Are We Citizens or Consumers?

I wonder if you've noticed in recent years a subtle change in how you and I are referred to in western society

When I was growing up, my teachers placed a high value on the concept of "citizenship."

It was important to vote. It was important to keep abreast of political, social and economic trends. A good citizen read a newspaper every day, or watched the nightly news. A good citizen not only thought about supporting a healthy economy, but also maintained a sensitivity towards those who struggled to keep pace.

I recall while working as a journalist in northwest Canada, taking my children during election campaigns to political debates. They came with their school notebooks and pencils, and when it came time to vote, entered the booth with me to recommend which candidate to support.

Citizenship was an important word then, but somehow I don't hear it as much now.

Times and priorities have changed. More often, we are not referred to as citizens, but rather as consumers.

This is understandable. It is important for the prosperity of our nation that we maintain a healthy economy. Free enterprise and entrepreneurship create jobs, prosperity and a solid future for our country -- and its citizens.

But is it everything?

Lynne Twist, in her fascinating book The Soul of Money cautions that while money is essential to our survival, it should never serve as the heart of our existence.  

She observes that:

"We've made money more important than human life, the natural world, or God. We've given it more meaning than the most important things that there are.... and we even allow ourselves to be called consumers instead of citizens."

Companies, who used to sell to one country or region, now serve many. And as a result, too often the value of a human being is now reduced to charts, statistics and trends, rather than through attention to individual needs.

We've lost something in the process.

Within Judaism we constantly remind ourselves that within each of us exists Tzelem Elohim, a spark of God. It provides us with the power to choose. I'm not exactly sure where it lives within each of us, but that spark, God's spark, makes us unique.

This week's Torah portion, Bamidbar (In the Wilderness) makes special mention of the individual spark within you and me.

At the beginning of the Parashah, God asks Moses to conduct a census. All males over the age of twenty were to be counted by bringing a half shekel to the central place of worship. The idea was to identify how many Jewish males were "are able to bear arms." (Numbers 1:3)

But our scholars pose an interesting question. Simply stated, "If God is so almighty, why was it necessary to conduct a census? God knew the answer."

Furthermore, why didn't Moses count people? And what is the story around a half shekel?

Our Sages answer all three questions.  

They note that in life, each one of us counts. Each one of us is a citizen. Each one of us brings blessings to this world. Each one of us is an individual, and deserves to be counted.

Often, when we refer people by their number, we limit their potential. We slot them according to economic status, or other demographic. Jewish history is blotted with those who deprived us of our names and identity, and assigned us a number.

But we are no such thing.

Furthermore, the Torah teaches us this week that no one person can navigate this world alone. Indeed, a half shekel needs another half shekel to make it complete.

The half shekel prescribed in this week's Torah portion reminds us of the basic value of every human being - no one more than the other.

In this world which increasingly evaluates people and issues by what is "trending" rather than "what is important" we could use a little more individuality in this world.

And that is why God ordered a census to be taken. Imagine how proud the pauper must have felt as placed his half shekel in the pushka alongside the most prosperous goat herder.

It is why within Judaism, while we acknowledge and even embrace differences in economic status, the true value of a human being is measured by what they contribute to the community -- from their soul.

It is also a message to us at times when we feel alone or isolated from family or community.

Every one of us carries that spark of God, and together soul by soul, half shekel by half shekel, we come together us one.

Indeed, each of us counts.  

And we are all precious in God's sight.

Shabbat Shalom, v'kol tuv (with all goodness)

Rabbi Irwin Huberman