“I count.” “I matter.”
These are the kind of statements modern man is taught to say to himself. “I”m special by virtue of being me.”
The Torah doesn”t really agree, though. Parshas Bamidbar begins with a census of the Jewish nation. But Moshe didn”t count people. He counted coins. Each adult Jew contributed a half-shekel, and Moshe tallied up these coins. After the census, these shekalim helped finance the upkeep of the Mishkan.
In other words, writes Rav Hirsch, “a Jew is only counted as belonging by his doing something for the Torah.”
Rav Hirsch expands on this point in his commentary of Ki Sisa: “Not by mere existence, by living for himself, has his nefesh, his personality, value and meaning, not by his just being there is he an integral part of the nation his mere existence does not even give him the right to be there. Only by giving, doing something, is he to be counted, only by giving, doing, does he gain the right for the continuance of his existence, only by contributing his share in accordance with his duty does he obtain a justifiable position as a creature who has been crowned by G-d with life, a justifiable position in the community of his nation.”
G-d only counts us if we perform. We don”t get brownie points just for existing. Precisely, however, because there”s a barrier to entry, being counted is a great privilege. “There is no higher nobility, nor is there any deeper feeling of happiness,” writes Rav Hirsch, “than to belong to the pekudei Hashem, to those who are counted for G-d and by G-d&hellipto be given a place in G-d”s register, to be counted in amongst G-d”s host.”
We can enter “the ennobled sphere of those counted by G-d” – but only if we do our share. Merely existing is not enough.
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) – head of the Jewish community in Frankfurt, Germany for over 35 years – was a prolific writer whose ideas, passion, and brilliance helped save German Jewry from the onslaught of modernity.
Elliot Resnick, PhD, is the host of “The Elliot Resnick Show” and the editor of an upcoming work on etymological explanations in Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch”s commentary on Chumash.
