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Parshat Bamidbar
2005
Does Counting Always Count?
The fourth book of the Pentateuch, Bamidbar, opens with the census conducted by Moses and Aaron of all the tribes from which it derives its name "Numbers." The first chapter is replete with numbers of each tribe and the total aggregate. Every detail is carefully given to Moses on how to do the census.
And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. (Bamidbar 1: 1 - 3) In this particular census Moses was asked to count those men from 20 years and older since they were eligible to go forth in the army into battle.
This is a really interesting concept: not only the census but also the detailed information required from Moses and given to him as well. In our work at Hillel we are always counting: how many students come to an event, how many students come to our retreat, do we have enough students to organize an alternative break, how many donors attend a Shabbat dinner, how many large donors we have, how many dollars we bring in, etc.
However, Moses was not only counting but actually finding out information about each member of each tribe. Meaning, he was trying to know each individual. Sound familiar? Hopefully, yes. Since we believe that our job is for the students and in order to do a successful job we need to know who our students are and what our students like to do and not just estimate or count how many students we have. According to the Talmud, if we save one life, it is as if we saved the world - so if our program touches one student, we have done a good job.
We are constantly taking censuses. The goals of our censuses are:
- To make every student know how valuable s/he is as a group and as an individual.
- To ask the students information that will help us identify how we can better serve them.
- To improve our fundraising programs so that we can offer more to the students
We want to finish with one more thought: Moses was asked to just take into consideration the men that were 20+ years old because he needed them for a specific purpose. Sometimes we have to look for specific students to do something. That is fine, but we have to remember that every student counts and how valuable each individual is for Hillel.
Prepared by Sue Maltiel, executive director, Hillel of Silicon Valley and Vanina Sandel, program director, Hillel of Silicon Valley.
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Bamidbar at MyJewishLearning.com.
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