Counting to Ten

There are various methods of counting to see whether there are ten, but I'm fascinated by the idea of using visual glimpses to count rapidly. With a little practice you will instantly recognize the shape of a group of 3, 4 or 5, and can add the group totals instantly. But if you start young you might learn to recognize larger groups at a glance - six, eight or even ten at once. I'm sorry I did try to learn this skill when I was young.

One Shabbat morning we sat around for fifteen minutes waiting for a tenth to arrive. Suddenly we realized that we were already ten; we had miscounted.