WE ARE NOT JUST COUNTING PEOPLE—WE ARE MAKING THEM COUNT

By Mikayla Laufer and Shalom Orzach

Marking or counting time is a recurrent theme and directive in the Bible. This concept takes on an additional dimension in Bamidbar, the fourth of the five books of the Torah, referred to in English, though not translated, as Numbers.

In the second verse of the first chapter, Moses is instructed to conduct a census and count the people. Reading these passages as the Torah portion during the period of Sefirat Hoamer, counting the Omer, we would anticipate the word used to describe this process would be lispor, to count; but instead, the terminology used is “se’u et rosh kol adat Bnei Yisrael,” elevate the heads of the congregation of the children of Israel—a curious way to describe counting.

Rashi, the renowned medieval commentator on the Bible and the Talmud, reminds us that we count that which we love. Counting people is not about arriving at numbers but rather about elevating them (literally and metaphorically) by (up)lifting their heads. Through this act, we make eye contact; we encounter their panim, their face, and connect with their essence, their pnim.

The term lispor is also telling—literally and figuratively. Lispor derives from lesaper, meaning “to tell,” as in to tell a story. Our language, being a window into our culture, reflects our deepest values. In the same way that we do not count time but “tell” time, we count people through their stories; we tell and celebrate them.

View full article on eJewish Philanthropy.

Mikayla Laufer is the director of data strategy and campus partnerships at The iCenter.

Shalom Orzach is a senior educator and consultant at The iCenter. He recently published Telling Times for the anniversary of Oct. 7. It is a weekly exploration of the Torah portion in the context of its modern-day echoes, examining the State of the Jewish people.