From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 2:26 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Ki Sisa, 5764

   


                                              More or Less

            By Rabbi Joshua (approximately known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


This week's parsha begins with the command to collect a half shekel from each Jew when there is a need to count the people. The Torah says that the people being counted would give this coin as a ransom for their souls, to avoid a 'negef,' or plague, when they are counted. A number of commentators ask, why this mitzvoh, recorded here after the command to build the inner altar, is mentioned at the end of parshas Tetzaveh, and immediately before the command to construct the kiyor - the copper washstand - and its base?  Rabbi Ya'akov ben Chananel Sokoly, who was a student of the great Talmudic scholar, Rashba, explains, in his Toras HaMincha, that Moshe, as recorded in the midrash, was troubled after hearing the laws concerning the inner altar. Once a year, the Torah says, Aharon would bring an offering that would effect atonement for the people. That one day is Yom Kippur, when each person is counted and judged by God. When Moshe heard that the people are open to harm when they are counted individually, he wanted to know how they could protect themselves the rest of the year, at times when they would be counted. God settled his mind by telling him that the half shekel, given by each person, would protect them from any harm. This explanation, which is based on the Midrash Tanchuma, is given, in essence, by the Ba'al HaTurim, as well, albeit in a much briefer form. However, it does not explain the connection between the mitzvoh of giving a half shekel, and the mitzvoh which follows it, the construction of the kiyor and its base. I would like to offer a suggestion that will explain the connection of the giving of a half shekel to the command to build the inner altar that precedes it, as well as the command to construct the kiyor, that follows it.

 In last week's Netvort, we mentioned the explanation of Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, that the mishkan, in general, represents the form that a proper Jewish home should take. Just as the mishkan functioned as a dwelling place for God's divine presence among the people, so, too, every Jewish home should be ordered in such a way that God's presence is felt within it. The inner altar, which was overlaid with gold, symbolized, according to Rav Aharon, the need to make, at times, sacrifices with one's wealth in order to assure that one follows the path of the Torah. The challenges of wealth, we noted, can be harder than the challenges of poverty, and perhaps it was for this reason that the golden altar was mentioned at the very end of the construction process. Perhaps, then, the placement of the mitzvoh of giving a half shekel, following immediately after the section of the golden altar, carries a message in regard to how one should view his financial place in life. The requirement to give a half shekel for the daily sacrifices brought in the mishkan  applies equally to rich and poor, as we read in this week's parsha, " the rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less" (Shemos 30:15). Perhaps part of the message here is that everyone needs to realize that whatever level of wealth he has reached is decided upon by God, and, therefore, he should have an attitude of equanimity to his level of wealth, or lack thereof. This attitude will make it easier to meet the challenges of wealth or poverty, as the case may be.


The need for equanimity in regard to one's financial position is, according to Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l, the purpose behind a mitzvoh recorded in parshas Tetzaveh. There is an interesting requirement regarding two of the garments specific to the kohein gadol - the Ephod, an apron-like garment, and the Choshen Mishpot, the breastplate of judgment, worn over the Ephod. The Torah says, "And they shall bind the Choshen from its rings to the rings of the Ephod and the Choshen shall not be detached from upon the Ephod" (Shemos 28:28). The Ephod, says the Talmud, atones for the sin of idolatry, and the breastplate atones for the sin of corruption of justice. Rav Moshe explained that the Ephod and Choshen had to be bound together to demonstrate that one who has proper faith in God would never pervert justice and take something that does not belong to him. One who believes in God and His workings in the world understands that he receives exactly what is coming to him and what is necessary for him to accomplish his purpose in life (see Netvort, parshas Tetzaveh, 5761- available at Torahheights.com - for another explanation of this mitzvoh). Misappropriating someone else's property betrays a lack of faith and trust in God. Treating the rich and the poor on an equal basis with regard to the mitzvoh of giving a half shekel, following on the mitzvoh to build the golden altar, can be seen, then, as conveying the message that one needs to view the sacrifices of wealth that he makes in maintaining a Torah-true life with a degree of equanimity, as well.


Following our explanation of the placement of the mitzvoh of the half shekel after the mitzvoh of the golden altar, we can understand, on a symbolic level, why the next mitzvoh mentioned is that of constructing the washstand. The Torah says that the laver was placed in the mishkan so that the kohein could wash his hands and feet before entering the area in which he was to perform divine service. Connecting this mitzvoh to that of the half shekel, perhaps we can say that whatever wealth a person sacrifices in order to perform his holy work must be attained through halachically acceptable means - with clean hands and feet. Rabbi Chaim Kohn, one of the dayanim, or rabbinic judges, of the Breuer's community in Washington Heights, New York, explained, in a similar way, the connection between two enactments of King Shlomo, that of eiruv chatzeriros - a device that allows us to interconnect houses and courtyards so that carrying between them is permissible on Shabbos - and washing one's hands before eating. These two enactments, the rabbis tell us, were made at the same time. What is the connection between them? Rabbi Kohn explained that making an eiruv chatzeiros facilitates interaction between people. As long as a person is isolated and sticks to his own household, it is relatively easy to maintain clean hands. Once he begins to interact with society in general, however, it is much harder. In a similar way, the mitzvoh of constructing the kiyor, and the need to wash one's hands and feet before entering holy ground to serve God, are mentioned after the mitzvoh of giving a half-shekel to symbolize that the money we sacrifice in order to serve God must be attained with clean hands. Belief in God's providence as determining  the degree of one's wealth, symbolized by the requirement of everyone to give exactly a half-shekel towards the purchase of the daily Temple sacrifice, will assure that a person will maintain clean hands and feet as he approaches the holy.  


Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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