שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל "Count the heads of all the Congregation of the Sons of Israel" (Bamidbar 1:2). What is the purpose of the instruction in the Torah to count the heads of Benei Yisrael? If the whole purpose was to know how many they were, surely G-d was aware of the number.
One of the purposes in counting the people was to show that each member of the Children of Israel was worthy in his or her own right as an individual. Bil'am, the wicked prophet of the nations of the world, originally said to G-d that the Jewish people were a nation which covered the face of the earth (Bamidbar 22:11), speaking about them about them in a collective sense. He later states, "who can count the dust of Jacob" (Bamidbar 23:10), recognizing that even the dust of the Jewish nation is worthy to be counted.
Obviously G-d was aware of the total number of Benei Yisrael in the wilderness. The commandment to count the heads of each of them, was to make them fully appreciate the fact that each and every one of the Jewish people was worthy to be counted as an individual and should not feel that their value was only, as Bil'am originally thought, when they are considered collectively.
(See Aqedath Yis-haq, Parashath Bammidbar)
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perasha, parashat bamidbar, parshas bamidbar, bemidbar sinai, akeydas yizchok, akedat yitzhak, balak and bilam, bnei yisrael, b’nai yisroel
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