Like davening Shacharit (the Morning Service), Minchah (the Afternoon Service) and Ma’Ariv (the Evening Service) fulfill my spiritual need for prayer; there are three new shows, one in the morning, one late afternoon and one late night, that fulfill my need to be informed throughout the day. If I am not able to watch these shows, at the very least, I will listen to them on my phone app. Each of the shows begins the same way. They mention the number of COVID 19 cases throughout the world as well as countries with the largest number of cases and deaths due to COVID. Then after showing and speaking about the world numbers, they update the total number of cases and deaths in the United States. During the first few weeks, each of these shows just provided data, just the numbers. Then, several weeks ago, the afternoon show began doing something more than just provide numbers and data. The final story of the afternoon news show is dedicated to one or two people who passed away over the previous 24 hours. During these moments we learn about the individual, his/her accomplishments, passions, and loved ones. The idea is to put a face, a life, a context to numbers, and the data. Some are famous, some are what we would call, a “regular, ordinary person”.
This Shabbat we begin the fourth book of the Torah, Sefer Bemidbar, by reading the first Parsha, Bemidbar. Literally meaning “In the Wilderness”, this fourth book of the Torah resumes the narrative format with B'nai Yisroel making preparations to embark on its journey from Mount Sinai to Eretz Canaan. For the past year, B'nai Yisroel camped out at Har Sinai and listened to Moshe and Aharon teach all the laws concerning Tamei/Tahor –Purity and Impurity, Kodesh and Chol – the Holy and the Mundane, as well as the laws for Korbonot, sacrificial offerings. Before B'nai Yisroel embarks on the remainder of its journey, a census is required. In fact, Parsha Bemidbar consists of three types of a census. The first census counts all men over the age of twenty that come from all the tribes except for the Levites. The second census focuses only upon the Levites. Since the Levi tribe's sole function is to operate and manage the Mishkan, ascertaining the number of workers in the Mishkan suggests the importance of the Mishkan to the everyday life of the B'nai Yisroel. The third census focuses on the organizational placement of each tribe around the Mishkan while traveling.
The Census that God commands Moshe at the beginning of this fourth book of the Torah is very different than the last census taken. Until now, there had been one Census taken while B’nai Yisroel remained at Sinai and constructed the Mishkan. All the way back in Parsha Ki Tissa, in Sefer Shmot (the Book of Exodus) God had commanded Moshe to count everyone by levying a half-shekel tax. In fact, we are commanded not to count by pointing and counting but rather we would count the number of ½ Shekels collected and that number would then tell us the total number of men twenty years and older. Now God commandsMoshe: S’u EtRosh Kol Adat Bnai Yisroel L’Mishpechotam L’Veit Avotam Mispar Sheimot Kol Zachar L’Gulgulotam; Miben Esrim Shana Va’Malah Kol Yotzei Tzavah B’Yisroel Tifkedu Otam….- Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their father’s household, by the number of the names and every male according to their headcount; from twenty years of age an up everyone who goes out to the legion in Israel, you shall count them (Num. 1:2-3)…. Abravanel, the 15th-century Portuguese commentator points out the apparent contradiction in the two types of census: the first being found in the Sefer Shmot, and the second in Parsha Bemidbar. “Surely this (Bemidbar) is just the opposite of what the Torah had commanded on an earlier occasion (Sefer Shmot Parsha Ki Tissa).” There is Ki Tissah, they poll (a tax) was taken. “How could the Almighty have commanded them here to number them by their polls?” Abravanel notes the word “Tifekedu Otam” – you shall “account for them” (according to Rashi, “accounting” is a Poll or a levied tax). Ramban, the 12th-century Spanish commentator and philosopher, points out that Tifkedu expresses visitation, remembrance, and providence.
Something has happened during these ten weeks of the pandemic. In the beginning, we heard about numbers: number of cases, number on respirators, number of deaths. We watched and listened as those numbers grew and we watched and listened as those numbers were plotted on a graph and we could visualize “going up a curve” and “going down a curve”. At first, the numbers grew so rapidly, and the pictures from Italy, from Spain, and from New York were jarring. Now, we have adapted, we have grown accustomed to these number of cases and deaths. During these past few months, the need to count cases and deaths has remained important although the side effect has been an increase in callousness, an increase in de-personalizing the tragedy, and a diminishment of context and PaKaD, accounting. The conclusion of these news shows puts these numbers and data into a context, an individual’s life. I think it was a couple of weeks ago, (who can be certain) when the death toll in the United States was at 55,000, that each news show reminded the viewers that the death toll due to Covid19 during these past several months had surpassed 11 years of fighting in the Viet Nam War. Suddenly, on that particular day, those deaths had a context, those lives had received an accounting and a perspective. Not only do I look forward to my news shows; I feel compelled to watch or listen to the final minutes and learn about a life well lived so that an individual’s life can be accounted for as well as counted.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
