A Message from Rabbi Bellows

May 10, 2026/23 Iyar 5786

Dear Friends,

If we are fortunate, we experience in our lifetime someone who helps us feel loved and seen, like we matter in the world.

In this week’s Torah portion, the first book of Numbers, we encounter once again God taking a census of the Israelites. Why does God have to count the people so many times? Surely God knows how many Israelites are present and accounted for in the desert wilderness! Why does God keep counting the Israelites? 

The answer offered by many of our teachers is: you count what you love. A shepherd counts the flock not out of bureaucratic necessity, but out of care to notice immediately if even one is missing. God counts the Israelites the way a devoted parent counts their children. The census is not a number. It is an act of love.

Today is Mother’s Day, a moment on the secular calendar that, at its best, invites us to do something deeply Jewish: to stop and express gratitude.

I hope that most of us have been fortunate enough to have someone in our lives, whether a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, friend, who helped us feel counted. Who noticed when we were struggling, or who celebrated us just because of who we are, not what we have done. Someone who remembered the details of our lives that we thought no one tracked. Who, by their steady attention and care, sent us the quiet but powerful message: you matter. You are seen. You are not lost in the crowd.

The Torah reminds us this week that being counted is sacred. And so is the act of counting others.

As we enter this week, may we carry with us a heart full of gratitude for those who have made us feel known and loved. May we also ask ourselves, who in our lives is waiting to be counted by us?

With Many Blessings, 

Rabbi Bellows