Ki Tisa: Chapter 1

"Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul"

Synopsis

We are reminded that heavenly blessings do not accrue to anything that has been counted or numbered, and yet the children of Yisrael were subjected to a census. Yisrael were blessed nonetheless because they were ransomed.

Ears Eyes Moses Righteous Shechinah

1. "And Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 'When you do take the sum of the children of Yisrael after their number" (Shemot 30:11-13). Rabbi Aba, Rabbi Acha and Rabbi Yosi were traveling from Tiberias to Tzipori. While they were traveling, they saw Rabbi Elazar coming with Rabbi Chiya. Rabbi Aba said: we shall surely join the Shechinah. They waited until they reached them. As soon as they came to them, Rabbi Elazar said: it is most certainly written: "The eyes of Hashem are towards the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry" (Tehilim 34:16). This passage is difficult; (THE END OF THE SUBJECT IS IN THE PORTION OF PEKUDEI, PARA. 68F).

1. וַיְדַבֵּר יְיָ' אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵאמֹר. כִּי תִשָּׁא אֶת רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְקוּדֵיהֶם וְגוֹ', ר' אַבָּא וְר' אָחָא וְר' יוֹסֵי הֲווֹ אַזְלֵי מִטְּבֶרְיָה לְצִפֹּרִי. עַד דַּהֲווֹ אַזְלֵי, חָמוּ לֵיהּ לְרַ' אֶלְעָזָר דַּהֲוָה אָתֵי, וְר' חִיָּיא עִמֵּיהּ. א"ר אַבָּא, וַדַּאי נִשְׁתַּתֵּף בַּהֲדֵי שְׁכִינְתָּא. אוֹרִיכוּ לְהוּ, עַד דְּמָטוּ לְגַבַּיְיהוּ. כֵּיוָן דְּמָטוּ גַּבַּיְיהוּ, א"ר אֶלְעָזָר, וַדַּאי כְּתִיב, עֵינֵי יְיָ' אֶל צַדִּיקִים וְאָזְנָיו אֶל שַׁוְעָתָם. הַאי קְרָא קַשְׁיָא וְכוּ'.

Blessing Plagues Suffering

2. Come and behold: it has been established that celestial blessing does not dwell on something that is numbered. And if you ask how Yisrael were counted, he took from them a ransom for themselves. And they did not count until all the ransom that was gathered was counted. THUS at first Yisrael are blessed WHEN THE RANSOM IS RECEIVED, afterwards, once they counted the ransom, Yisrael are blessed again. So we find that Yisrael is blessed at the beginning and at the end, and they did not suffer a plague.

2. ת"ח, הָא אוּקְמוּהָ, לֵית בִּרְכָתָא דִּלְעֵילָּא שַׁרְיָיא עַל מִלָּה דְּאִתְמְנֵי. וְאִי תֵּימָא, יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵיךְ אִתְמְנוּן. אֶלָּא כּוּפְרָא נָטִיל מִנַּיְיהוּ, וְהָא אוּקְמוּהָ, וְחוּשְׁבָּנָא לָא הֲוֵי עַד דְּאִתְכְּנִישׁ כָּל הַהוּא כּוּפְרָא, וְסָלִיק לְחוּשְׁבָּנָא. וּבְקַדְמֵיתָא מְבָרְכִין לְהוּ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, וּלְבָתַר מִנַיִן הַהוּא כּוּפְרָא, וּלְבָתַר אָהַדְרָן וּמְבָרְכִין לוֹן לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. אִשְׁתְּכָחוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתְבָּרְכָאן בְּקַדְמֵיתָא וּבְסוֹפָא, וְלָא סָלִיק בְּהוֹן מוֹתָנָא.

Blessing Other Side Plagues Wells

3. He asks: Why is a plague caused by counting? HE ANSWERS: Because the blessing does not dwell on anything numbered, and since the blessing has departed, the Other Side dwells on it and can harm. Therefore, we receive ransom and redeem it in order to do the counting. And we have already discussed and learned this.

3. מוֹתָנָא אֲמַאי סָלִיק בְּמִנְיָינָא. אֶלָּא בְּגִין דְּבִרְכָתָא לָא שַׁרְיָא בְּמִנְיָינָא, כֵּיוָן דְּאִסְתָּלַּק בִּרְכָתָא, סִטְרָא אַחֲרָא שַׁרְיָא עָלֵיהּ, וְיָכִיל לְאַנְזְקָא, בְּגִין כַּךְ נַטְלִין כּוּפְרָא וּפִדְיוֹנָא לְסַלְּקָא עָלֵיהּ מִנְיָינָא, וְהָא אוּקְמוּהָ, וְאִתְּמַר.

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