Chasidut su Esodo 30:78
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 30,12. “when you take a census of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, each shall pay the Lord a ransom for his person when being counted.”
Seeing that G’d so loves the Jewish people that He feels personally oppressed by their troubles, He gives them an advice on how to save their lives/souls from the attacks of the evil urge.
It is a fact that the “life”, i.e. continued existence of all phenomena in the universe, however exalted they may appear, is due only to the brightness that emanated from the Creator Who had to restrain Himself by garbing Himself in various veils of appropriate thickness in order to prevent His brightness from fatally harming the creatures He exposed to it, and He has to provide them with nourishment to enable them to remain alive.
We have an explicit Biblical verse in Nechemyah 9,6 spelling this out; we read there: ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep them all alive,” [by providing appropriate sustenance. Ed.] If this applies to the universe’s creatures generally, how much more so does it apply to G’d’s favorite nation, the Jewish people. (Compare psalms 135,4-“for the Lord has chosen Yaakov for Himself.” The Jewish people are a means through which G’d illuminates the universe, as we know from Isaiah 2,5: בית יעקב לכו ונלכה באור ה', “House of Yaakov, let us walk by the light of the Lord.”) From internalizing the meaning of these verses we come to the conclusion that when we pass through a period of distress and troubles, one that has been brought about by G’d’s having to discipline us, He Himself is also experiencing part of this pain. We have already mentioned elsewhere that the root of evil befalling the Jewish people is actually one manner in which G’d reveals that He is –“G’d.”
Our verse commencing with: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל וגו' לפקודיהם, reminds us of the meaning of the root, as we find it in Numbers 31,49 לא נפקד ממנו איש, ”not a single one of our number is missing.” [After the 12000 men who took part in the punitive campaign against Midian had returned. Ed.] G’d tells Moses that if he is interested in raising the status of the Jewish people from their depressed state, (after the sin of the golden calf), he is to see to it that each of the men between 20 and 60 pray to the Lord to redeem them from the attacks of the perennial antagonist, Satan who is always at work trying to seduce them into transgressing His commandments. [Contribution of a half shekel to the Temple treasury is merely a symbolic gesture of atoning for the guilt stemming from their involvement in that sin. Ed.]
Seeing that G’d so loves the Jewish people that He feels personally oppressed by their troubles, He gives them an advice on how to save their lives/souls from the attacks of the evil urge.
It is a fact that the “life”, i.e. continued existence of all phenomena in the universe, however exalted they may appear, is due only to the brightness that emanated from the Creator Who had to restrain Himself by garbing Himself in various veils of appropriate thickness in order to prevent His brightness from fatally harming the creatures He exposed to it, and He has to provide them with nourishment to enable them to remain alive.
We have an explicit Biblical verse in Nechemyah 9,6 spelling this out; we read there: ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep them all alive,” [by providing appropriate sustenance. Ed.] If this applies to the universe’s creatures generally, how much more so does it apply to G’d’s favorite nation, the Jewish people. (Compare psalms 135,4-“for the Lord has chosen Yaakov for Himself.” The Jewish people are a means through which G’d illuminates the universe, as we know from Isaiah 2,5: בית יעקב לכו ונלכה באור ה', “House of Yaakov, let us walk by the light of the Lord.”) From internalizing the meaning of these verses we come to the conclusion that when we pass through a period of distress and troubles, one that has been brought about by G’d’s having to discipline us, He Himself is also experiencing part of this pain. We have already mentioned elsewhere that the root of evil befalling the Jewish people is actually one manner in which G’d reveals that He is –“G’d.”
Our verse commencing with: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל וגו' לפקודיהם, reminds us of the meaning of the root, as we find it in Numbers 31,49 לא נפקד ממנו איש, ”not a single one of our number is missing.” [After the 12000 men who took part in the punitive campaign against Midian had returned. Ed.] G’d tells Moses that if he is interested in raising the status of the Jewish people from their depressed state, (after the sin of the golden calf), he is to see to it that each of the men between 20 and 60 pray to the Lord to redeem them from the attacks of the perennial antagonist, Satan who is always at work trying to seduce them into transgressing His commandments. [Contribution of a half shekel to the Temple treasury is merely a symbolic gesture of atoning for the guilt stemming from their involvement in that sin. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 25,2. “and they shall take for Me a contribution, each person according to how his heart moves him. And these are the contributions you are to accept from them: gold, silver and copper.” As we explained earlier, every person serving the Lord, must do so also by something tangible in addition to the lofty thoughts that he entertains while doing so. Allegorically speaking, the performance of a tangible מצוה, commandment, is considered as if man helps the Presence of the Lord to arise from the dust on earth [where it appears to have been buried. Ed.].
