Torah Commentary with Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal

שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃

"Take a census of the whole Israelite company by the clans of its ancestral houses listing the names, every male, head by head" (Number 1:2).

The book of Numbers begins with God commanding Moses to take a census. This isn't an uncommon request as explained by Rashi:

Because they were dear to him, He counts them every now and then: when they went forth from Egypt He counted them (Exodus 12:37), when many of them fell in consequence of their having worshipped the golden calf He counted them to ascertain the number of those left (cf. Rashi Exodus 30:16); when he was about to make His Shechinah dwell amongst them (i. e. when He commanded them to make a Tabernacle), He again took their census; for on the first day of Nisan, the Tabernacle was erected (Exodus 40:2) and shortly afterwards, on the first day of Iyar, He counted them.

Jewish communal leaders and supporters have an obsession with counting. We love to know how many Jews are showing up and taking part. We ask about attendance at service and classes. We want to know if membership is up or down. Very rarely do we ask about the content of the experience or what the takeaway was, if any. We just love to count. However, counting doesn't show concern. Counting doesn't build relationships. There is an important step missing. As explained by the Psalmist:

מוֹנֶ֣ה מִ֭סְפָּר לַכּוֹכָבִ֑ים לְ֝כֻלָּ֗ם שֵׁמ֥וֹת יִקְרָֽא׃

[God] counts the stars and to all of them he gives a name (Psalm 147:4).

If we want to endear our community, to create real and lasting connections with each other, we need to go deeper than a roll call. We must know each other by name. We must take the time to not only know how many but who is in the room. From there we can truly be in community and relationship, together.