When Counting Really Counts
Love is strongest when it is tested. Love is tested when we are most vulnerable, down in the dumps and distracted. G-d demonstrated His love for us precisely in these situations. BAMIDBAR BAMIDBAR
Counting with Love
The Book of Numbers is so called because it begins with the counting of the Jewish people, which occurred shortly after the Mishkan—the portable Sanctuary—was dedicated. (In Hebrew this book is known as Bamidbar-In the desert, but also as the book of Pikudim-Counting)
This week’s parsha begins by relating that on the first day of the second month of the second year since their departure from Egypt G-d commanded Moses to count the Jewish people.
What was the purpose of this census?
Rashi, citing the Midrash, observes that G-d:
counts the Jews ‘all the time’ because of His love for them. When they left BAMIDBAR Egypt He counted them, when they perished as a result of the golden calf He counted them to know the number of the survivors, and when He came to rest His Divine presence among them [in the Sanctuary] He counted them.
Rashi concludes:
On the first day of Nissan the Sanctuary was erected and on the first day of [the next month of] Iyar He counted them.
The obvious question here is:
If G-d was eager to show them how much He loved them why did He wait from the first of Nissan to the first of Iyar—an entire month—to count them?
Second, how can Rashi say that He counts them “all the time,” when—as Rashi himself mentions—He only counted them three times?
The answer will become clear when we examine these three occasions and what was unique about them.
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Three Manifestations of Love through Counting
Counting is a dramatic way of demonstrating how much one values something or someone else. When you count something it is an indication that that something is special and really counts in the eyes of the “counter.” But the counting, in and of itself, is not what makes someone beloved, rather it is the other way around; one who is beloved is counted. Counting is the outer manifestation of that which exists beneath the surface.
And there are three situations where counting expresses this very point more than in any other time.
Three Lowest Points for Love
Upon reflection it becomes evident that there are three occasions where love is traditionally at its lowest point; where those who love are less likely to be demonstrative of their love. If, even in these “valleys” the show of love is pronounced, it demonstrates the presence of a magnitude of love that is of a totally BAMIDBAR different order; it defies all the rules of conventional love.
As we shall see, it was precisely at these three junctures in the relationship between G-d and the Jewish people that G-d counted them and demonstrated the unique quality of their relationship.
The first situation where love is usually low key and even suppressed is at the point where the other person makes his or her entry into our lives. At the very beginning of a relationship, when, we are not sure of the other’s character and reliability, we are hesitant to embrace him or her fully. We do not know how well our relationship with the other develops. So we take a wait-and-see attitude. We are not ready to show all of our feelings. We are reluctant to invest too much emotion in a relationship before we know how the relationship will evolve. And while we are beginning to have feelings for the other, because we are vulnerable, we try to minimize the overt expression of those feelings.
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The parallel to this situation in terms of G-d’s special relationship with the Jewish people is the Exodus from Egypt.
When the Jews left Egypt, we are told, they were spiritually “naked.” They had never fully detached themselves from the idolatry of Egypt and their will stilled plagued by their slave mentality. Their success as a free nation that would be capable of forging a permanent relationship with G-d was highly speculative.
For G-d to show His love for them in the most expressive way—by counting them— was, in human terms, a great risk. What would happen if the relationship would sour and unravel? Yet G-d took the “risk” and counted them no sooner did they leave Egypt to show us the extent to which He loved us.
When the Relationship Sours
There is a second situation where showing emotion in a relationship is least likely and may actually be out of place. This is so when a relationship does in fact sour due to the unfaithful behavior of the significant other.
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Even if the differences can be worked out and the two partners do reconcile, it is usually not the time when we are comfortable enough with the other that we can show them our positive feelings. At best, the love will be somewhat subdued. The relationship is at a low point—we still feel the pain of the betrayal—and we will maintain a safe distance. At that time, it hard to show positive feelings.
The aftermath of the golden calf debacle was precisely that low point in the relationship between G-d and the Jewish people.
