Introduction to Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion

PARSHAT KI TISA

The Dangerous Mishkan

By Rabbi Yaakov Beasley

A.        PLAGUES FOR PENNIES?

Our parasha appears to begin on an upbeat note.  First, the Torah lists the final details of the construction of the Mishkan.  Each person donates a half-shekel; instructions are given for the manufacture of the kiyor (the washing basin), the anointing oil, and the sacred incense.  Moshe is to appoint two master builders, and God reminds him that the act of building the Mishkan does not override the observance of Shabbat.  Finally, the Torah concludes:

When He (God) finished speaking with him on Har Sinai, He gave Moshe the Two Tablets of the Covenant, stone tablets inscribed with God's finger. (31:19)

The jarring account that follows, the Children of Israel's faithless creation of a Golden Calf, strikes a dissonant note.   Not just innocence is lost – hundreds will lose their lives in the upcoming turmoil.  Moshe's subsequent shattering of the tablets symbolizes more than broken rock – it seems that the entire enterprise, from the Exodus to Revelation, has been irreparably shattered. 

            Rereading the parasha, however, we note that death accompanies it from the beginning.  Regarding the census and collection of the half-shekel silver coins, the Torah emphatically states:

Let each man be counted by giving atonement for his life to God … so that they not be stricken by plague when they are counted … (30:12)

Rashi proposes simply that the very act of counting is dangerous.  As proof, he brings the ill-fated census ordered by David that led to the deaths of 36,000 Jews (see II Shmuel 24). Seforno argues that is it not the act of counting that is dangerous.  Instead, it is the fact that the people undertook to take censuses at historically significant moments.  In preparing to sanctify the Mishkan, God desires to check whether His people are worthy of having the Shekhina dwell among them.  Counting reveals not just the quantity of people, but also their quality.  Therefore, this becomes equivalent to the individual undergoing an examination, which may reveal shortcomings and blemishes.  The half-shekel serves as protection against any spiritual accusation that may arise.   Most interesting is the approach of Rabbeinu Bachye, who develops a fascinating explanation to Rashi's approach.  The danger of counting is that it separates the community into individuals.  We quote his words in full:

While the first appearance of the word 'Pekod' means the counting of the Jewish people, the second appearance of 'Pekod' means that God takes notice of them.  The verse points out to you that as each person is counted, they stand alone before God, who knows the acts of every person.  This is not true when the person stands with the community, but only when he stands alone.  Then, he is exposed, and all his actions are exposed before God, it is impossible that he will escape punishment.   This is the meaning of the Shunamite's words to Elisha, when he offered to mention her name to the king – "I dwell among my people."  Better that the king relate to me as part of the people, and not that I be singled out before him, or else I may become liable to be punished.  And this is the essence of Rosh Ha-shana, when all of the earth's inhabitants pass before God one by one …

B.        DANGEROUS CREATIONS

However, these explanations treat the sense of danger as localized to the collection of the half-shekel.  In reality, death lurks in every aspect of the parasha's beginning:

THE KIYOR:  "If they are not to die … they must wash their hands before entering … If they are not to die, they must wash their hands and feet first …" (30:20, 21)

THE ANOINTING OIL:  "This oil … must remain holy to you.  If anyone blends a similar formula, or places it upon an unauthorized person, he shall be cut off from among his people."  (30:31-33)

THE INCENSE:  "Do not copy the incense's formula … if a person makes it to enjoy its fragrance, he shall be cut off from among his people."  (31:37, 38)

Suddenly, the parasha exposes us to a new, darker side of the Mishkan.  Gone is the structure built through the enthusiastic donations of a willing people.  Instead, the languages of atonement, plague, excommunication and death appear.  Where did they come from?  Sinai promised a new opportunity for the Jewish people, who joyously accepted its conditions with "na'aseh ve-nishma – we will do and we will hear."  The Midrash goes so far as to state that Sinai represented a return to the beginning of Sefer Bereishit:

The moment that Yisrael answered, "we will do and we will hear," the Holy One Blessed be He said, "To Adam, I gave only one mitzva to keep, and I made him immortal … and them, to whom I am giving 613 commandments with all of their details, they should definitively become immortal!"

If so, then why the allusions to death at the beginning of our parasha?  The Midrash continues:

But as soon as they said, "These are your gods, Yisrael, who took you out of Egypt …" (32:4) (at the making of the Golden Calf), they became mortal.  Shemot Rabba 32:4

These early allusions, inexplicable when read in the context of the Revelation at Mount Sinai, to a people who knew no sin, suddenly become clear.    The Mishkan, the idyllic manifestation of the Divine presence among the people, is literally based upon money of atonement.  The midrashim find many literary parallels between the Mishkan and the subsequent Sin of the Golden Calf[1]:

The Holy One, Blessed be He declared:  Let the gold in the Mishkan serve as a remedy for the gold in the Golden Calf… (Midrash Tanchuma, Teruma 8)

They sinned with the Golden Calf halfway through the day (at noon): let them bring the half-shekel as atonement … (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa, 10)

This is the process of consecrating [Aharon] as a Kohen to Me – take a young bull … (29:1)

Why a young bull?  To atone for the Golden Calf, which was a young bull. (Rashi)

In retrospect, we note that even the appointment of Aharon as Kohen Gadol was strange.  What need was therefore a priestly caste?  Historically the firstborn were in charge of the service.[2]  Again, the Midrash identifies the turning point as the Golden Calf:

The service was performed all throughout history by the firstborn.  When they faltered at the Golden Calf, they lost that privilege. (Bamidbar Rabba 35)

Given the strong connections between the building of the Mishkan and the Golden Calf, can we identify within the commands to build the Mishkan the source of the sin that caused the people to fall from their lofty perch? 

C.        MISHKAN SUBLIMATION

Re-examining each of the commands above, we note the following thread.   Until now, the building of the Mishkan has been through the joyous and spontaneous outpourings from the people.  Freely, they donated their gold, silver, fine jewels and materials.   They prepared to build, each according to his or her individual talents and abilities.  Suddenly, they encounter the collection of the half-shekel. Everyone must give by Divine command.  Every person must give an equal amount.  The census introduced both a sense of conformity with others, and coercion to God.   The following commandments establish two additional rules.  With the kiyor, access to the Mishkan is limited.  Only those who follow the divinely ordained rituals may approach.  With the oil and the incense, limitations prevent the removal of the sacred items outside the Mishkan's boundaries.  Gone is the freewheeling spontaneity that characterized the people's service when they accepted of the Torah. Slowly, they realize that God, not them, will establish the parameters of their relationship.  The Torah does not allow for pluralistic religious sentiment, where worshippers choose their personal mode of worship.  With Moshe gone, the people make one last attempt to reclaim the initiative.  Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Levi, in his Sefer Ha-Kuzari, explains their motivations as follows:

Their only sin was in their use of an image, and in making a choice of symbol entirely on their own, without a Divine command … there is nothing innately more outlandish about worshipping an image that God prohibited than the keruvim present in the Mishkan itself.  (Sefer Ha-Kuzari 1:97)

Our parasha, therefore, represents the maturing of the Jewish people's understanding of their relationship with God.  Only through recognition that only God can define the parameters of how to relate to Him, will the Jewish people successfully fill the role in the covenant that they accepted so excitedly at Har Sinai.