The Half-Shekel
Parshat HaShavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion
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The
Half-Shekel
By
Rabbanit Sharon Rimon
Parashat Ki-Tisa
opens with the subject of the half-shekel (Shemot 30):
(11) God
spoke to Moshe, saying:
(12) When
you count the members of Bnei Yisrael by their number, then each man
shall give a ransom for himself to God when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them.
(13) This
they shall give, every one that passes among those who are counted: a
half-shekel of the shekel of the Sanctuary – a shekel is twenty
(14)
Every one that passes among those who are counted, from the age of twenty years
upwards, shall give the offering to God.
(15) The
rich shall not give more, nor shall the poor give less than a half-shekel, when
giving the offering to God, to make atonement for yourselves.
(16) You
shall take the atonement money of Bnei Yisrael and set it aside for the
service of the Tent of Meeting, that it may be a memorial to Bnei Yisrael
before God, to make atonement for yourselves.
What are Bnei
Yisrael being commanded to do here? What is the purpose of giving a
half-shekel?
The parasha
opens with an introduction of the subject of the census: "When you count
the members of Bnei Yisrael by their number (lifkudeihem)…."
Further on, the root p-k-d appears another four times:
(12)
…then each man shall give a ransom for himself to God when you count
them
… that there be no plague among them when you count them
(13) This
they shall give, every one that passes among those who are counted
(14)
Every one that passes among those who are counted, from the age of
twenty years…
Clearly,
the issue of counting is central to this unit. But is there actually a COMMAND
TO HOLD A CENSUS?
If there
is a command here then somewhere it must be fulfilled. And indeed, in Parashat
Pekudei we find that the Torah records a census taking place (Shemot
38):
(25) The
silver of those who were counted of the congregation was 100 talents and 1775
shekels of the shekel of the Sanctuary.
(26) A beka
for each man – half-shekel, of the shekel of the Sanctuary – for all who passed
among those who were counted, from the age of twenty years upwards, for 603,550
men.
(27) And
the 100 talents of silver were used to cast the sockets of the Sanctuary…
In these
verses we are told that a census was held, that the total number of men counted
was 603,550 and, accordingly, that the amount of silver collected in the census
was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. (One talent = 3,000 shekels; the total
amount collected was 301,775 shekels, if we multiply by two – since each person
gave one half-shekel – we arrive at the number of people: 603,550.) This silver
was used for making the sockets and hooks.
In other
words, MOSHE CARRIED OUT THE CENSUS BY MEANS OF THE HALF-SHEKEL, JUST AS
DESCRIBED AND COMMANDED IN PARASHAT KI-TISA.
But the
formulation of the verses in Ki-Tisa does not follow the regular pattern
of a command: "WHEN (ki) you count the members of Bnei Yisrael…."
In this verse, the word 'ki' means when, or if. This is not the usual
language of a command. There is no instruction here to carry out a census;
rather, the census is a description of the instance to which the command refers
later on. What the verse means, then, is: "When you count Bnei Yisrael,
every one shall give a ransom for himself [1]."
When we
compare the language in Ki-Tisa with the language of the instruction to
carry out a census at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar, the difference is
striking:
In Bamidbar
1 we read:
(2) TAKE
A CENSUS of all the congregation of Bnei Yisrael…
(3) From
twenty years and upwards, all those who are fit to go out to war in
The
language of the command here is very clear: "Take" (in the
imperative), "You shall count."
When we
compare the language in Ki-Tisa to that in Bamidbar, it becomes
immediately clear that the former is not meant as a command to hold a census
[2]. As the Malbim explains:
"The
wording in Ki-Tisa indicates something that is voluntary – 'If you wish
to count.' It is not uttered in the imperative… This was only a notification
for the future – 'If you need to do so, then….'"
What,
then, is the command in this parasha? THE COMMAND CONCERNS THE MANNER OF
CONDUCTING A CENSUS AMONG BNEI YISRAEL.
If we
want or need to conduct a census, a ransom must be given.
Does this
command apply to every census, or is it specific to a certain census? According
to most of the commentators, this is a permanent condition for any census.
