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parshaמפרשי הפרשה

עקידת יצחק — שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל / למשפחתם לבית אבתם

Q (the cluster): Why count Israel again, and why "lift the head" (שאו את ראש)? Why by families and fathers' houses? What is gained by a census the Knower of all already knows? A (the unifying chiddush): The counting expresses the worth of each individual in his own right — that every single Jew is reckoned and recognized before God, not absorbed into a faceless mass. "Lifting the head" elevates ea

המנין מורה על חשיבות כל יחיד ויחיד בפני עצמו, ושכל אחד נחשב וניכר לפני המקום

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עקידת יצחק

Akeidat Yitzchak 72:3

Q — Why count Israel again, and why "lift the head" (שאו את ראש)? Why by families and fathers' houses? What is gained by a census the Knower of all already knows?

A — The counting expresses the worth of each individual in his own right — that every single Jew is reckoned and recognized before God, not absorbed into a faceless mass. "Lifting the head" elevates each person by naming and numbering him. Arranging the count by family and tribe situates each individual within his people while preserving his distinct significance. The census, needless for divine knowledge, is for Israel: a declaration that the nation is built of irreplaceable persons, each counted, each beloved.

יבאר היות הדגלים וחנייתם לימוד נפלא ליחד לבם אל אביהם שבשמים: שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל וגו' במדרש (במדבר רבה פרשה ב') מאי דכתיב נרננה בישועתך ובשם אלהינו נדגול (תהילים כ׳:ו׳).

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