Yet even when they betrayed G-d by worshipping the golden calf that eventually led to the death of many, He did not hesitate to show His love for the Jewish people who survived that catastrophe. G-d insisted on counting them again.
Once more, G-d did the unconventional thing by overtly expressing His love for the Jewish people. In most human relationships that would prove to be extremely difficult if not impossible.
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When the Honeymoon is Over
And there is a third situation when the overt showing of His love would seem to be out of place. When a person feels comfortable enough with someone they love, and the infatuation with the other is over, the outward expressions of love generally diminish. Much of the love expressed at the beginning of a relationship may be attributed to external factors. We call that infatuation. And even if the love persists it usually lacks the overt display of it.
Not so with G-d and His love for the Jewish people. G-d did the unconventional again. A month after the Sanctuary was dedicated— the first of Iyar—He gave the order to count them.
If G-d would have counted them on the day the Sanctuary was dedicated, or shortly afterwards, it would have not been unusual. The day the Sanctuary was dedicated was a high point in the relationship between G-d and His people. That overt expression of love by counting them would have been BAMIDBAR redundant. G-d showed His love in many other ways, including the fire that descended from Heaven—fire the symbol of passion— and consumed their offerings.
However, a month later—when in human terms the ardor would have worn off somewhat and the passion would have dissipated—G-d sought to prove that His love for them was of a totally different order. Even when they returned to the quotidian aspects of life—the wedding celebrations and the honeymoon were over—G-d asks them to be counted. His love did not diminish even one iota.
This then is why Rashi states that He counts them “all the time.” Rashi is thereby suggesting that G-d’s display of His intense love for them in the three least likely times is an indication that He certainly expresses His love for them in all the other times as well. Counting is merely a way of showing love; and indeed, His counting them at these inauspicious times was a sign that His love for them/us is unwavering even when it is least likely to be there.
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Why does He Love us so Much?
What is it about the Jewish people that evokes such unmatched G-dly love?
Even when we first left Egypt and were still mired in the spiritually challenged mindset of Egypt—we were spiritually naked—G-d nevertheless initiated the love for us because He trusted us despite our shortcomings. We demonstrated that we could be trusted because we trusted G-d.
This is why, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the famed Chassidic Master states—the Torah refers to Passover as the “Festival of Matzos,” because it expresses the faith we had; that we were willing to go into the wilderness without any supplies, as is alluded to in the fact that we had to bake matzos because we did not have time to bake bread. Our faith and trust in G-d generated a reciprocal expression of faith and trust in us.
In truth, it may have been the other way around. Because G-d had faith in us, it inspired us to have faith and trust in Him.
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What was it after the Golden Calf debacle that prompted G-d to show us overt love?
Even after we worshipped the Golden Calf, G-d showed us incredible love because at that point we achieved the status of ba’alei teshuvah, returnees to the right path, which has a qualitative advantage over someone who was always righteous.
The Survivors
Hence Rashi says that G-d counted them to know the count of those who survived. The Hebrew word for survived “nosarim” also has the connotation of those who experienced an “increase” –alluding to the increased passion and love that one who sinned and returns has. This is echoed in the Biblical verse, I have seen that there is an advantage to wisdom over foolishness as the advantage of light over darkness.
Chassidic thought interprets this to mean the advantage of light when it comes out of darkness. The light is more valuable when it BAMIDBAR is preceded by darkness. This state of Teshuvah-return generated G-d’s response of love—he counted them again to reflect His appreciation for their Teshuvah and for the heightened level of love that they exhibited.
Not Even Abundant Waters can Dampen the Love
What was it about the third time He counted us that prompted G-d to do so?
When the ardor wore off, and we seemed to have lost our initial inspiration, G-d, nevertheless, sees deeper into our psyche and realizes that the love we have for Him has not really diminished. That love that emanates from the depths of our soul can never be extinguished.
This love that we possess at all times—even when we least feel it—is expressed in the Biblical verse: “The abundant waters cannot extinguish the love.” Even the distractions— that have been compared to ‘turbulent waters’—caused by our preoccupation with earning a living and coping with life’s day to BAMIDBAR day concerns, do not truly extinguish the fiery love that our souls feel for G-d, regardless of what our conscious mind experiences.