Rashi explains:
"If
you wish to obtain the sum of their number, to know how many they are, do not
count heads; rather, each should give a half-shekel, then you count the shekels
and you know their number. 'That there be no plague
among them' – for a sum total is susceptible to the evil eye, and then a plague
will come upon them – as we find in the days of King David."
According
to Rashi, the command is a fixed one. In every census, Bnei Yisrael are to be counted by means of half-shekels.
The
Ramban similarly views Ki-Tisa as a general command as to the manner of
conducting censes:
"The
Holy One commanded Moshe: When you count Bnei Yisrael by their number,
they must give a ransom for themselves [in the amount of] a half-shekel… THE
RULE OF THIS COMMAND IS THAT WHEN YOU COUNT THEM YOU SHALL DO SO – THIS APPLIES
TO EVERY CENSUS THAT IS CONDUCTED."
What is
the reason for this command? Why must a half-shekel be given in every census?
The reason is presented in the verses themselves, and heavily emphasized:
"Each
man shall give A RANSOM FOR HIMSELF… that there not be among them A PLAGUE when
you count them."
Twice
more we find the expression "TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOURSELVES," and
the money itself is called "MONEY OF ATONEMENT."
The text
indicates that a census is problematic – it may cause a plague, and in order to
prevent that a ransom must be given.
Towards
the end of King David's life (II Shemuel 24) the text describes a census
that he conducted, in the wake of which a plague struck the nation. This story
reinforces our perception of a census as being problematic.
What is
the problem with a census? Why might it cause a plague? [3]
To
Rashi's view, as quoted above, THE EVIL EYE PRESIDES OVER A COUNT. Therefore
people must not be counted directly, but rather by means of some device: an
object is to be taken from every person and then the objects are counted,
rather than the people themselves. In this way the evil eye does not come to
control the people being counted. To Rashi's view, the half-shekel is the means
by which the Torah commands us to count.
The
Abarbanel provides a lengthy explanation of how the evil eye gains control when
people are counted by heads and why it is therefore better that they be
numbered by means of something else [4].
In Tanakh
we find evidence of counting by means of other devices. In the war against
Amalek, we read (I Shemuel 15:4):
"Shaul
gathered the people and counted them with lambs ('tela'im'): 200,000
foot-soldiers and 10,000 men of Yehuda."
Shaul
counted the people by means of lambs; each gave a lamb, and then these were
counted.
When
Shaul wages war against Nachash, King of Ammon, we read (I Shemuel
11:8):
"He
counted them in Bezek, and Bnei Yisrael were
300,000, and the men of Yehuda – 30,000."
Some
commentators understand "Bezek" as the name of the place, but
Rashi explains:
"'He
counted them in Bezek' – Our Sages taught: WITH SHARDS OF POTTERY. Or: WITH
STONES – i.e., he took a stone from each of them and counted them, as in 'He
counted them with lambs' (I Shemuel 15:4), where he took a lamb from
each and counted them, JUST AS THEY USED TO BE COUNTED USING
HALF-SHEKELS."
According to these sources, THE PROBLEM IS A DIRECT COUNTING OF PEOPLE. A direct
count causes the evil eye to preside over them, and thus a plague is brought
about.
How does
the half-shekel prevent this problem? THE HALF-SHEKEL IS A MEANS OF COUNTING.
The people are counted using this means, and thus the evil eye is kept away
[5].
But, as
we have seen, the poskim emphasize that the aim of the half-shekel is a
'ransom for the individual, or "to atone for yourselves."
Thus it would seem that the purpose is to atone for some sin [6]. In other
words, THE COUNTING ITSELF IS PROBLEMATIC, and therefore an
atonement is required when the nation is counted. Hence, it makes no
difference whether we count heads or some representative device; IT IS THE
ACTUAL COUNTING OF THE NATION THAT IS PROBLEMATIC.
What is
the problem with counting?
The
Malbim proposes three different reasons for the plague that arises from
counting. One of these reasons is:
"So
long as the nation is united and they are all like a single man, the merit of
the many is very great. But when they are numbered, such that each person is
regarded individually, and their deeds are scrutinized, then the plague
controls them."