When keeping this in mind we can answer the enigma posed by the words כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו, “each person according to how his heart moves him.” These words form the link between the generous thought and the generous deed. By making a voluntary contribution, i.e. the size of the contribution is completely voluntary, it is not a tax as the half shekel in Exodus 30,13, the Presence of G’d on earth will become so much more manifest.
The words: וזאת התרומה, may be understood as if the Torah had written: וזאת ההתרוממות, “and this will constitute the “exaltation, elevation.” The examples of the materials that were to be denoted are symbolic of how lofty and generous thoughts are to be translated into “lofty” and generous deeds.
When keeping this in mind we can answer the enigma posed by the words כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו, “each person according to how his heart moves him.” These words form the link between the generous thought and the generous deed. By making a voluntary contribution, i.e. the size of the contribution is completely voluntary, it is not a tax as the half shekel in Exodus 30,13, the Presence of G’d on earth will become so much more manifest.
The words: וזאת התרומה, may be understood as if the Torah had written: וזאת ההתרוממות, “and this will constitute the “exaltation, elevation.” The examples of the materials that were to be denoted are symbolic of how lofty and generous thoughts are to be translated into “lofty” and generous deeds.
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Kedushat Levi
[The author continues at length to explain the report of Moses’ charging the firstborn, נערי בני ישראל, with offering sacrifices, while he sprinkled the blood on the altar, etc; all these activities are explained in terms of paralleling the “charging of spiritual batteries” that we explained above. I have decided not to continue with this part of his presentation as it extends all the way to the half shekel the male Israelites in chapter 30, were to give as ransom for their souls. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 30,13. “this is what all those to be numbered are to give: half a shekel of the coin known as the “holy shekel.”
By means of this verse the meaning of the line in the kedushah of mussaph on the Sabbaths and festivals (only in the “sefardi” editions of the siddur) which reads: הן גאלתי אתכם אחרית וראשית, “behold I have redeemed you in the latter period just as I have redeemed you in the earlier period,” may become intelligible. [In versions of the siddur with translations, even reputable ones such as that by Philip Birnbaum, the translator ignores the fact that the word גאלתי means “I have redeemed,” not “I will redeem,” so that the reader does not notice the problem with this line. Ed.]
According to Avot at the end of the sixth chapter, “everything that G’d has created, He created in His honour.” At the same time, we know from various sources that already before G’d set about to create the universe, He did so only with the Jewish people in mind. This means that G’d expected that this people would serve Him in the manner that is appropriate for the Creator of the universe to be served. We have pointed out that “serving” the Lord, means to please Him, to afford Him a reason for feeling satisfied with the results of His endeavours. There seems to be a contradiction between these two statements. Why would G’d have given life to creatures that He knew would not serve Him in the manner in which we defined that service?
Perhaps we can resolve this contradiction by means of a parable. A King built a number of great palaces for his children, although the king himself did not have any need for any of these palaces. It happened that when he had completed building all these palaces for his children, and wanted to take up residence in one of them, he had a falling out with all of them and as a result he hated them. When the king reflected on what had been his original plan, and he realized that he had undertaken projects for which he, personally, had not had any need at all, he must have also realized that he would never have allowed anyone who hated his children to reside in any of the palaces he had built for these children. Seeing that he hated his own children now, this meant that he could not take up residence in any of these palaces. If this same king were to ignore the original purpose of why he had built these palaces, there would be no reason for his feeling that people other than his children could not reside in them.
When we use this parable to illustrate the purpose of G’d’s creating the universe, and how the universe developed after having been created and having been left to its own devices, i.e. that it had only been created for the sake of the Jewish souls, if we assume that the Creator had not allowed Himself to disregard His original intention of the universe being only for the sake of the Jewish people, He certainly would not provide from His largesse for the other nations of the world. However, if due to His displeasure with the Jewish people He had allowed Himself to disregard His original intention, He would not have any reason not to dispense of His largesse also to the other nations of the world.
