In this week's parashah, Ki Tissa, God teaches Moshe how to take a census of the people.  "When you count the children of Israel, according to their numbers. . ."  But the expression that the Torah uses for "counting" is  a strange one.  Literally, what it says is, "When you lift up the heads of the children of Israel, according to their numbers."

Why does the Torah speak of counting people as "lifting up their heads"?  The Avnei Ezel  explains that, in counting people as part of a community, we raise their status as human beings.  A life that is uninvolved in any cause larger than itself feels empty and unimportant.  It almost literally does not count.  But when we place ourselves within a  community, with a greater sense of mission, our lives take on a deeper dignity.  Our heads are lifted up.

We often think of individuality and community as opposites, in conflict with each other. But the Avnei Ezel reminds us that they are not.  It is in the "we" that we discover the "I."  It is by placing ourselves in a larger context that we discover our true value as individuals.  May our community raise each of us, as individuals, to a higher level.

• Shabbat Services at The New Shul are from 6 to 7 pm on Friday evenings, and from 9 am to about noon on Saturday mornings.  Childcare is available from 10:30 to noon.  Children's services are from 11 to 11:30 am for grades K-3, and from 10:30 to 11:45 for grades 4-6.  The kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Buddy and Carol Sunshine.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sundays at 9:30 am, and Wednesdays at 7 am.
• Rabbi Wasserman's class on the parashah of the week meets this Sunday morning at 10:30 am.
• This Sunday at 1 pm, The New Shul will host the Council for Jews With Special Needs Keshet program.
• Rabbi Wasserman's men's class on Hasidic thought is moving to Mondays at 11:30 am, as of next week.  It meets at the law office of David Don, 301 E. Bethany Home Rd., Suite B100.
• Rabbi Wasserman's two session mini-course, "Out of the Narrow Places:  Preparing for Pesah" begins next Tuesday evening March 9 at 7:30 pm, and continues on Tuesday evening March 23.
• Rabbi Kanter's women's class on the book of Genesis meets on Fridays at 8 am, at the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community Day School, on the JCC Campus (room 203F).