출애굽기 30:12의 주석

כי תשא This has the meaning of obtaining: WHEN THOU TAKEST [THE SUM], (not of “lifting up” as in Genesis 40:13); as the Targum has it, תקבל. The sense is: when you wish to obtain the sum total of their number — to know how many they are — do not take their census by their polls but each of them shall give half a shekel, and you shall count these, and so ascertain their number.

The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses that when he takes a census of the children of Israel, they should each give a soul’s ransom — half a shekel; and He further told him, And thou shalt take the atonement-money¹Verse 16. mentioned, and shalt give it for the service of the Tent of Meeting.¹Verse 16. From this Moses would understand that he was to count them now. And so indeed he did, as Scripture says, And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents etc.²Further, 38:25. It was thus not necessary to state at length, “and now you should take their census and give the silver for the service of the Tent of Meeting,” for it is self-understood that he should count them now. The reason that He generalized the commandment — saying “when you will take their census you should do it in the prescribed way” — is in order to include in this general principle any time when a census was decided upon.
It appears to me that now [at this census, Moses] did not have to come to the people’s tents and count them, as he did in the census spoken of in the Book of Numbers,³In connection with that census the Midrash says specifically that when the enumeration of the Levites was taken “Moses went and stationed himself at the entrance of each tent etc.” (Tanchuma Bamidbar, 16). Ramban is here suggesting that the same was done with the other tribes as well. but he did it as our Rabbis have said through the [half] shekels they brought for the sacrifices; for he commanded them that all who know themselves to be from twenty years old and upward⁴Verse 14. should give that sum, and they brought him the ransom as a voluntary offering together with all the other voluntary offerings every morning.⁵Further, 36:3. That is why He said only, And thou shalt take the atonement-money,¹Verse 16. that is to say, “Behold, I have commanded you that when you count them they shall give their ransom, and now they will voluntarily give it and you should appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting.”¹Verse 16. This is the reason why it was not necessary now that Aaron and the princes [of the tribes] be present with Moses [at the taking of the half-shekels, as was required in the census spoken of in the Book of Numbers⁶Numbers 1:3-4.]. Do not object on account of the verse, This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered⁷Verse 13. [from which you might think that here too, Moses actually counted the people], for the meaning thereof is “those that are eligible to pass.”
Now because it has not been explained here whether this is a commandment binding for all time or only for that particular period of when Moses was in the wilderness, David erred and counted the people without shekels, and on account of this a plague broke out amongst them.⁸II Samuel 24:1-15. He confessed about this [sin], as it is said, And David said unto G-d, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing.⁹I Chronicles 21:8.
Our Rabbis have derived¹⁰Yerushalmi Shekalim I, 1. from the many expressions [of “offering”] mentioned here,¹¹Half a shekel for an offering to the Eternal (Verse 13); he shall give the offering of the Eternal (Verse 14); when they give the offering of the Eternal (Verse 15). [an indication] that there were three [separate] offerings.¹²One was for the making of the sockets of the Tabernacle (further 38:26-27). The second was after the erection of the Tabernacle and the money was used for purchasing the public sacrifices. Both of these offerings were compulsory, each person giving a half-shekel. The third was voluntary and was used for the building of the Tabernacle. See also further on in the text. And so it appears from what Scripture says, [And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him:] ‘Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of the Eternal, and of the congregation of Israel, for the Tent of Testimony?’¹³II Chronicles 24:6. From this it would appear that the tax of Moses was enjoined for all time — and that it was to be brought for the repair of the Temple even though no census was to be taken. Likewise the offering for [buying the public] sacrifices [was enjoined for all time] as the Sages have said, and it is so written [of Ezra and Nehemiah]: Also we made ordinances for us to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our G-d; for the showbread, and for the continual meal-offering and for the continual burnt-offering, of the Sabbaths, of the New Moons, for the appointed reasons, and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our G-d.¹⁴Nehemiah 10:33-34. Here it is clearly stated that they used to bring shekels every year for the sacrifices and for the Temple repair. Scripture states that the levy was the third part of a shekel [whereas here it is stated that it is to be half a shekel]; this was because in the days of Ezra they added to the value of a shekel, so that the third of a shekel was then ten gerahs [the equivalent of a half a shekel in the days of Moses].¹⁵The shekel is twenty gerahs (Verse 13). In the days of Ezra a shekel was worth thirty gerahs; hence a third was ten gerahs.