According
to this explanation, the problem with counting is that people are separated, so
that each stands alone and is judged according to his own actions, without
having collective merit protecting him. Thus, they end up guilty according to
strict justice, and are punished.
The
half-shekel therefore atones for the sins that would otherwise bring
punishment.
This
explanation gives rise to two questions:
- Is it
possible that the majority of people would emerge guilty by law, and that only
collective merit protects them?
- Why is
the census perceived as separating people? The point of counting would seem to
be quite the opposite – it joins all of them into a single entity that numbers
such-and-such. The counting does not highlight the unique status or situation
of each individual, but does precisely the opposite: it joins them all together
on a common basis [7].
We may
explain the problematic nature of the census in a different way. Rabbeinu
Bechaye writes [8]:
"BLESSING
IS FOUND NOT IN THAT WHICH HAS BEEN MEASURED, NOR IN THAT WHICH HAS BEEN
COUNTED, BUT RATHER ONLY IN THAT WHICH IS HIDDEN FROM THE EYE… For hidden miracles happen every day, in things which ARE NOT
COUNTED AND MEASURED. For if blessing came upon that which was counted,
it would not be a hidden miracle but rather a revealed one, and not every
person is worthy of experiencing revealed miracles… And for this reason the
Torah commands that Israel not be counted by head, but rather using shekels, in
order that blessing rest upon them with the increase of their children through
hidden miracles, and that the evil eye not control them, for it rules over that
which is counted…."
The
problem with numbering is that when the nation is counted, their sum is fixed,
as it were, at a certain total, and this prevents blessing from resting upon
them. There is no room, as it were, for the showering of God's abundance [9].
According
to all of these commentators, Parashat Ki-Tisa conveys a commandment FOR
ALL GENERATIONS: every time the nation of
Do we
find that, further on in history, Bnei Yisrael were
indeed always counted by means of a half-shekel?
In the
census recorded at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar, no mention
whatsoever is made of the half-shekel. Again in the census at the beginning of parashat
Pinchas and in other censuses in Tanakh, there is similarly no hint
of the matter.
Rashi
addresses this question, in his commentary on verse 15 of our parasha
and on Bamidbar chapter 1. To his view, God commanded in Parashat
Ki-Tisa that a census always be conducted using a half-shekel, and
therefore there is no need to mention it over again each time. It is clear that
the census was always taken by means of a half-shekel. And when, in the days of
King David, the nation was counted without the shekels – they were punished.
But other
commentators maintain that no mention is made of the half-shekel in the other
censuses because the command in our parasha was a ONE-TIME requirement,
only for a specific census, and not for all future generations [10].
The
Abarbanel proposes, as mentioned above, that the evil eye does indeed prevail
over a count, and therefore a ransom must be brought during the census in order
to prevent harm. But this applies ONLY TO AN INSTANCE WHERE THE NATION IS
COUNTED WITHOUT ANY DIVINE COMMAND TO DO SO. When GOD COMMANDS that the nation
be counted, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ANY HARM to be caused by the evil eye or by
anything else, and therefore in such a case there is no need for a ransom. Therefore, in the censuses conducted in Sefer
Bamidbar, no half-shekel ransom was taken. AND FOR THIS REASON THIS COMMAND
IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF 613 COMMANDMENTS (because it is not a command
for all generations).
According
to the Abarbanel, THE PROBLEMATIC NATURE OF COUNTING EXISTS ONLY WHEN MAN
COUNTS ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE, WITHOUT ANY DIVINE COMMAND.
Let us
take another look at the verses:
We have
seen that the roots p-k-d and k-p-r feature prominently. We
understand that the purpose of giving the half-shekel is AS ATONEMENT FOR THE
CENSUS.
Further
examination of the verses reveals that this unit contains another theme.
Another expression that is repeated here is "offering to God." Three
times, in verses 13-15, the Torah repeats and emphasizes that the half-shekel
is given as an offering to God. And in verse 16, which summarizes the unit, we
read that the money is given "for the service of the Tent of Meeting."
The first
time that the half-shekel is mentioned is in verse 13, where we read:
"This they shall give, every one that passes among those who are counted:
a half-shekel of the shekel of the Sanctuary – a shekel is twenty
This
being so, it would appear that the half-shekel includes an aspect that we have
not yet addressed: it is an offering to God.
