Counting Klal Yisrael
Rabbi Tzvi Abramoff, Rosh Kollel Emek Yehoshua
This week, we read in "chutz la'aretz" Parshas Nasoh, which continues the counting of the Levi'im. This Parasha and the past, Parashas Bamidbar, focus mainly on counting the numbers of Klal Yisrael. This leads to investigating the prohibition to count B'nei Yisrael, when does it apply and how.
The Ramban in the beginning of Bamidbar toils to understand what was the mistake of Dovid HaMelech who made a count of the nation which led to a plague. He finds it difficult to fathom that Dovid could have made a mistake with regard to the clear Passuk in Ki Sissah which says that a count cannot be performed by heads rather via Shakalim. He insists that Dovid must have in fact counted with Shekalim and therefore offers two explanations as to what his sin actually was.
The first explanation that the Ramban writes is that even when counting with Shekalim one may not count Klal Yisrael unless it is for a necessary purpose and Dovid erred in that he didn't have sufficient need to make the count. Alternatively, the Ramban says that even when counting with Shekalim one may not take count of all of Klal Yisrael, from age 13. Klal Yisrael are meant to remain countless as Hashem said to Avraham Avinu. The count in the Bamidbar was only from age 20 and didn't actually place a number on the entire nation, whereas Dovid HaMelech counted from age 13.
The Mishna in the beginning of the 2nd perek of Yoma speaks of how the Kohanim had a lottery to see who would merit to the Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash. They would stand in a circle and put out their fingers. A random number would be chosen and their fingers would be counted. The one who the counting ended with was the winner of the lottery. The Gemara there (22b) tells us that the reason why they weren't counted by head was because one may not count Jews. [Another example brought in the gemara there is that Shaul HaMelech counted his army via sheep that each one gave.] The Magen Avraham (156,2) learns from this that even when not intending to take actual count of the People, such as in the case of the lottery, and even for the sake of a Mitzvah, as with the Kohanim, the prohibition still applies.
The Chasam Sofer explains the difference between counting heads and fingers, is that when counting fingers one is relying on an assumption that everyone is placing the prescribed one finger. The counting is only based on the fingers, which do not identify the person, as opposed to the counting of heads which reveal the identity of each individual. Counting fingers, he writes, is not considered an actual counting and is therefore permitted, although even still only in the case of a Mitzvah. He also writes that even though in the Torah it says that the Half Shekel was needed as a Kaparah (atonement) for the counting, that was only because it was intended as an actual accounting of the people. In a case such as the Kohanim, where it wasn't intended for an accounting, although a head count is forbidden, a Kaparah isn't necessary.
The Poskim, such as the Pri Chadash (siman 55,1), write that because of this Issur one must refrain from counting men to see if there is a Minyan. The Peleh Yo'etz (entry 'Moneh') writes that it doesn't help to count with the letters of the 'Alef Beis' rather one must only count the Minyan in his mind. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (15,3) writes that the Minhag is to count the Minyan using the Passuk 'Hoshiah es amecha' etc. which is comprised of ten words. Interesting to note that in the Sefer Ha'Orah (attributed to Rashi) it seems that each person is supposed to call out one word one after the other until the passuk is finished. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch doesn't seem to rule this way and it is definitely not the Minhag to do so.