When G’d performed miracles for the Jewish people from time to time in order to safeguard their continued existence, these miracles had become necessary only because due to the Jewish people’s inadequacies, He had taken recourse to ignoring His original plan so as not to have to watch them perish as a result of their inadequacies. The miracles then reflect moments when G’d had allowed Himself to remember His original plan before He had created the universe. We hope and pray that when the redemption will come, hopefully soon in our days, it will reflect the fact that G’d is remembering His original reason for creating the universe.
This thought is reflected in the author of the prayer saying quoting G’d, גאלתי אתכם אחרית כראשית, “when I redeemed you it was as a result of My having remembered, אחרית, in the end, My original purpose in creating you in the first place, i.e. ראשית. At that time this clarification that the whole purpose of the creation of the universe had been for the sake of the Jewish people will become clear to all.
When, on Purim, we recite a benediction before reading the scroll of Esther which concludes with the words על מקרא מגילה, “concerning the reading of the scroll,” the letter י in the word מגילה, which normally means “revealed,” from the root גלה, alludes to this original thought of G’d at the time He considered the creation of the universe. [It is important to remember that the word מגלה, meaning scroll, occurs no fewer than 20 times in the Bible, but is never spelled with the letter י as here. Ed.] The redemption of the Jewish people from certain death, at the time of Haman, is an example of the approach we have just outlined, as expressed in the words: הן גאלתי אתכם אחרית כראשית.
By means of this verse the meaning of the line in the kedushah of mussaph on the Sabbaths and festivals (only in the “sefardi” editions of the siddur) which reads: הן גאלתי אתכם אחרית וראשית, “behold I have redeemed you in the latter period just as I have redeemed you in the earlier period,” may become intelligible. [In versions of the siddur with translations, even reputable ones such as that by Philip Birnbaum, the translator ignores the fact that the word גאלתי means “I have redeemed,” not “I will redeem,” so that the reader does not notice the problem with this line. Ed.]
According to Avot at the end of the sixth chapter, “everything that G’d has created, He created in His honour.” At the same time, we know from various sources that already before G’d set about to create the universe, He did so only with the Jewish people in mind. This means that G’d expected that this people would serve Him in the manner that is appropriate for the Creator of the universe to be served. We have pointed out that “serving” the Lord, means to please Him, to afford Him a reason for feeling satisfied with the results of His endeavours. There seems to be a contradiction between these two statements. Why would G’d have given life to creatures that He knew would not serve Him in the manner in which we defined that service?
Perhaps we can resolve this contradiction by means of a parable. A King built a number of great palaces for his children, although the king himself did not have any need for any of these palaces. It happened that when he had completed building all these palaces for his children, and wanted to take up residence in one of them, he had a falling out with all of them and as a result he hated them. When the king reflected on what had been his original plan, and he realized that he had undertaken projects for which he, personally, had not had any need at all, he must have also realized that he would never have allowed anyone who hated his children to reside in any of the palaces he had built for these children. Seeing that he hated his own children now, this meant that he could not take up residence in any of these palaces. If this same king were to ignore the original purpose of why he had built these palaces, there would be no reason for his feeling that people other than his children could not reside in them.
When we use this parable to illustrate the purpose of G’d’s creating the universe, and how the universe developed after having been created and having been left to its own devices, i.e. that it had only been created for the sake of the Jewish souls, if we assume that the Creator had not allowed Himself to disregard His original intention of the universe being only for the sake of the Jewish people, He certainly would not provide from His largesse for the other nations of the world. However, if due to His displeasure with the Jewish people He had allowed Himself to disregard His original intention, He would not have any reason not to dispense of His largesse also to the other nations of the world.
When G’d performed miracles for the Jewish people from time to time in order to safeguard their continued existence, these miracles had become necessary only because due to the Jewish people’s inadequacies, He had taken recourse to ignoring His original plan so as not to have to watch them perish as a result of their inadequacies. The miracles then reflect moments when G’d had allowed Himself to remember His original plan before He had created the universe. We hope and pray that when the redemption will come, hopefully soon in our days, it will reflect the fact that G’d is remembering His original reason for creating the universe.