IS THE
HALF-SHEKEL MEANT AS AN ATONEMENT FOR THE CENSUS, OR
IS IT AN OFFERING TO GOD? IS THIS UNIT WRITTEN TO TELL US HOW TO ATONE FOR THE
INHERENT DEFICIENCY OF THE CENSUS, OR IT IS DESCRIBING A CONTRIBUTION TO THE
MISHKAN?
Upon
examination we find that the issue of the offering to God is also central to
the unit:
- The
first time that mention is made of the half-shekel we are told that it is an
"offering to God"
- The
expression "offering to God" is repeated three times, and in addition
we are told that the money is given for the service of the Tent of Meeting
- This parasha
is located in the midst of all the commandments concerning the building of the
Mishkan, which serves to reinforce our impression that this unit, too, is
principally about a contribution to the Mishkan.
- In
chapter
-
Finally, the list of commandments does not include a command to count Bnei
Yisrael by means of a half-shekel, but it does include a command to
contribute a half-shekel to the Sanctuary every year:
"It
is a positive command from the Torah for every man of
(Rambam, Laws of Shekels, chapter 1, law 1)
Thus, our
parasha has two aspects to it: an offering to God and a census.
If the
crux of the matter is that an offering should be given to God – a contribution
to the Mishkan/Temple – then why is it presented as an offering that arises
from the census?
And if
the major issue is the census, what is the subject of a census doing here, in
the middle of the sections dealing with the Mishkan?
The
Netziv and Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, commenting on this parasha,
both propose that these are two separate subjects. They demonstrate that the
text is talking about A CONTRIBUTION FOR TWO DIFFERENT PURPOSES:
- The one
is "AN OFFERING TO GOD," a contribution for the requirements of the
Sanctuary, with no connection to census and atonement.
- The
other is "MONEY OF ATONEMENT," which comes to atone for the census.
These
commentators base their interpretation on the strong impression that the text
here incorporates two matters of equal weight: an offering to God, and a
census. But the Torah COMBINES THESE TWO ASPECTS of the half-shekel, to the
extent that at first we do not even realize that the text is talking about two
separate matters.
This
being so, the half-shekel is presented as A SINGLE OFFERING with TWO PURPOSES.
One is as atonement for the census, the other is as an
offering to God.
Are these
two purposes in any way connected to one another?
The
Netziv maintains that the two are not necessarily connected. The offering to
God is a fixed matter – it is given every year, while the donation of the money
of atonement – from which the sockets of the Mishkan were fashioned – was a
one-time offering in the wake of the census conducted at that time.
But, as
we have seen, most of the commentators are of the view that our text is not
speaking about a one-time event, but rather a permanent command for all
generations, arising from the fundamental problem of conducting a census. If
so, THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ATONEMENT FOR THE CENSUS AND THE OFFERING TO GOD
IS A FUNDAMENTAL ONE. What is this connection?
Let us
return to the Abarbanel, who posits that the problem arises specifically in the
context of a census initiated by man, but not in a census conducted at God's
command.
WHY DO
PEOPLE WANT TO CONDUCT A CENSUS? In general, the purpose of a census is
ORGANIZATIONAL. In order to run a country properly, it is necessary to obtain
population statistics – in order to divide the tax burden, to provide optimal
organization of services to the citizenry, etc.
The
censuses most prevalent in Tanakh are MILITARY CENSUSES, conducted just
prior to going out to war, and there seems to be no problem with these.
The story
of the census at the end of David's life describes a different situation. Here
the nation is not going out to war; there is no need for any special
organization. David simply wants to number the people.
The Radak
explains: "Our Rabbis taught: So long as
This
census ended in a plague, which teaches us that this census was indeed
problematic. Why?
Yoav
senses the problem immediately when David asks him to carry out the census:
(3)
"Yoav said to the King: May the Lord God multiply the people a hundred
times over, and may my master, the King, see it – why does my master the King
desire this thing?"
