We begin the book of Bamidbar this week. It’s known in English as “Numbers,” because it opens with a census of the Israelites, or at least of the adult males. Putting aside the issue of how historically accurate the census numbers are, there’s something much more interesting going on. In Num. 1:46 we’re told, “All who were enrolled came to 603,550.” If that number rings a bell, it should. Back in Exo. 38:26 another count also comes up with the number 603,550. What a coincidence. But wait, there’s more. According to tradition, when one counts up all the letters in the Torah it comes to… (wait for it)… 603,550. Was the count rigged? It’s impossible for us to know how the census numbers reflect reality, but there is a lesson here, courtesy of Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, an 18th century Hasidic sage. He noted that just as a Torah scroll missing even one letter is unusable, so is the Jewish nation should even one Jew fall away. What he made of a subsequent census of 601,730 (Num. 26:51) is a discussion for another day.