Sefer Bamidbar begins with the counting of Klal Yisrael: “Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their fathers’ household, by number of the names, every male according to their head count.” (Bamidbar 1:2) Indeed, this is how the sefer begins, and then again, all the way at the end of Sefer Bamidbar – in Parshas Pinchas – it ends the description of the forty-year sojourn in the Midbar with another counting of Klal Yisrael. In Talmudic literature, Sefer Bamidbar is referred to as “Chomesh haPekudim” (the Chumash of the Counts). Even in non-Jewish nomenclature, this fourth book of the Torah is called the Book of Numbers, because it begins and ends with these counts.
Rashi here quotes the famous teaching of Chazal: “Because of their dearness to Him, He counts them constantly. When they left Mitzraim, He counted them; after the Eigel Hazahav, He counted them to learn how many were lost; and when He had his Divine Presence descend upon them, He counted them: The Mishkan was erected on the first of Nissan, and therefore He counted them on the first of Iyar.”
The constant counting demonstrates that the Holy One Blessed be He loves Klal Yisrael. On the other hand, we see something that, at first glance, would seem contradictory: There is a tremendous danger involved in the counting of the Jewish people. We see this all the way back in Parshas Ki Sisa. The pasuk there says: “When you take a census of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, every man shall give Hashem atonement for his soul when counting them, so that there will not be a plague among them when counting them.” (Shemos 30:12). Counting Klal Yisrael introduces the risk of triggering a plague. In fact, in the days of Dovid HaMelech, when Dovid HaMelech counted the Jewish people, there was a tremendous plague. Seventy thousand people from Klal Yisrael died (Shmuel II 24:15).
So, which is it? Is counting something we should do because it shows our endearment to the Ribono shel Olam, and because it demonstrates His love for us? Or is counting something that runs a terrible risk of plague?
The answer is – it depends how the count is conducted. The key to how to count is found in the second pasuk in this week’s parsha. “Se’u es rosh kol adas Bnei Yisrael.” This expression (se’u es rosh) is a very peculiar way of expressing counting. There are numerous ways in Hebrew to verbalize counting. Options include Sefor (samech fay reish); Menei (mem nun hay); and many other ways to say ‘Count’. The most peculiar way to say ‘Count’ is “Se’u es rosh,” which literally means “lift up the heads.” Why then, of all expressions that we might use, does the Torah use the expression “Se’u es rosh“?
The answer is that the expression “Se’u es rosh” is the key to avoiding the downside of counting. The downside of counting is that by counting a mass of people, the importance of each individual can be lost. When someone takes a census and counts 600,000 people, it minimizes the importance and dignity of each individual in that conglomerate. The Torah wants to warn us that we may have 600,000 people, but each one of those people is a person by himself and has a distinct significance, which should never be forgotten.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, ob”m, the former Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, quotes a very famous economic treatise that was written by the Scottish author and journalist, Charles Mackay, in 1841. The name of the treatise was Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The author documents the great danger that exists in crowds. Aside from the loss of individual identity ever present in crowds, the presence of a crowd generates a “herd mentality.” When everyone starts doing something, everyone in the crowd gets wrapped into it. The example he talks about was the “Tulip mania”.
What was the “Tulip mania”? In Holland, one tulip bulb was worth literally a fortune. People got wrapped up in the exquisiteness of tulips, and it became the greatest thing since sliced bread. Therefore, tulips became the hottest commodity on the market and people would spend fortunes of money for one tulip bulb. This went on until suddenly someone woke up and said, “Hey guys – we are talking about a flower!” Therefore you can go into Trader Joe’s tomorrow morning and buy a dozen tulips for four dollars!
The same thing once happened in South Africa, when people went crazy about ostrich feathers. They became the rage. However, we don’t need to go back into the 1700s or the 1800s. Just think back to the “Tech Bubble” of the 1990s. How do such things happen? They happen because of a “herd mentality” – people get so wrapped up in what everyone else is doing that they lose their own perspectives.
The danger of the masses is a double danger. When we look at a crowd, we do not give proper respect to the individual members of the crowd as individuals. The people become just “numbers”. (There was once even a commercial that stated: “In our bank you are not just a number.”) That is one danger of being part of the masses. The other danger is that people themselves lose their ability to think individually. “Everyone is buying tulips – I am going to buy tulips. Everybody is buying ostrich feathers – I am going to buy ostrich feathers.” That is not the way a Jew needs to operate.
An amazingly insightful Gemara says (Berochos 58a) “Someone who sees the masses of Israel should recite the blessing: ‘Baruch Chacham HaRazim‘”. We invoke praise of the Almighty, who looks at this large mass of people and knows exactly what is within the heart of every single one of them. He knows that every person is different, and every person has his own personality. Every person has his own secrets. Only the Ribono shel Olam knows what those secrets are!
When we see a mass of people, all we see is a mass of people. We get carried away by the crowds and don’t see the individuals. The Almighty sees every individual in that mass of humanity and He knows all their secrets! This is the idea of Se’u Es Rosh – Lift each head and never forget the importance of the head of each individual person.
