Author: Rabbi Allouche

(RabbiAllouche.org) Some things are lost in translation.

In the opening verse of this week’s portion, G-d commands Moses to count the Jewish people: “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them…”

Yet, at a deeper glance, G-d does not command Moses to “take a census” of His people. Rather, He commands him to “elevate” (in Hebrew, “Ki Tisa”) His people.  The difference between “taking a census” and “elevating” is enormous.

When we count people, all we see is their bodies. When we “elevate” people, we also see their souls.

When we count people, we value them for who they seem to be. When we “elevate” people we value them for who they can, and will, be.

When we count people, we place our faith in finite numbers. When we elevate people we place our faith in infinite potentials.

And most importantly, when we count people, we evoke in them a response of “here I am.” When we “elevate” people, we evoke in them a response of “there – so, so high – there, I will be!”

When Moses proceeds to “elevate” the Jewish people, they respond by turning into the best version of themselves, and they gave abundantly to the construction of a tabernacle for G-d in the desert. In fact, they gave so generously, that, at one point, Moses had to ask them to stop giving! (See Exodus 36:2-7).

A few years ago, after CBT launched its Mitzvah Campaign (which you are all welcome to contribute your Mitzvah too by emailing us here), someone asked me: “Do you really believe that one Mitzvah can change a person with Mitzvahs?”

My response was clear: “I try not to see ‘persons’; I see ‘souls’. And when souls are ignited with mitzvahs, they shine bright and wide, to eternity.”

In the words of the German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”

This article was originally posted on RabbiAllouche.org.

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