁים הֵמָּה מְלָכוֹת וגו' אַחַת הִיא יוֹנָתִי תַמָּתִי וגו', מָשָׁל לְאָדָם שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ פְּרַגְמָטוֹטִין שֶׁל אֲבָנִים, שֶׁל זְכוּכִית, וְהָיָה מוֹצִיאָן לַשּׁוּק וְלֹא הָיָה מַבְחִין בַּמִּנְיָן, שֶׁלֹא הָיָה מוֹצִיאָן בְּמִנְיָן, וְנִכְנָס לְהַנִּיחָן וְלֹא הָיָה מַנִּיחָן בְּמִנְיָן, שֶׁלֹא הָיָה מַשְׁגִּיחַ עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁהָיוּ שֶׁל זְכוּכִית, וְהָיָה לוֹ פְּרַגְמָטֵיס אַחַת שֶׁל מַרְגָּלִיּוֹת נָאוֹת וְהָיָה נוֹטְלָהּ וּמוֹצִיאָהּ בְּמִנְיָן וּמַנִּיחָהּ בְּמִנְיָן. כָּךְ כִּבְיָכוֹל אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, לְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם לֹא נָתַתִּי מִנְיָן, לָמָּה, שֶׁאֵין חֲשׁוּבִין לְפָנַי כְּלוּם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה מ, יז): כָּל הַגּוֹיִם כְּאַיִן נֶגְדוֹ. אֲבָל אַתֶּם בָּנַי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שיר השירים מו, ג): הָעֲמֻסִים מִנִּי בֶטֶן וגו', לְכָךְ מוֹנֶה אֶתְכֶם בְּכָל שָׁעָה, לְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר: פְּקֹד כָּל בְּכֹר זָכָר, הֱוֵי: שִׁשִּׁים הֵמָּה מְלָכוֹת וגו' אַחַת הִיא יוֹנָתִי, אֵלּוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל.
(2) Another interpretation: "Number all the first-born males..." (Numbers 3:40) This is what is written (Song of Songs 6:8-9): "There are sixty queens ... [but] My dove, my undefiled, is just one ..." Compare to a parable: A person who had a bundle of glass stones and would bring them them to the market, but s/he would not notice their number, ... since s/he would not care about them, as they were glass. But s/he had one bundle of precious pearls, and s/he would take it and bring it out by number and put it away counting them. Similarly, so to speak, the Holy One Blessed be He said to Israel: You are My children, as it says, (Isaiah 46:3), 'that are borne [by Me] from the birth ...' Therefore, I count you all the time." Therefore, it is said "Number all the first-born males." That is: "There are sixty queens but My dove, my undefiled, is just one ..." - these are Israel.
Akeidat Yitzhak, Numbers, #72
R. Isaac Arama (1420-1494) asks why all the seemingly dull details of the census are necessary. Did God not know the number of Israelites encamped in the desert in any case? Taking account of them one by one, R. Arama argues, serves to teach that each one has individual worth, and is not just a member of the collective. "They were all equal in stature," Arama writes, "and yet the stature of each one was different". (Courtesy of R. Shai Held)
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:
In any census, count or roll-call there is a tendency to focus on the total: the crowd, the multitude, the mass. Here is a nation of 60 million people, or a company with 100,000 employees or a sports crowd of 60,000. Any total tends to value the group or nation as a whole. The larger the total, the stronger is the army, the more popular the team, and the more successful the company.
Counting devalues the individual, and tends to make him or her replaceable. If one soldier dies in battle, another will take his place. If one person leaves the organisation, someone else can be hired to do his or her job.
Questions for Reflection
1. What does it mean to "be counted?" and what is the practical, emotional, and spiritual difference between counting people, counting things, and counting time?
3. Do you feel that you are "counted" or "remembered" by God? How so?