The arguments about citizenship questions and deadlines, enumerators and computer forms, congressional districts and federal funding — it seems like a lifetime ago because of COVID, and yet the results will guide us for the next 10 years … until we get to census 2030 as mandated by the Constitution.

In this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, we again turn our attention to a census of ancient Israel. This is the fifth of 10 censuses the people of Israel have and will take in the ancient world: