Ki Tisa 2022

1The Parsha opens with the instruction that one must not count the Jewish people using any method other than the collection and counting of coins. There is nothing wrong with taking a regular census but if we choose to conduct a census, we must collect and count coins. Failure to follow this rule will result in a plague, “And a plague will be avoided when one counts them [when using the coins].” Rashi notes that when King David counted the people, he failed to use coins and the resulting plague killed 70,000 people!

2The difficulty with this law is its apparent irrationality: why should failing to use coins for a census produce a plague? Plagues are brought on by sin; for example, a plague followed the people’s complaint about Moshe’s leadership (Num 17:6-15). Following the sin of the golden calf there was a plague “and God brought a plague on the Nation on account of them haven’t made the Calf that Aaron made.” (Ex 32:35) But why should those counted be affected by what the census-taker did or didn’t do? Moreover, how could it be that King David did not learn from our Parsha? Did he think he was somehow exempt from this rule?

3In Midrash Tanchuma, Parshat Ki Tisa, we learn that “When the count had a purpose there were no “losses” as in the days of Moshe. A census with no purpose resulted in “losses” as in the days of David.

4Rashi quotes another statement in the Midrash, according to which “God loves His people and therefore counts them.” But one might ask: If God loves His people and counts them, why did He kill 70,000 for the crime of counting with the wrong method, or even of counting for no purpose. Where is the love in those acts?

5Finally, the Midrash says that Moshe had difficulty grasping the idea of the half-shekel until God showed him a fiery coin. We might ask: what drove Moshe’s difficulty, and how was the problem resolved?

6These questions have – if one will excuse the expression – plagued our commentators, both ancient and contemporary. The traditional approach to the problem is the idea that by counting people in a group, one subjects the group as a whole to the “ayin hara”, the “evil eye”. In this line of thought, one who isn’t counted avoids divine scrutiny and is thus not subject to potential negative consequences. However, this approach fails to explain how a half-shekel removes the ayin hara. Moreover, we are left with the question of how someone can affect the life of another by including the latter in a count.

7According to a prevailing worldview, nothing in life is random. Judaism, specifically, teaches that an Almighty Being guides our lives. That said, earthquakes, floods, and devastating diseases occur apparently randomly as part of the natural order. This is sometimes referred to as “Olam Keminhago Noheg” – the world has a natural reality. It is sometimes possible to avoid the consequences of these events. Sometimes we can avoid negative results by using our intelligence. For example, in order to withstand earthquakes, we build better houses. In order to protect ourselves from storms, we build better roofs. In the Jewish tradition, there may be other, supernatural ways to avoid the devastating results of these events, such as charity or extreme Torah study. However, certain failures of character may reduce the benefits of these special actions. It is conceivable that giving the half-shekel (i.e., charity) served as an antidote to the devastating effects of diseases that plague the world. But calamitous consequences can be incurred if one counts people and, thereby, fails to take advantage of a charitable opportunity. In that case, not only is the protective nature of communal charity lost but the potential positive opportunity from community charity is also lost. The result may not be a plague – but if such disease is present in the world, the spiritual protection against it may not materialize.

8Moshe may have had difficulty understanding how so small a coin as the half-shekel could have such a large effect. It may have been hard for him to fully appreciate the burden on leadership to take each and every opportunity for charity as it arises.

9Dedicated to the memory of Joel Shulman AH