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Torah
Stories By Hannah Parasha Ki |
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In today’s
Parasha, Ki Tisa, we read about the commandment of a census. Now a census is
when you count people, and each person is required to pay a ransom for himself
on being 
enrolled, so
that no plague will come on them through being enrolled. Therefore, each person
who is entered into the records is required to pay a half-shekel as an offering
to HaShem. The rich and the poor were to pay exactly the same. This offering
was to be used in the Tent of Meeting.
The
next commandment HaShem gave to Moshe was to make a laver of copper and a
copper stand for washing, and to place it between the Tent of Meeting and the
altar. This was filled with water, and was for Aharon and his sons to wash
their hands and feet in it when they enter the Tent of Meeting, or when they
approach the altar, so that they do not die. This is to be a law for all time
for the priests.
Next HaShem
commanded Moshe to make sacred anointing oil from choice spices, expertly
blended, to anoint the Tenet of Meeting, the Ark of the Covenant, the table and
its utensils, the lamp stand and all its fittings, the altar of incense, the
altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. So
Moshe had to consecrate all these things to make them most holy. Whatever
touches them shall be sanctified. Moshe
also had to anoint Aharon and his sons, thereby consecrating them to serve
HaShem as priests. HaShem instructed Moshe to have this as anointing oil that
is sacred to Him throughout the ages. It should not be rubbed on any person’s
body, nor should any other oil be made in a similar manner and in the same
proportions. Anyone who does this shall be cut off from his people.
Then
Moshe was instructed by HaShem to take certain herbs and put them together with
pure frankincense and make them into incense, a compound expertly blended,
refined, pure and sacred. Some of it should be made into a powder and placed
before the Covenant in the Tent of 
Meeting. Moshe was again instructed to not make any
incense for himself in a similar manner. It should be held sacred to HaShem.
Whoever makes any incense in a similar way for himself would be cut off from
his people.
After
this HaShem continued to speak to Moshe, and said that He has singled out
Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Yehudah. This man was given a
divine spirit of skill, ability and knowledge in every kind of craft to make
designs for work in gold, silver and copper, to cut stones for setting and to
carve wood – to work in every kind of craft. Moreover, HaShem has assigned
helpers for this man so that they could make everything HaShem has commanded
Moshe.
Then Moshe was
commanded by HaShem to speak to the people of Yisrael and to say to them:
Nevertheless, you shall keep My Sabbaths, because that is a sign between Me and you forever, so that you may know that I, HaShem,
have consecrated you. You shall keep the Sabbath for it is holy for you. He who
profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does work on it,
shall be cut off from his people. Six
days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of
complete rest, holy to HaShem. Whoever does work on the Sabbath shall be put to
death. The Yisraelite people shall keep the Sabbath,
observing the Sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: It shall
be a sign for all time between Me and the people of
Yisrael. For in Six days HaShem made Heaven and earth, and on the seventh day
he ceased from work and was refreshed.
When
HaShem finished speaking to Moshe, He Moshe the two tablets of the covenant,
stone tablets inscribed with the finger of HaShem.
When
the people saw that Moshe was so long in coming down the mountain, they
gathered against Aharon and said to him: “Come, make us a god who shall go
before us, for that man, Moshe, who brought us from the land of Egypt – we do
not know what happened to him.” Aharon said to them to take off the gold rings
that are on the ears of their wives, their sons and their daughters, and to
bring them to him. The people took off the gold rings that were on their ears,
and brought them to Aharon. This he took from them and cast it in a mold and made it into a molten calf. And they called out: “This is your god, oh
Yisrael, who brought you out of the
Then
HaShem spoke to Moshe and said: “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought
out of the
Then
Moshe turned, and went down the mountain, bearing the two stone tablets of the
Covenant, written on both sides by the finger of HaShem. When Yehoshua heard the sound of the people’s feast, he said to
Moshe: “There is a cry of war in the camp!” But Moshe said that is was not the
sound of triumph, or the sound of defeat, but the sound of song that he
hears. As soon as Moshe got near the
camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became so angry, and he threw the
tablets in his hand and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. He took the
calf and burned it. He made it into a
fine powder and threw it on the water so that the Yisraelites would drink it.
Moshe
then spoke to Aharon, and asked him what the people did to him to make him bring
such a great sin on them. Aharon pleaded with Moshe not to be angry with him,
that the people were bent on evil. Moshe then saw that the people were totally
out of control. He went to stand at the gate of the camp and said: “Whoever is
for HaShem, come here!” And all the
Levites ran to him. Moshe said to them:
“Thus says HaShem, the G-d of Yisrael: Each of you put sword on thigh, go back
and forth from gate to gate and slay brother, neighbour and kin.” The Levites did as Moshe said, and killed
some three thousand people that day. And Moshe said: “Dedicate yourself to
HaShem this day – for each of you have been against
son and brother – that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
The next day Moshe said to
the people: “You have been guilty of a great sin. Yet I will go up to HaShem. Perhaps I may win forgiveness for your
sin.” Moshe went back to HaShem and
said: “Alas, this people is guilty of a great sin
in making for themselves a god of gold.
Now, if You will forgive their sin, well and good;
but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!” But HaShem said to Moshe: “He who has sinned
against Me, him only will I erase from My record. Go now, lead the
people where I told you. See My angel shall go before you. But when I make an accounting, I will bring
them to account for their sins.” The
HaShem sent a plague upon the people, for what they did with the calf that
Aharon made.
