Musar su Esodo 21:32

Rabbi Yehudah son of lla-i said that Moses originally thought that the ransom for a person's life was one talent of silver since it is written in Kings I 20,39: "it will be your life for his, or you will have to pay a talent of silver." Rabbi Yossi believes that the amount of ransom appropriate is the amount of 100 pieces of silver, and that we compare this to the case of a groom who accused his bride of not having been a virgin (Deut. 22,19). The sin of the Jewish people at the time was comparable to that of the מוציא שם רע, because the people proclaimed "These are your gods O Israel, which have taken you out of Egypt," a clear defamation of G–d's reputation. Thus, every Jew should have been required to pay 100 shekels. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish felt, that the amount of the ransom payment should be compared to the person who has raped a young woman in Deut. 22,29 who is required to pay a ransom of 50 shekels to the father of the rape-victim. The sin of the Jewish people at the episode of the golden calf was akin to that of the rapist. We, who have been told "You shall not have any other G–d," have subjected G–d to the pain of our making another god for ourselves. It is therefore appropriate for each Jew to ransom himself to the tune of 50 shekels. Rabbi Yehudah bar Symon said that the appropriate ransom payment should be derived from the Torah's legislation dealing with the ox which has gored someone's slave and the owner of which has to pay 30 shekels to the owner of the slave who was killed (Exodus 21,32). The comparison is fitting because the Israelites demeaned themselves to be no better than the image of the ox which they worshipped. They had devalued themselves, so to speak, so that their lives were no longer worth more than 30 shekel.

In our Parshah we find that the standard value of a male Gentile slave is thirty שקלים. This is the amount that has to be paid to the owner as כופר נפש, "soul's ransom," if such a slave has been killed. All that G–d has asked from each Jew for His share in the cardinal sin of the golden calf is one 60th of that amount. This symbolises that we are to be prepared to make do with the equivalent of a half-שקל to sustain our needs during the 6 weekdays. The Mishnah in פאה 8,7, stipulates therefore that the gabba-im in charge of distribution of food to transients must not allocate less than the size of a loaf costing a pundian at the time when the price of grain is four sa-ah for a selah. Four sa-ah=24 kabbin, since a single sa-ah = 6 kabbin. The selah itself is equal to 48 pundians. This amount of bread is supposed to be sufficient for the number of weekdays in a month (1 kav=2200 ccm). Allowance is made for the cost of labour and baking, so that the amount of actual bread represents somewhat less than the gross amount of grain before grinding into flour. The baker, therefore, cannot sell a loaf the size of half a kav for only one pundian. The reason a month is considered the relevant unit for this calculation is that in Exodus 30,13, the Torah says זה יתנו וכו'. The word זה equals 12. In other words, there is a direct link between twelve and the מחצית השקל, the number twelve representing the months in the year (otherwise it could have stipulated that the contribution should be annual). Every month of the year is considered a separate unit. The first day of the month of אדר was the date on which the new contributions were called for. They fell due on the first day of ניסן. Having already in mind the contribution of the חצי שקל one month before it is actually made, sanctifies such a person and makes all the food he consumes as if he were consuming part of a sacrifice, i.e. something dedicated to G–d.

Since food consumed on the Sabbath is anyways on a higher plane, having been sanctified by the very presence of the Sabbath, it need not be part of the calculations we have just outlined. The Gentile slaves, whose entire lifestyle is based on receiving material compensation for services rendered, are valued at thirty shekel each, i.e. sixty times the amount needed for minimal subsistence for the average person for the weekdays of each month. This is why the Torah sets his כופר נפש, soul's ransom, at 30 shekel as we read in Exodus 21,32 (The concept of בטול, reduction to the point of total insignificance in reverse).