Ki Tisa(Exodus 30:11-34:35)

Individualism

"50% of all people will..."
"Most Americans have two..."
"Chances are you will..."
"By the time you reach thirty you will have..."

Statistics. They've become a way of life in the Western world. Marketers can predict with uncanny accuracy who and how many will buy what. We've been analyzed, studied and reduced to a probability. "They" seem to know what we will do. It seems that whatever we do is predictable. We receive a particular piece of junk mail (or junk email!) because we tend to buy certain products. To some degree, it seems we've stopped being people and have become trends. Where did our individualism go?

Religion, as the secularists would have us believe, is a movement that - through endless rules and rituals - robs you of your personality, removes any trace of individuality and creates a blind mass of followers. This is ironic because the secular world - which proclaims to be based on the principle of "individualism" - seems to be plagued by "existential crises" and questions of identity in far greater numbers than their religious counterparts.

RULES: PLUS OR MINUS IN THE IDENTITY QUESTION?

Let's look at an everyday example: You're driving to work, and come to a stop sign. Is the sign, a) an infringement, b) an aid, or c) indifferent to your personality?

If you disregard the sign you may find yourself "fulfilling your personality" in traffic school, or worse - in a hospital bed. It is obvious that rules don't necessarily infringe upon you, rather they lay the groundwork for a healthy society and well-adjusted individuals. Just as the foundation of a building provides the basis for the structure, rules provide the basis for living. Without good rules, life stands on very shaky ground and more often than not there won't be a straight wall in the house.

DILEMMAS OF THE INDIVIDUAL

Society, by its very nature, curtails people's individualism. It groups people by race and socio-economic status. It applies social pressures to conform to standards of dress, food, entertainment and professions.

Judaism on the other hand, wants people to stand up and take responsibility. Emphasis and praise are constantly given to those who stand out and give direction. This encourages individualism.

Even within Judaism there is a great dilemma that any individual faces when he takes responsibility and expresses individualism. We ask with trepidation: "What can one person do?" We are skeptical at how can someone express his inner personality to make the world a better place - when overwhelming forces stand in opposition? This feeling is so great that it can curtail even the most ardent of idealists.

THE JEWISH RESPONSE

This week's Parsha gives us a great insight into this problem. Exodus 30:11-17 describes God's command to count the Jewish People. Since God knows how many people there are, why does He want us to count them? Obviously it's not for the purpose of telling Him how many there are. Yet neither is it for the purpose of letting us mortals know how many we are; God could simply tell us. The only reasonable explanation is that this census is for the purpose of us going through the process of counting.

The Kli Yakar (16th century Poland) points out that certain things only have value in large numbers. Straw, for example, is not very valuable as single stalks, so one rarely counts them individually. On the other hand, some things are so important and valuable they are only counted individually. For instance, diamonds have such great value that they are almost always counted one by one.

The Torah tells us that God wants us to count each individual person. This is because every individual is important. God takes each individual into account. Every Jew is equally important to our mission. Just as removing one letter invalidates a Torah Scroll, so too the loss of one Jew hinders our destiny.

Sometimes we may feel that events around us are due to forces beyond our control. We may feel that God is causing things to happen because of global factors, regardless of who we are. This feeling does not reflect reality. The world never gets too big for God to be able to run it for the best of all concerned. But this feeling of our own insignificance is strong and so God tells us to count each person. By so doing, we are reminded that God takes each and every person into account.

THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS CAN BE GREATER THAN THE SUM!

There is one glaring question on what we've said so far: Because at the same time, the Torah prohibits counting individuals directly. When we do count, it has to be in an indirect manner, i.e. each person gives a coin and we count the number of coins. This is the basis of the Half-Shekel collection. Yet this seems to contradict the significance of the very counting!

We are instructed to count in this manner because even though we are counting each individual, one could mistakenly think it is only for the purpose of knowing the total. For example, we want to know how big an army we have. Therefore when we count, we symbolically indicate we are not counting for the purpose of knowing the total mass numbers of people. It's a symbolic measure. We only know how many coins we have, not people. When we count the people it should be for purposes other than the need for sheer numbers. We should always keep in mind that total numbers don't make a difference. Because one person can change the world.

This is a very difficult idea for Western society to comprehend. We think in terms of masses. Football stadiums, political rallies. Masses seem to have more power than individuals. However if we look at even our recent Jewish history we can see the power of single individuals: Herzl, Einstein, Freud, Marx. These were individuals; individuals whose influence and affect on the world is equal if not greater than that of an entire nation!

INDIVIDUALS DON'T HAVE TRENDS

It is important to realize that if we were to truly think of ourselves as individuals, it would dramatically affect the way we would behave. If we were to think of ourselves as unique, we would not compare ourselves to others. We would look to ourselves for direction. We would have our own expectations to judge ourselves, and no one else's. Not only is this significant for our own self image, but also for how we look at and treat others. As we are unique individuals, so too are all others singularly significant.

Therefore, don't judge others by your standards - just as you shouldn't judge yourself by theirs. Whoever you may meet is unique and worthy of your attention. Remember their names, and count them as single people. They are individuals!

If you think of and treat others this way you will come to realize how much of an individual you are.

If you truly can see the power of one - of you alone - you will realize that one alone can implement world shattering effects. Look to yourself. Remove the excuse of "What can I do?" And do what individuals who are truly unique do! Live your own life, not society's, not your family's, and certainly, not that of the marketing executives. Get in touch with and follow your own goals and wishes!

BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

Question 1:  Does it bother you that you may die and be as insignificant to the world's course as though you had hardly lived?

Question 2:  Einstein is known for his contributions to science, Freud to psychology, Herzl to Israel. In what way would you like to influence the world?

Question 3:  In what areas are you conforming to society's pre-selected standards? Think of some small ways in which you could break free of that pressure and express yourself more individually.