Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four.  

Every week we count to make sure we have enough. What is enough? We are fortune at CKI. I can no longer remember when we did not have a minyan. Enough Jewish adults to say Kaddish, to have a full service. So, kudos to all of you for showing up.  

We count the days between Passover and Shavuot. Today is Day 46 of the counting the omer.  Netzach shel Malkhut. Eternity of Majesty.  

We have counted the number of days since October 7th. Today is 245. Bring them home. Now. All of them.  

We are told in Psalms, “Teach us to number our days that we may find a heart of wisdom.” To make every day count. 

Today we began the book of Bamidbar. In the wilderness. Because, we wandered in the wilderness. At some levels we still are. The book in  English is called Numbers. Because it begins with a census. They are counting the number of Israelites, male, able to bear arms, those of military age. The numbers seem farfetched. How could there possibly be 603,550 men?  Remember, these are just the men of military age. Perhaps then, maybe there were a million people? Doesn’t seem feasible. 

This is not the first census. Back in Exodus, men of military age paid a half shekel. Every man of military age put in a half shekel. Not more, not less, whether you were rich or poor. There was a level of equality in this. Each person by paying the half-shekel tax had equal access to the Divine.  

The word that runs through this parsha is pikudei, to count. But this root is also used in the story of Sarah. G-d pakad et Sarah. G-d took note of, remembered Sarah. Counting is a way to remember. 

 The Talmud emphasized that everyone, everyone is created in the image of G-d. You and you and you and you. Each of you were created in the image of the Divine. That we are all created from one man, Adam so that no one can say “nah, nah, nah nah…my lineage is better than yours.” That everyone who saves a life is as though they have saved the world. That last quote is also in the Quaran.  

And then it continues: 

“A human being mints many coins from the same mold, and they are all identical. But the Holy One,  strikes us all from the mold of the first human and each one of us is unique.”
As, “(An individual was created) to show the greatness of God. While a person stamps many coins from a single die, and they are all alike, the Eternal has stamped every person with the die of Adam, yet not one of them is like their fellow.” 

Today’s portion tells us that the people, OK, the men, were arranged in groups by tribe, under their unique flag or standard. Four sides, three tribes on each side. Each equidistant to the center of the Mishkan, the sanctuary. Each ablt to access the Divine. Whatever the real the numbers, this is a great message, about equality and about liminality. No one has more or less. I am not sure why they were there. To protect the Mishkan? the sanctuary? From whom? Remember they were wandering in the desert. Who else was there? What was the fear? 

Rabbi Menachem Creditor points out that the author records, designates, takes note, remembers, one name at a time. “The Hebrew word “nikvu/designated” in the verse (Num. 1:17) is significant. While it can mean “to indicate,” it also carries a deeper connotation of being pierced, derived from “nkv,” which means to create a hole (to ‘appoint’). This imagery of piercing is powerful. When we are counted, we are marked deeply. In such indeterminate times, then and now, knowing who stands with us is crucial.” 

My friend Anita Salzman Sivert was recently in a coffee shop and someone complimented her on her unique Star of David. She responded that since October 7th she has been more intentional about wearing hers. I have always worn this necklace of the 10 Commandments. People make a choice to do this. I’ve had many conversations about this topic, which have only intensified since October 7th. Those conversations have included discussions about mezuzot and Chanukah decorations as well. I was delighted to see one of our students sitting by a pool wearing a star this week.  

The woman in the coffee shop said she has one, but hasn’t worn it out of discomfort, maybe even fear. Anita explained that this week’s parsha starts with a list, a counting by name of the Israelites, leaving Sinai and setting off. She makes the connection that we have to stand up and be counted more and more than ever now. As the woman left the coffee shop she said she’d start wearing it again.  

Counting is powerful. Each of you count. You and you and you,  In Les Mis the prisoners were reduced to numbers, not names. Javert frequently refers to Jean Valjean as “Prisoner 2460”. During the Holocaust, numbers were tattooed on the arms of victims, You, however, are not just a number.  

Names are powerful. Remember the scene in the Odyssey when Odysseus stops in the land of Cyclops, the fierce one-eyed giants, on his way back to Ithaca? There, Odysseus was trapped in a cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus who ate two of the men the king of Ithaca was traveling with and was about to eat Odysseus himself. It is then, that Odysseus got Polyphemus drunk, told him that his name is “Nobody” and after that blinded the one-eyed giant. Telling Polyphemus that he was Nobody didn’t allow Polyphemus to have power over Odysseus. 

Names are important. Here we have a Kara and a Kara. We have McFarlane with an e and not a d. We have Mindi with an i not a y. And just this week Earl told me that his mother was so proud of her e and the end of Evelyne. Knowing how to pronounce a name or what someone’s name is important. Good teachers spend time on this at the beginning of the school year. Good administrators spend time practicing graduation names.  

We are, as Rabbi Creditor Menachem taught, pierced by names. And some of us have many names, I am reminded of the Israeli poets Zelda’s poem about names, Each of Us has a name, which we will read before Kaddish today. 

We know the names of the hostages. The Bibbs Family, Kfir, Ariel, Shiri, Yarden. Omri Miron, Keith Siegel. Hersh. There are still 120 people being held. We count them, each and every one.  

We know the names of those released today. Noa, Almong, Andry, Sholomi. And we celebrate with their families while still daring to hope for more. We have counted them and taken note of them. 

Perhaps then the reason for today’s portion is to remind us that each of us counts. You and you and you and you, And that each of us, male and female, child or senior, needs to stand up and be counted. Even if it seems scary. Maybe that is how we are taught to number our days, to count our days and find a heart of wisdom.