This week’s Torah portion, Bamidbar, is full of statistics and numerical facts. It describes the twelve tribes, the number of people who make up each tribe, a census and many more important facts and figures. Bamidbar is not only the Hebrew name of this Torah portion it is also the name of the book of Torah we begin to read this Shabbat. While it literally means “in the wilderness (or desert)”, it is commonly known in English as the Book of Numbers.

A few days ago, in partnership with the Cohen Center of Brandeis University, we launched our own collection of numbers with a survey to gather data about how our community is impacted as a result of the coronavirus. There are several other communities also utilizing the same survey instrument so we will not only be able to look at our own findings but will have the ability to compare to others. This will give our Federation the capacity to determine what we might want to do to address the changing needs of our Jewish population as a result of the pandemic. Making data informed decisions is a hallmark of our Federation approach.

I have some other data points about our Federation that are worth sharing. Our 2020 Campaign crossed $12 Million this week on our way towards our $14 Million goal. Our Jewish Community Foundation has added over $21 Million in assets to our corpus, one of our best years in recent history. There are 22 diverse sessions being offered at Wednesday night’s Tikkun Leil Shavuot (click here to see the lineup and to sign up). We have distributed more than $850,000 in emergency funds to institutions on the front lines of helping community members negatively impacted by the coronavirus.

While numbers are critical to measure and inform, in the end, it’s all about people. Please take a moment to watch the video below thanking you for all you have been doing during this time of coronavirus to help members of our community.

Shabbat Shalom.

P.S. Looking forward to seeing so many of you on Wednesday night for the Tikkun Leil Shavuot!