In Tractate Shekalim we are taught:¹⁶Shekalim 2:4. “When Israel came up from [the Babylonian] exile they used to pay the [half-] shekel in darics [a Persian silver coin, each one giving one daric, as will be explained further]. Then they changed, and paid it in s’laim [each one giving one sela]. Again they changed and paid the shekel in tibin [each one giving one tiba], and they finally sought to pay it in denars [but these were not accepted of them].” The meaning of this Mishnah is as follows: When Israel came up from the exile and large funds were needed for the Temple repair, they paid the shekel in darics, which were larger than the s’laim, each one giving one daric. Then they changed and began paying in whole s’laim [each one giving one sela — since there was a decrease in the needs of the Temple repair]. Again they changed it to tibin — in the Yerushalmi¹⁷Yerushalmi ibid. it is explained that a tiba is half a sela.¹⁸A sela was the exact equivalent of the shekel that was in the days of Moses. Hence a tiba which is half a sela is the same as the half-shekel which the Torah commanded to be given by each Israelite. When they sought to pay it in denars [each one giving one denar]¹⁹There are four denars to a shekel [or sela]. Hence to give one denar only would be half of a half-shekel, and as will be explained further on that less than a half-shekel cannot be given. they did not accept it of them, for although the public can increase the levy to more than half a sela, provided only that everyone pays alike, as we have been taught in the Mishnah of Tractate Shekalim,¹⁶Shekalim 2:4. yet no one is permitted to decrease it and give less than half of a sela, be it one person or many people, for “the ransom of a soul” is not less than that [i.e. a half-sela], as it is written, This they shall give etc.⁷Verse 13. In the Yerushalmi¹⁷Yerushalmi ibid. the Rabbis have said with reference to what is written [that in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah they ordained that each one is to give] the third part of a shekel,¹⁴Nehemiah 10:33-34. “from here you learn that a person is responsible for shekels three times a year.²⁰According to the Yerushalmi the meaning of the verse (Nehemiah 10:33) is thus as follows: “we made ordinances for us to charge ourselves each third part of the year with the shekel mentioned in the Torah.” For by law of the Torah they were enjoined to give it only once; but because the needs for the Temple repair were so great [as explained above], they took it voluntarily upon themselves to donate it three times a year. Since three s’laim [or shekels of the Torah] make one daric, it is now clear why the Mishnah quoted above states that when Israel came up from the exile they paid the shekel in darics, and as Ramban clearly states, “each one giving a daric” which was equivalent to three shekels of the Torah. From here you also learn that we must not impose on the public more than three times a year” [for the Temple treasury].