David, it
turns out, has no special reason for numbering the people. He wants to count
them because he believes that they are many, and he wants to enjoy the sense of
ruling over a large nation. This, it appears, is the source of the problem.
The
Abarbanel explains: "David's heart struck him when he perceived his sin IN
BECOMING PROUD concerning his nation and his inheritance, and his heart had
turned from God, Who was his true help…."
The
Ralbag describes David's sin in similar terms: "Behold, the sin lay in the
number, as I understand it, for this shows that David
was PUTTING HIS FAITH IN THE SHEER NUMBER OF THE NATION, but he should have had
faith only in the blessed God…."
COUNTING
THE NATION CONVEYS A SENSE OF POWER – PERHAPS EVEN PRIDE. When going out to war
and counting the soldiers for this purpose, there is a similar danger of
creating a sense of reliance upon human strength - the number of soldiers -
instead of relying upon and trusting God. While we obviously have no choice -
sometimes a census must be conducted – there is a danger that the census will
imbue the nation with an improper sense of pride, and it is this that causes
the plague. Therefore, it is specifically when conducting a census that we must
remember Who it is that gives us the "strength to
perform this valor."
How is a
census to be performed in the proper manner, so as to avoid a sense of "My
strength and the power of my hand…"?
God
teaches us the proper way of conducting the census: it must be conducted along
with an offering to God, reminding us Who made us
numerous, Who gave us the power to succeed.
In PARASHAT
KI-TISA, among all the commands concerning the building of the Mishkan, God
commands us to number the people by means of giving an offering to God, in
order to remind us – specifically during the census – the place of the Divine
Presence amongst
And Moshe
demonstrates how such a census is performed, how THE COUNTING OF THE NATION IS
COMBINED WITH THE BUILDING OF THE MISHKAN.
In SEFER
BADMIDBAR there is a census, but no mention is made of the half-shekel.
Why? Because in Sefer Bamidbar it is God Who commands the census, hence
there is no danger. Why not? The Abarbanel explains that when God wants a
census and He commands us to perform it, no harm can come to the nation,
because God is protecting us. But according to what we have said above, we may
explain that Am Yisrael will not be harmed because THERE IS NOTHING
WRONG WITH SUCH A CENSUS. It does not arise from a human desire to discover how
powerful the nation is; rather, it is a response to Divine command, and this
can never be a problem. Moreover, the census in Bamidbar concerns the
organization of the camp of
In the
time of KING DAVID, as we have seen, the census was taken without any
organizational need, without any Divine command, and without the donation of
the half-shekel, which would remind the nation of God during the course of the
census. Such a counting, which amplifies the sense of human pride, is
problematic, and therefore it ends in a plague.
What was
the rectification for the census, what stopped the plague? The plague stopped
when DAVID PURCHASED THE FUTURE SITE OF THE
Once
again, we see the connection between the offering made to God's Sanctuary and
the solution to the problem of the census.
This
connection is no accident. An offering to God – an approach to God via the
Sanctuary – shows that a person understands that in truth there is no
significance to the numerical number; the power to perform valor lies with God.
Within an
atmosphere such as this, there is no problem with a census, and the plague is
stayed.
The
giving of the half-shekel is not merely an external atonement for a problem
that is created by the census. Rather, it is given as AN OFFERING TO GOD THAT
REPAIRS THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM ARISING FROM THE CENSUS.
The
offering turns the census from an expression or harbinger of the sense of
"my power and the strength of my hand…" into an act expressing
recognition of the centrality of God.
Thus,
there is no problem with counting; we may even go further and say that the army
of the people becomes the army of God.
The very
census itself becomes an offering to God.
Notes:
[1] There are many
commandments that are introduced with the word "ki," in the
sense of "when" or "if," and all include the description of
a situation, followed by the command as to how to proceed in that instance. For
example, Vayikra 25:25: "If your brother becomes poor and he sells
some of his possession, then his nearest kinsman shall come and redeem that
which his brother sold." The text is certainly not commanding anyone to be
poor, nor stipulating that a poor man must sell some of his possessions! The
command, of course, concerns the redemption of that which was sold. IF someone
sells his possession, then his kinsmen are commanded to redeem. The same
applies in the case of Devarim 24, which discusses divorce. There is no
commandment to hate one's wife, or to divorce here; rather, the command
concerns the manner in which the divorce is carried out, along with a
prohibition to remarry a wife that one divorced if she has been married to
someone else. There are many other such examples.
