Shabbat Parashat Ki Tisa - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Ki Tisa - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

When you will take a census of the children of Israel according to their

counts, every man shall give God an atonement for his soul when counting

them and there will be no plague among them when counting them.

[Shemot 30:12]

Our verse is full of complications. "When you will take a census", "according

to their counts", "every man shall give", "an atonement for his soul", "when

counting them", "there will be no plague" and the repeat of "when counting

them", each phrase could spawn a book's worth of explanations. This time,

we address the atonement issue, although that necessarily touches on some

of the others as well. Why does a man need to atone for his soul here?

The atonement idea appears again in 30:15, "The wealthy shall not increase

and the destitute shall not decrease from half of the shekel to give the portion

of God, to atone for your souls." The need to atone is obviously not rooted in

the person's wealth, rather it appears to be linked to taking a census. Why

would that be?

Rashi takes from Onkelos, "When you will wish to take the total of their number

to know how many they are, do not count them by heads." His explanation is

that "the evil eye can affect what has been counted and pestilence can come

upon them", which takes it out of the realm of simple understanding.

Rav Moshe Feinstein understands "atonement for his soul" as a reference to

tzedakah. He says, "this teaches that we must raise ourselves up from whatever

low level we might think we are at by doing mitzvot: 'lift up your head and be

counted along with everyone else'." But others see it more like Onkelos and Rashi.

Why count at all? Sforno says, "they are not the same people every time due to

death being decreed upon mankind for sin. Mention of a count is an oblique reminder

of man's sin, his guilt. Therefore during a count, he should pay ransom for his soul to

qualify for atonement."

Rav Joseph Soloveitchik adds another possible way to look at this, which is tied to the

census merely because it is a good time to do so. He says that everything, including

man, is consecrated, and we are not allowed to make use of the consecrated without

first redeeming it. "God requires that each person redeems himself, to 'buy himself'

back from God."

Malbim gives us a nice summation. "There are three reasons why taking a census

places the Jewish people in danger of a plague:

- counting anything of value can inspire jealousy of those who begrudge them

- blessing only manifests itself within something hidden from view

- as long as the nation unites as though they were one person, their combined merit is

very great and sins are overlooked. By counting them, each is separated out and vulnerable."

According to this, the atonement is for their sinful attitudes during a count.

Each of these takes a differing view of the plague and its cause, but all come back to the

same response, giving tzedakah, as the way to improve the nation and ourselves.