Now Rashi wrote: “there are three offerings hinted at here¹¹Half a shekel for an offering to the Eternal (Verse 13); he shall give the offering of the Eternal (Verse 14); when they give the offering of the Eternal (Verse 15). — one was for the making of the sockets, for Moses counted them when they began to contribute towards the building of the Tabernacle after the Day of Atonement in the first year [of the exodus], — each one giving half of a shekel, and the total amounting to a hundred talents, as it is said, And the silver of them that were numbered was a hundred talents etc.²¹Further, 38:25. The second [offering] was also levied through a census, for he counted them after the Tabernacle was erected, this being the census referred to in the Book of Numbers: on the first day of the second month in the second year,²²Numbers 1:1. each one giving a half-shekel for purchasing the public sacrifices. And if you ask: How is it possible that on both of these occasions the number of Israelites was exactly the same — 603,550?²³Further, 38:26. Numbers 1:46. Were these two censuses not taken in two [different] years;²⁴The first census was taken in the month of Tishri [after the Day of Atonement in the first year of the exodus]. The second census — on the first day of Iyar — was seven months later. But since we calculated the beginning of a new year [in the count after the exodus] with Nisan, the second census was therefore in the second year. Thus the two censuses were in two years! thus it is impossible that there were no people aged nineteen at the time of the first census, [who accordingly were not counted], who became twenty years old [by the time the second census was taken, and thus must have added to the total]! The reply to this question is as follows: As far as the years of people’s ages are concerned, the two censuses were taken in one year, but counting from the exodus from Egypt, they were held in two years. For when we count from the exodus from Egypt, we calculate from Nisan, but when we count the years of man’s ages we count according to the era of the creation of the world, which begins with Tishri. In that way, the two censuses were in one year: the first census was in Tishri after the Day of Atonement, when the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled to Israel and they were commanded about the construction of the Tabernacle, and the second census took place [in the same year] on the first day of Iyar.” All these are the Rabbi’s words.
But I wonder! How is it possible that the number of deaths amongst such a great assemblage of people in a period of half a year did not run to the hundreds and thousands! For according to the words of the Rabbi [Rashi], they remained for about seven months [from about the middle of Tishri to the beginning of Iyar] without one fatality, and yet it is written, But there were certain men, who were unclean by the dead body of a man.²⁵Numbers 9:6. This happened in Nisan in the second year after the exodus. Thus it is clear that before the month of Iyar when the second census took place, there was at least one death in the camp. I have also another difficulty: The years of men’s ages are not counted according to the era of the creation of the world which begins with Tishri, but are counted in astronomical years beginning with the day of one’s birth. It is for this reason that it says with reference to the people counted, that they are to be from twenty years old and upward,²⁶Ibid., 1:3. meaning that they are to be a full twenty years old. Similarly, all countings of the Torah with respect to people’s ages are calculated in astronomical years, just as the Rabbis have said in Tractate Arakhin:²⁷Arakhin 18b. “The ‘year’ mentioned in connection with the hallowed offerings,²⁸Such as a he-lamb of the first year (Leviticus 12:6). and dwelling-houses in a walled city,²⁹If sold, these houses can be redeemed within the space of a full year (Leviticus 25:30). the two ‘years’ mentioned in connection with a field which is the owner’s by inheritance [which, if sold, he may not redeem until after two years],³⁰Leviticus 25:15, and Arakhin 29b. the six ‘years’ mentioned in connection with a Hebrew servant,³¹Above, 21:2. a son and daughter [explained further on], are all reckoned in astronomical years. Whence do we know this of the hallowed offerings? Scripture says, keves ben shnatho²⁸Such as a he-lamb of the first year (Leviticus 12:6). [literally: “a lamb of his year”] — his year, and not the year counted according to the era of the creation of the world etc.” Then [the Gemara] explains there: “In connection with what law does this principle affect ‘the son and daughter’ [mentioned above] ? Said Rav Gidal, It is in connection with Valuations.”³²If a person vows to give to the Sanctuary his “Valuation,” the sum is fixed by the Torah on the basis of years for a male and for a female (Leviticus 27:1-7). These years then are not counted according to the era of the creation of the world, but are calculated astronomically. And the reason for this is because [in the case of Valuations] it says, and upward,³³Leviticus 27:7: And if it be from sixty years old and upward… and in all censuses of the wilderness it is also written and upward.³⁴Numbers 1:3: from twenty years old and upward. Similarly, ibid., 26:2. The calculation of years in the census taken in the wilderness was thus alike in every respect to the calculation in the Valuations, as the Rabbis have said in [Tractate] Baba Bathra:³⁵Baba Bathra 121b. “The analogy is established on the basis of the identical phrase and upward [which is stated in the censuses taken in the wilderness, and its precise meaning is] derived from that mentioned in the law of Valuations.” And if so, all people born between Tishri and Iyar completed an astronomical year in the interim, thus between the two censuses there was bound to be a great number of people added to the total! But it would be more correct if we were to say that it so happened that the Israelites at the time of the first census [in Tishri] were 603,550 people, and in the following seven months many of them died, as is natural, and those who were twenty years old completed their twentieth year between Tishri and Iyar, and it so happened³⁶By way of miracle (L’vush Ha’orah). that their number corresponded exactly to that of those who died.