By G-d counting us then He:
(a) shows us that we have that love within us regardless of how we feel on a conscious level;
(b) empowers us to navigate the turbulent waters and successfully reveal the passion again.
We’re Still being Counted
We are living in unique times. With all the problems and threats that seem to exist with respect to the state of the Jewish people and the world at large, we must not ignore all the overt signs of how G-d is continually “counting” us.
From the miracles that accompanied the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and all the subsequent miracles we experienced in the many wars that we waged BAMIDBAR to defend ourselves against those who sought our destruction, to the miracle of the collapse of the Soviet Union and all the prosperity we enjoy—compared to previous times—we see demonstrably how G-d’s love for us has not waned. Indeed, these miracles are a harbinger of the Messianic Age when the love will be clear for all to see because it will not be marred by all the negative forces that are extant today.
Three Impediments
However, there are three factors that threaten our feeling that we are the truly loved and that we are poised to enter into an even more passionate phase of our relationship with G-d:
When a Jew insists on seeing things through the eyes of history in which our existence was so precarious and the suffering was immense we develop a slave/exile mentality just as our ancestors did when they left Egypt. They found it hard to believe that everything will BAMIDBAR be fine even as they witnessed unprecedented miracles.
We too—despite the numerous miracles of Biblical proportions that we’ve experienced— and even though we have been told in unequivocal terms by the greatest Jewish leaders, especially the Lubavitcher Rebbe based on Biblical prophecies etc., that that the Redemption is imminent, and even though we have already been shown samples of these future cataclysmic changes for the good—we still insist on viewing the present and the future with jaundiced, exile tinted and tainted lenses.
And while it is not our fault that we feel this way, precisely at this time, it is imperative that we focus on the positive; even as we do all that we can to combat the forces of evil, whether external or internal, equipped with the knowledge and the certainty that we will prevail!
If G-d has put His trust in us, we must put our trust in Him; that He will make good on all of His promises to us.
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But then a second impediment to our positive outlook emerges. We have, as a result of our association with other cultures and ideologies, created new gods and worshiped them. When we reflect on how far we have strayed from G-d it is hard to imagine How G-d could possibly still care for us as a people the way He did in the past. Haven’t we forfeited our special relationship with G-d by betraying Him so many times? There are so many of us who have embraced all sorts of political, religious and social ideologies that are in direct conflict with Judaism; how then, as a people, can we expect that G-d will dramatically show us His love?
There’s a Precedent
The answer is that there is a precedent for this very phenomenon.
When we tend to think that we are too far gone and cannot bounce back, the story of the golden calf comes to mind. The Talmud states that the worship of the golden calf was so outrageously out of character with the BAMIDBAR Jews at that time that it can only be explained in terms of G-d having “orchestrated” it to teach us that no matter how low we fall, we can always bounce back. This was dramatized by G-d counting us precisely at that juncture.
Similarly, our generation with all of its spiritual degradation and lowliness is not beyond redemption. On the contrary, it is precisely at this point when we have “bottomed out,” that G-d remembers us, counts us and helps us lift ourselves out of the morass we have created. There is no reason to despair.
Distracted
But the third impediment to our anticipation for the future Redemption is not the exile mentality or the degeneration of our spiritual and moral lives, but the distraction caused by the day to day involvement with staying afloat in a highly competitive and cruel world. As was mentioned earlier, we are flooded with the waters of life’s demands that distract us from what should be our primary focus— BAMIDBAR preparing ourselves for the future Redemption. The knowledge that we are so distracted, in and of itself, makes us feel we are unworthy of G-d’s love and attention.
Comes the third counting of the Jews, with which this week’s parsha commences, that occurred a month after the honeymoon was over. It in effect declares: The “turbulent waters” will never extinguish the internal love of every Jew to G-d, Torah and to Israel. And, therefore, every effort must be expended towards the goal of recognizing that we possess that love and towards its actualization.
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From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Bamidbar by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