[2] This raises the
question: if there is no command, then why is this census carried out by Moshe,
as described in Parashat Pekudei?
Quite simply, we may
explain that Moshe himself wished to conduct the census, for whatever reason,
and he did so in the manner commanded by God. To the Ramban's view, the command
is not to conduct a census right now, but rather a general command meaning that
whenever Bnei Yisrael are counted, a ransom of a half-shekel should be
given. Moshe understood, on the basis of this command, that he should also
arrange a census right then.
[3] Cassuto notes:
"In
It is possible that
a belief of this sort was indeed prevalent in those times, but since the Torah
was written by God and not by humans, we understand that THE HOLY ONE HIMSELF
TESTIFIES THAT A CENSUS IS PROBLEMATIC, AND THEREFORE WE MUST TRY TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT THE ESSENTIAL PROBLEM IS.
[4] Further on, the
Abarbanel disagrees with Rashi – see more on this below.
[5] Must the means
be a half-shekel? According to the narratives quoted from I
Shemuel, it would seem that other devices may also be used. But from the
text in Ki-Tisa, and from Rashi's explanation ad loc., our
impression is that the counting should be done specifically by means of a
half-shekel and not any other device.
[6]
"Ransom" (kofer) is money that is given to redeem a person
from the punishment of death, as we learn from the verses in Bamidbar
35:31-32: "You shall not take a ransom for the life of a murderer, who is
guilty of death, for he shall surely be put to death." Likewise
in Shemot 21:30.
The expression
"to atone" (le-khaper) means to remove sin, as we learn from a
great number of sources (particularly in Sefer Vayikra). For example, Vayikra 4:20 – "The kohen shall make
atonement for them and they shall be forgiven." The Ramban,
commenting on Shemot 21:30, connects the two concepts: "'If a
ransom be placed upon him' – because the ransom (kofer) is an atonement
(kapara), in the same manner as the sacrifices…."
[7] When we compare
the counting in Sefer Shemot and the counting in Sefer Bamidbar,
we note two differences. In the former counting the people gave a half-shekel,
and the census is a general one, to find out how many people comprise the
entire nation. In Bamidbar, there is no mention of giving a half-shekel,
and the census is not merely a general one, to find out the total number of the
members of the nation, but a detailed survey: "By their families, by their
households, by the number of their names, every male by their heads." It
is specifically in the detailed census of each person individually that the
half-shekel is not given, while in the general census they do give the
half-shekel!
[8] The same idea
appears in the commentaries of the Chizkuni and of the Malbim, and it is based
upon the teaching of Chazal in Talmud Bavli, Massekhet Ta'anit
8b: "Rabbi Yitzchak said: Blessing is found only in that which is hidden
from the eye, as it is written: 'God will command the blessing upon you in your
barns….' The Rabbis taught: One who comes in to measure [the produce of] his
threshing floor says, 'May it be Your will, Lord our
God, that you send a blessing upon the word of our hands.' Once he starts
measuring, he says; 'Blessed is He Who sends blessing upon this heap." One
who measures and then afterwards recites a blessing – this is a blessing
uttered in vain. BECAUSE BLESSING IS FOUND NOT IN SOMETHING
THAT IS ALREADY WEIGHED, NOR SOMETHING ALREADY MEASURED, NOR IN
SOMETHING ALREADY COUNTED, BUT ONLY IN THAT WHICH IS HIDDEN FROM THE EYE."
[9] How does the
half-shekel help? Rabbeinu Bechaye repeats Rashi's explanation: if we count using
shekels rather than numbering the people directly, God's blessing may continue
to prevail amongst them.
This solution is not
entirely clear, since Rabbeinu Bechaye suggests that the fundamental problem of
knowing the number of the people is what prevents the blessing from prevailing
among them. How, then, does counting by means of some other device evade the
problem?
[10] See Rashbam
and Chizkuni on verse 12.
Translated by Kaeren
Fish