Facebook Post by Rabbi Perlin in the Time of Coronavirus (4/1/2020)

Wednesday Post 4/1/20: Being Counted 

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

Today is National Census Day in the United States. Once every ten years, we count every person and every household to assess everything from government representation to allocation of funding and resources.  While you are stuck at home, please make sure to fill out your census.  I can’t imagine we will get an accurate census this year, with all that is going on and considering that those without computers, permanent addresses, and awareness may not get counted.

We know about the census from the Torah.  In Numbers 1:2f., we are commanded to take a census of every male who is twenty years and older. In essence, all those eligible to go to war.  In Numbers, Chapter 4, we read about the census of the Levites, where all males one month and older are counted in service to the Eternal.  And only once in the Torah are women counted in Numbers 26:33. Zelophehad had five daughters and no sons, and they demand to be counted for the purpose of inheritance.   We know from the Torah how inaccurate a census can be when it doesn’t include women, children, those who live on the fringes of society, and those who are not adult males.  For centuries, we existed with this prejudice and injustice overshadowing everything in Jewish society.  Thankfully, most of us have moved beyond this discrimination and ignorance.  I count as a woman and a rabbi.  God help anyone who would want to deny me that right.  I count in the Jewish community and with the U.S. census, I count here in my country, as well.

I am saddened and sickened by those ultra-Orthodox Jews who are disregarding the current calls for social distancing, as they continue with large weddings, prayer gatherings, and open schools around the globe in defiance of medical advice and the public good.  This is creating hot spots in their communities and endangering the lives of so many.  They are not alone, as fundamentalists in all faiths defy the common good in the name of a fanatical interpretation of what God wants and who God will save.  Real religious leadership is about preserving and protecting all life, regardless of age, social status, religious or political affiliation.

We live in a society where voter suppression, gerrymandering, and tampering with elections is an unacceptable norm.  Now is the time to make sure that everyone is counted in our census, or we should postpone it until such time that accuracy can prevail.  It may be hard to count the American living, at a time when we are counting the pandemic dead.

And now is the time for every citizen to demand that our government protect our November elections and make provisions for online voting.  We may be in the midst of a second wave of pandemic in the fall, and not acting now to make sure that we have free and fair elections will lead to an disaster come November.  We have gone 3 ½ years without acting on protecting our elections.  We can’t allow any nation, or any medical crisis, to undermine our elections in the fall.  It is tragic that any candidate would use this crisis as a political pulpit for self-promotion.  We can’t allow anyone to highjack our electoral process going forward.  We must do all we can to protect and defend the right of every American citizen to be counted.

Today is National Census Day.  For today, make sure you and your household are counted. And then do whatever you can to make sure everyone is counted in our census, and in our upcoming elections.