Parshas Ki Sisa - a thought on the first Rashi

“And God spoke to Moshe saying: When you take the count of B’nai Yisrael to determine their numbers, each man shall give an atonement pledge for his soul to God, when you count them, and thus there will be no plague among them when you count them.”

Shemos (Exodus) 30:13

Rashi comments on these verses and explains that when counting the Jewish people, it is inappropriate to take a head count. Rather, each person gives a half-sheckel coin and the grand total is assessed to determine the number of people. He continues by stating that a head count is to be avoided because things that are counted are subject to an ‘evil eye,’ which can lead to a plague breaking out, and references the First Book of Samuel, chapter 24, where King David ordered a head count census and a plaque subsequently occurred.

Seforno elaborates on the matter, stating that in each of the instances in the Torah where God orders a census there was some major change in the Jewish people’s status – once on leaving Egypt, once after the sin of the golden calf and, in this week’s parsha, as they prepare to encounter the Mishkan (traveling sanctuary). The census has the effect of creating a reckoning of the Jewish people’s status at that stage and, as such, a close person-to-person review may reveal troubling individual shortcomings. So, instead, the Jews are counted in a manner than is less exacting and more national in scope. And by each person offering a half-sheckel, there is the added effect that the people gain merit by contributing to the sanctuary.

This trajectory of thought brings to mind the idea that we may be prone to suffer afflictions through the things we count too much. For some it may be money or other prized possessions and for others it may be their accomplishments or their network of contacts. The danger in counting these things too often or closely is that we may easily develop a warped perspective, prizing the sum for what it does for our egos and not seeing them are mere tools for doing good deeds in the world. And that warped worldview can easily cause a plague in our lives.