Torah portion

SPIRIT

TORAH PORTION

A Unique Census Tally

In the Torah portion this week, we are instructed to count the Jewish people in a unique way.

Each person must give a half-shekel coin. When the coins are counted, we will know how many people there are. To deviate from this and count the people using a standard method can lead to calamity.

This seems to be a strange command. Census taking is a normal thing for any nation or country to do, yet the Torah is telling us that for the Jewish people it is a dangerous endeavor. Why is it so dangerous to count the Jews?

There are many explanations given, but here is a very beautiful idea put forth by the former chief rabbi of Great Britain, the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. He asks why it is that a country takes a census? Why is it important for them to know how many people there are? The answer invariably is based on the belief that the strength of a people lies in its numbers. The more people there are, the stronger a nation is, both militarily and economically. A greater population means more potential soldiers to be drafted into an army and more tax-paying citizens.

If the Jewish people shared with the rest of the world that our strength is in our numbers, then we would fall into despair. We have always been a tiny nation. Toward the end of Moses’ life, in the Book of Deuteronomy, he tells the people, “It is not because of your numbers that Hashem has desired you and chose you, for you are the fewest among the nation.” Today, we stand at only one-fifth of 1% of the world population. If the power of a nation is determined by numbers, the Jewish people would have given up a long time ago.

What then accounts for our strength? The Torah tells us in one word, v’nasnu, and they shall give. They should contribute the half-shekel coins and we will count the contributions and thereby know their strength. Though we are small, our contributions are vast.

Look at what the Jewish people have given to the world. The percentage of Nobel Prizes won by Jewish scientists, mathematicians and economists is starkly disproportionate to our size, with numbers like 20%, 30% and 50%. The values that the Jews have taught the world are of immense importance. Social responsibility

Rabbi as put forth by the Torah’s charity Chaim Fink requirements. The importance of Parshat Ki Tisa: human life and education, and a belief in one God, are all ideas

Exodus and contributions that the Jewish 30:11-34:35; people have made.

I Kings The lesson is clear. Our 18:1-39. strength lies not in how many we are, but in how much we have given. It lies in all the contributions that we’ve made to the world and in our readiness to help those in need.

Rabbi Chaim Fink is a rabbi and educator at Detroit Partners in Torah.

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