Bamidbar
Counting and War
Adapted from Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank
Parshat Bamidbar records a census of all Israelite men able to
bear arms. The double meaning of
counting serves as a reminder of the ethics of war.
Counting is a way of noticing changes, tracking them, and naming
these changes in terms of numbers. By assigning names that are numbers to
sequential changes such as the rhythms of the cosmos (e.g., year 5763) or the
number of day-night intervals (e.g., seventh day of the week), we assume a
basic equality and interchangeability of each unit.
On the one hand, the units are interchangeable: each single unit
of time might at any moment become actively sacred. A miraculous event or transfiguration can occur in anything
equally.
On the other hand, assigning numbers is a homogeneous naming. Numbering a resource implies a sameness
that may overlook the variation and richness of individual units.
Both aspects of counting are relevant to the soldiers counted in a
military census. On the one hand,
soldiers may choose to surrender their personal identities and become part of a
greater national force. And as a
nation attempts to understand the consequences of a war, it is important to
enumerate the casualties in round numbers. At the same time, however, each soldier remains a unique
individual, with a personal story, and a life embedded in a web of
relationships that are deeply affected by the processes of war.
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