This thought is reflected in the author of the prayer saying quoting G’d, גאלתי אתכם אחרית כראשית, “when I redeemed you it was as a result of My having remembered, אחרית, in the end, My original purpose in creating you in the first place, i.e. ראשית. At that time this clarification that the whole purpose of the creation of the universe had been for the sake of the Jewish people will become clear to all.
When, on Purim, we recite a benediction before reading the scroll of Esther which concludes with the words על מקרא מגילה, “concerning the reading of the scroll,” the letter י in the word מגילה, which normally means “revealed,” from the root גלה, alludes to this original thought of G’d at the time He considered the creation of the universe. [It is important to remember that the word מגלה, meaning scroll, occurs no fewer than 20 times in the Bible, but is never spelled with the letter י as here. Ed.] The redemption of the Jewish people from certain death, at the time of Haman, is an example of the approach we have just outlined, as expressed in the words: הן גאלתי אתכם אחרית כראשית.
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Mevo HaShearim
The Besht thus initiated a new ‘drawing forth,’ of the beginning of a new rectification and revelation, and thus a new path of avodah. For if all is light and holiness, how can we distance ourselves from anything which God has created for us? Do we not thereby distance a piece and spark of holy light? We need merely to remove the evil from it and then the good in it will be revealed, and with it we will serve God. The Besht forbade fasting not only for the [author of the] Toldot, since he was a holy individual, but rather he [forbade fasting] for all. Such is the path of hasidism. As it says in the Noam Elimelekh, Parshat [Ki] Tisa, s.v. veAtah Kakh :”529Exodus 30:23. “One should not say that, since it is forbidden for one to derive benefit from this world and from his desires unless it is all for His sake, which is a very difficult, nay impossible, thing to maintain, that he should therefore separate himself from the physical world, not eating nor drinking at all, and becoming totally separated. One should not say as such, but rather should strengthen himself, little by little, to break his desires and turn things over and over, until he arrives at the essential foundation of holiness and its roots in every physical thing.”
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 30,1. “you are to construct an altar for the burning of incense.” Nachmanides questions why mention of this altar has been left until this point, whereas all the other furnishings of the Tabernacle have been described in Parshat T’rumah., where we would have expected to find this paragraph also.
I believe that at this point, after G’d (through Moses) had appointed Aaron and sons as priests, there might be a challenge to this appointment, as indeed we find later in Parshat Korach. If, the command to build the golden altar for the burning of incense was commanded only after Aaron’s appointment, G’d hoped that it would become clear to the people that the appointment had not been at the instigation of Moses but was the result of instructions Moses had received from G’d.
I believe that at this point, after G’d (through Moses) had appointed Aaron and sons as priests, there might be a challenge to this appointment, as indeed we find later in Parshat Korach. If, the command to build the golden altar for the burning of incense was commanded only after Aaron’s appointment, G’d hoped that it would become clear to the people that the appointment had not been at the instigation of Moses but was the result of instructions Moses had received from G’d.
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Tzidkat HaTzadik
[251] Through desire [a person] can become a vessel for the resting of God's Presence in his heart. This is the the reason for the offerings for the Tabernacle from "Each person according to the giving of his heart" (Exodus 25:2), that through the giving of the heart of the Israelites comes the building of the Tabernacle, bringing God's Presence below. Thus it is according to what each person develops in their heart, as one person's feelings are not comparable to his fellow's. For according to the giving of the heart and strength of his desire to grasp is the dwelling of God. And there is also the offerings of the bases and the sacrifices, of which is said "the rich will not add etc" (Exodus 30:15), in which rich and poor are similar in awareness, and feeling, and force of desire, since this is to atone for their souls as explained in the Text, and as the sages z"l explained in the Jerusalem Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Shekalim 1:1:6) that is to atone for the Golden Calf. Meaning, to clean the soiling of the evil desires from the heart. And so too, regarding the communal sacrifices, they z"l said "the Tamid offering of the morning atones etc" (Midrash Tanchuma Pinchas 13:1). And regarding the issue of distancing from evil all Israel are the same, that all are able to cleanse from evil in practice, the separation of levels is only applicable for the reaching out for good. And also, regarding the true cleansing of evil we arrive to the level of "the one who makes great and small equal" (Machzor Rosh Hashanah Ashkenaz, Musaf, First Day of Rosh Hashana, Kedushah 35). As it is known, there are circles, and directness, and separations on the levels to go from lower to higher, from the side of directness, but this is not so on the circle of "all are equal." ...
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