Sources from essay by Ilana Kaufman
in The Social Justice Torah Commentary
Parashat B'midbar begins with God in conversation with Moses in the Tent of Meeting. God tells Moses to take a count, a census, of the Israelites. Count them by name. Count the men, twenty years and older (Numbers 1:2-3). Instruct them as to where to plant their flags, pitch their tents, what role they will have among the Israelite tribes. Through the process of being counted, these men knew their role, that they were part of a family and tribe, of an army, of a people. The opening verse notes that the people are b'midbar, "in the wilderness" (Numbers 1:1). By counting and sorting, Moses offers an important experience of identity establishment and personal validation during a time of literal and metaphoric uncertainty.
-Ilana Kaufman
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד בְּאֶחָד֩ לַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְצֵאתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃ (ג) מִבֶּ֨ן עֶשְׂרִ֤ים שָׁנָה֙ וָמַ֔עְלָה כׇּל־יֹצֵ֥א צָבָ֖א בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל תִּפְקְד֥וּ אֹתָ֛ם לְצִבְאֹתָ֖ם אַתָּ֥ה וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃
(1) 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: (2) Take a census [literally, 'Lift up the heads'] of the whole Israelite company [of fighters] by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. (3) 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.
Counting in a way that gives and affirms identity, that invites one into a sense of value and purpose, is deep and important work...in Parashat B'midbar God gives Moses careful instructions about how to approach the census: S'u et rosh kol adat B'nei Yisrael, "Take a census [literally, 'Lift up the heads'] of the whole Israelite company" (Numbers 1:2). Do not begin your count with an estimate. As the counter, do not start your effort with a mindset about your own needs and objectives. Rather, begin your counting by letting each child of Israel know they are individually seen, acknowledged, and that they matter. Each individual is unique; the instruction to "lift the heads of all" is an invitation to know each name, each family, cach Israelite. Therein, God gives the counters the essential tool to ensure each person who is counted knows they matter and to whom they matter. By providing role and context as well as identity, validation, and affirmation, counting is a holy practice that infuses in others a sense of deep value.
-Ilana Kaufman
And Rabbi Yitzḥak says: Blessing is found only in a matter concealed from the eye, as it is stated: “The Lord will command blessing with you in your storehouses” (Deuteronomy 28:8), where the grain is concealed. The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Blessing is found only in a matter over which the eye has no dominion, as it is stated: “The Lord will command blessing with you in your storehouses.”
The scratch of my pencil and the pace of my Scantron bubble-filling would always slow as I made it to the race questions. White, Black, Asian, Latino/Hispanic, or Native American? I would shift my weight in my seat as I evaluated the options. Understanding the question as literal rather than political, an awareness that would come to me at a later age, I was annually presented with racial categories never reflective of the complexity of my reality. Those five categories tried to force me into the narrowness of the mind of the counters. The counters should have made space for the treasures they, their minds, their questions could neither reveal nor see. But at this they failed.
This human flaw–our lack of ability to see, and sometimes to even be curious about, that which is beyond our self–makes real the danger of counting, which by extension imparts value on another. As if doling out value is not precarious enough, counting becomes riskier when intersected with the reality that we are vulnerable as humans; identity is very personal. But this is also what makes counting holy.
-Ilana Kaufman
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ...שֶׁאֵין הַבְּרָכָה מְצוּיָה לֹא בְּדָבָר הַשָּׁקוּל, וְלֹא בְּדָבָר הַמָּדוּד, וְלֹא בְּדָבָר הַמָּנוּי, אֶלָּא בְּדָבָר הַסָּמוּי מִן הָעַיִן.
The Sages taught: ...a blessing is not found either in anything weighed, measured or counted, but only in that which is hidden from the eye.
We hope, we plan, we pray that the counting of the future will hold space for all, with the highest levels of skill, the greatest capacities, and the best intentions. Aware of our own narrow minds and limited imaginations, with the profound understanding of counting as holy work, we pray for God to bless the efforts of our minds and hands, our demographic surveys, our #2 pencils, our Scantron sheets, knowing, appreciating, deeply understanding that "blessing is not found in anything weighed, measured or counted, but only in that which is hidden from the eye."
-Ilana Kaufman
Discussion Questions by Ariel Tovlev
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B’midbar begins with a census of the Israelites. What makes the biblical census
similar to and/or different from the counting of Ilana Kaufman’s childhood?
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What is the purpose of saying a blessing before counting? How is counting sim-
ilar to or different from other actions we say a blessing before? Why is saying a
blessing afterward not sufficient?
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Kaufman highlights how Jews of Color were undercounted for so long because
they were not explicitly considered in the questions asked. Why do you think that was? What other demographics of Jews might be underrepresented in our counts? How can we make sure to count our community more intentionally and accurately?