Parshat Ki Tisa: What the half shekel census is all about (updated from 2016)

תשא and אם תשא

If we stop and think about it, the opening verses of Parshat Ki Tisa (Shemot 30:11-13) don’t quite add up.

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
The Lord spoke to Moshe, saying:

כִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַיהֹוָ֖ה בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם׃

When you take the census (כי תשא את ראש) of the children of Israel according to their numbers, let each one give to the Lord an atonement for his soul when they are counted; then there will be no plague among them when they are counted.

זֶ֣ה ׀ יִתְּנ֗וּ כל־הָעֹבֵר֙ עַל־הַפְּקֻדִ֔ים מַחֲצִ֥ית הַשֶּׁ֖קֶל בְּשֶׁ֣קֶל הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ עֶשְׂרִ֤ים גֵּרָה֙ הַשֶּׁ֔קֶל מַחֲצִ֣ית הַשֶּׁ֔קֶל תְּרוּמָ֖ה לַֽיהֹוָֽה׃
This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: half a shekel according to the holy shekel. Twenty gerahs equal one shekel; half of [such] a shekel shall be an offering to the Lord.

What possible connection can there be between taking a census and atonement for one’s soul?; between counting heads and thwarting a nationwide plague?

Can it be that our understanding of the word “תשא” as meaning “to take a census” is wrong, and that it means something else entirely?

Is it merely a coincidence that the identical word “תשא” reappears a bit later, indeed in the very same aliyah, yet with an entirely different meaning i.e. “to forgive”?

Can there be any connection between the “atonement” and thwarted “plague” in Chapter 30 – which clearly imply forgiveness – and the forgiveness of the Israelites for the sin of the golden calf demanded by Moshe of God in Chapter 32? And, if indeed this is so, can it be that the “תשא” in “כי תשא” in fact means forgiveness just as it does with “אם תשא” in 32:32 — if, in fact, it means forgiveness altogether?

וַיָּ֧שב מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶל־יְהֹוָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אָ֣נָּ֗א חָטָ֞א הָעָ֤ם הַזֶּה֙ חֲטָאָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֔ה וַיַּֽעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י זָהָֽב
And Moshe returned to the Lord and said: “Please! This people has committed a grave sin. They have made themselves a god of gold.

וְעַתָּ֖ה אִם־תִּשָּׂ֣א חַטָּאתָ֑ם וְאִם־אַ֕יִן מְחֵ֣נִי נָ֔א מִֽסִּפְרְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּתָֽבְתָּ
And now, if You forgive (אם תשא) their sin; But if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written.

It seems highly unlikely that the appearance of the identical word “תשא” twice in the same parsha is merely a coincidental homonym.

As we know, our tradition posits that chronology in the Torah can be haphazard; אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה.

So I would like to suggest a radically different take on Shemot 30:12.

As I see it, the census instructions in 30:11-13 were dictated after the sin of the golden calf, not before it.

Now it all begins to make sense. Clearly there is a connection between taking the census, atonement and averting a plague.

God ordered a census after the decimation and slaughter that followed the sin of the golden calf.   The Israelites are indeed in need of atonement and deserving of a plague. The census count – with its attendant half-shekel fee – brings closure to this sorry chapter. The gold that had been given for the calf is now mitigated by the coin given for the census. The plague that should have destroyed the entire camp has been averted, and it is time for a fresh start.

But there is more that occurs in this fraught episode of the golden calf. There is a subtle role reversal, or role sharing, between God and Moshe.

At first it is God who desires to wipe out the Bnei Israel, and it is Moshe in 32:32 who insists that God forgive them.

God acquiesces to Moshe, but not without first visiting limited destruction in the Israelite camp:

וַיִּגֹּ֥ף יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־הָעָ֑ם עַ֚ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשׂ֣וּ אֶת־הָעֵ֔גֶל אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה אַהֲרֹֽן׃
Then the Lord struck the people with a plague (ויגוף), because they had made the calf that Aaron had made. (32:35)

Note that the word “ויגוף” is the same as the word “נגף” which appears in 30:12,

וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם
then there will be no plague ((נגף plague among them

Hence while God has heeded Moshe’s plea to spare the Israelite nation, He still exacts a measure of punishment via a plague that he visits upon His People.

It appears now that decision regarding the fate of the Bnei Israel is shared somewhat between God and Moshe. Indeed, God and Moshe alternate in their wrath and in their forbearance.

Now I would suggest that the word “תשא” means neither to count/take a census nor to forgive. Rather it means to “forbear” – a sort of mid point between total destruction and full forgiveness.

This makes linguistic sense as well as the root of תשא means “to bear”.   Hence כי תשא implies a willingness to tolerate the evil that was done, but hardly goes so far as to grant full forgiveness.

There remains in perpetuity the need to mitigate the blemish of the golden calf through periodic census counts. It is by way of these censuses that we, as a People, are reminded of the sin of the calf — both the stain on our record and the gift of forbearance by both God and Moshe.

Having said this, let us now re-visit verse 30:12:

The word “כי” has several possible meanings. It can mean “when”, “if” and “because”. I would suggest that the “כי” in “כי תשא” means “because”, i.e. because you forbear.

After the sin of the calf, and after Moshe has interceded on behalf of Bnei Israel – despite his own uncontrollable rage – God commands him (30:12):

כִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַיהֹוָ֖ה בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם
Because your forbear (כי תשא) the head of the children of Israel according to their numbers, let each one (i.e. each head) give to the Lord an atonement for his soul when they are counted; then there will be no plague among them when they are counted.

Now it all makes sense. First Moshe challenges God to forbear the Israelites’ sin; “אם תש “ (And now if You will forbear) their sin, and if not please erase me from the book You have written” (32:32). And only then God passes the baton to Moshe and leaves it for him to reach a final decision.

And so, Moshe, having overcome his own wrath and chosen to be forbearing, God only now tells him; because you have chosen to be forbearing, I demand a head count that is covenantal in nature. This census would mitigate the punishment that was actually warranted by way of a gift of a half shekel that will serve as a recurring reminder of this terrible, and essentially unforgivable episode.