Then
HaShem said to Moshe: “Set out from here, you and the people that you have
brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham,
Yitzhak and Ya’akov saying: “to your offspring will I give it” - I will
send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites
– a land flowing with milk and honey.
But I will not go in your midst, since you are a stiff-necked people,
lest I destroy you on the way.”
When
the people heard this harsh word, they went into mourning, and no-one put on
fine clothes. Then HaShem said to Moshe: “Say to the Yisraelite
people, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go in your midst for one
moment, I would destroy you. Now then, leave off your finery, and I will
consider what to do to you.’” So the
Yisraelites did not wear their finery from
Now
Moshe would take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from
the camp. It was called the Tent of
Meeting, and whoever sought HaShem would go out to the Tent of Meeting. Whenever Moshe went out to the Tent, all the
people would rise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after
Moshe until he had entered the Tent. And
when Moshe entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the
entrance of the Tent, all the people would rise and
bow low, each at the entrance of his tent.
HaShem would speak to Moshe face to face, as one man speaks to
another. And then he would return to the
camp, but his attendant, Yehoshua, son of Nun, would
not stir out of the Tent.
Moshe
said to HaShem: “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people forward,’ but You have not made known to me whom You will send with
me. Further, You
have said: ‘I have singled you out by name and you have, indeed, gained My
favour.’ Now, if I have truly gained Your favour, pray let me know Your ways, that I may know You
and continue in Your favour. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.” And He
said: “I will go in the lead, and I will
lighten your burden.” And he said to
Him: “Unless You
go in the lead, do not make us leave this place. For how shall it be know that Your people have gained Your favour unless you go with us,
so that we may be distinguished, Your people and I, from every people on the
face of the earth?” And HaShem said to
Moshe: “I will do this thing that you
have asked, for you have for you have truly gained My
favour, and I have singled you out by name.”
Moshe said: “Oh,
let me behold Your Presence!” And He
answered: “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you
the name HaShem, and the grace I grant and the compassion I show. But you cannot see My
face, for man may not see Me and live.”
And HaShem said: “See, there is a
place near Me.
Station yourself on the rock and, as My Presence passes by, I will put
you in a cleft of the Rock and shield you with My hand
until I have passed by. Then I will take
My hand away and you will see My back, but My face
must not be seen.”
HaShem
said to Moshe: “Carve two stone tablets
like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets
the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered. Be ready by morning, and then come up to mount Sinai and present yourself there to Me, on the top of
the mountain. No one else shall come up
with you, and no one else shall be seen anywhere on the mountain; nether shall
the flocks graze at the foot of this mountain.”
So Moshe carved two tablets like the first, and early in the morning he
went up to the top of the mountain as HaShem had commanded him. HaShem came down in a cloud. He stood there with him and proclaimed the
name HaShem. He passed before him and
proclaimed: “HaShem, HaShem, G-d, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and great in
bestowing kindness and faithfulness. Extending kindness to the thousandth
generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment,
but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon
the third and fourth generations.” Moshe
bowed low and said: “If I have gained favour,
Oh HaShem, pray, let HaShem go in our midst, even though this is a stiff-necked
people. Pardon our iniquity and sin, and take us for Your
own!” He said: “I hereby make a
covenant. Before all your people I will work such wonders as have not been wrought
on all the earth or in any nation; and
all the people who are with you shall see how awesome HaShem’s deeds are which
I will perform for you.”
HaShem
went on to command Moshe: “I will drive
out the nations before you, and you should be careful not to make covenants
with them, otherwise they might become a snare in your midst. You should tear
down their altars, smash their pillars and cut down their sacred posts. For the children of Yisrael should not worship
other gods. This is why you should not
marry the women or men from the other nations, as they will lust after their
gods, and make you lust after them too.
You shall not make molten gods for yourselves. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened
Bread – eating unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you – at
the set time of the month of Abib, for in the month
of Abib you went forth from Egypt. Every first issue of the womb is Mine, from
all your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.
But the firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a sheep. And you must
redeem every first-born among your sons.
None shall appear before Me empty-handed. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh
day you shall cease from labour, even at ploughing time and harvest time. You shall observe the Feat of Weeks, of the
first fruits of the wheat harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of
the year. Three times a year your males
shall appear before the Sovereign HaShem, the G-d of Yisrael. I will drive out nations from before your
path and enlarge your territory; no-one will covet your land when you go up to
appear before HaShem your G-d three times a year. You shall not offer the blood
of My sacrifice with anything leavened, and the
sacrifice of the feast of Passover shall not be left lying until morning. The choice of the first fruits of your soil
you shall bring to the House of HaShem your G-d. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s
milk.” And HaShem said to Moshe: “Write down these commandments, for in
accordance with these commandments I make a covenant with you and with
Yisrael.” And Moshe was there with
HaShem forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote down on the tablets the terms of
the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
So
then Moshe came down from the mountain with the two stone tablets. He was not aware that the skin of his face
was shining, since he had spoken with Him.
Aharon and all the Yisraelites saw that the skin of Moshe’s face was
radiant, and they shrank away from him.
But Moshe called them and spoke to them and all the Yisraelites drew
near, and Moshe told them all HaShem had commanded him. When Moshe finished speaking with them, he
put a veil on his face.
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