What's wrong with taking a census? And was the Golden Calf so bad?
Please join Nafshenu's
weekly Bible study class on Zoom this Thursday, March 5, 7-8pm, at this link: bit.ly/NafTorah
A US Census taker at work, image courtesy of britannica.com
from Rabbi David
Jewish tradition has a taboo against counting people. Why? It's not clear.
Perhaps it's considered an intrusion of human beings into what's considered the divine: God's the one who "kicks butt and takes names." In any case, God is recorded as punishing King David for conducting a census of the Israelites. And in this week's Torah portion, God tells Moses to collect a half-shekel "atonement tax" from the people as he carries out a head count.
I'll have more to say on this in an updated source sheet tonight. For now, here are links to the Torah and Haftarah readings themselves:
I think you'll find that you get
something extra from our Bible study if you get a look at the texts beforehand. But this is a no-homework class, so please come either way.
Oh, by the way, we have the Golden Calf episode in this week's Torah portion as well. I want us to ask ourselves what's so bad about making images of God. Many other religions allow the practice. And can we make an idol of God with our conceptions of divinity, even
without painting a picture of God?