In my opinion, however, these identical numbers [of the two censuses] present no difficulty at all. For in the first census the tribe of Levi was counted together with the other tribes, since they had not yet been selected and were therefore not separated from the people, but at the second census Moses was told, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, and neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel.³⁷Numbers 1:49. Now the number of those whose twentieth year was completed between the two censuses was close to twenty thousand³⁸In the separate count that was taken of the Levites they numbered twenty-two thousand (ibid., 3:39). But since they were numbered from the age of a month upward, Ramban rightly assumes that the Levites who were twenty years old and upward were “approximate to twenty thousand.” Their numbers [not included in the figures of the second census], were made up by those Israelites who completed their twentieth year between the two censuses. [thus making up for the tribe of Levi which was not counted in the second general census]. This is clearly established [that the tribe of Levi was counted in the first census]. For since Scripture found it necessary to say at the second census, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, and neither take the sum of them,³⁷Numbers 1:49. it is proof that until then they were counted with the other tribes of Israel; and only now was the tribe of Levi selected and numbered by itself, in order to become “the legion of the King.”³⁹Numbers 1:49, Rashi. Now when Israel left Egypt they were ‘about’ six hundred thousand ‘g’varim’ (men) on foot⁴⁰Above, 12:37. — not “six hundred thousand;” of these there died a number of people corresponding to the number of young men whose twentieth year was completed [in the next six months between the exodus, which was in the middle of Nisan, and the first census which was taken in the middle of Tishri, when the number was 603,550]. Perhaps the term g’varim⁴⁰Above, 12:37. does not denote men of twenty years of age, but all those who had reached puberty — including all those from thirteen years old upwards — and that term [g’varim] is only used in order to exclude women and children, as it says, beside little ones.⁴⁰Above, 12:37.
It also appears to me that of the three offerings here alluded to, the one designed for purchasing the public sacrifices is not the one taken through a census and mentioned in the Book of Numbers, as the Rabbi [Rashi] said, for there it is said, Only thou shalt not count the tribe of Levi,³⁷Numbers 1:49. and all the Sages agree that the Levites too were liable to give the shekels for the sacrifices; and in accordance with the words of the Sages, even the priests had to give it,⁴¹Shekalim 1:4. and such is the established law as is explained in Tractate Shekalim.⁴¹Shekalim 1:4. Moreover, the duty of giving the [half-] shekel for the sacrifices was not dependent upon a man being twenty years old or more, [as is mentioned in the case of the second census], but as soon as he could produce two [bottom] hairs he became liable to give the shekel. It is so clearly stated there [in Tractate Shekalim].⁴²Ibid., 1:3. See also my Hebrew commentary p. 491. Rather, Scripture commanded that they bring for the work of the Tabernacle an offering of a half-shekel, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward,⁴Verse 14. and it hinted: The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half-shekel… to make atonement for your soul,⁴³Verse 15. for all who need atonement — that is, all who have reached the stage of being obligated to observe the commandments [which is at thirteen years and a day, corresponding to the period of puberty], shall being one half-shekel for the sacrifices [in addition to the half-shekel given for the work of the Tabernacle].

כי תשא..ונתנו איש כפר נפשו, the need to count human beings stems from the fact that human beings are not the same each time, i.e. ever since death was decreed upon mankind this reflects sin. Prior to sin man, who was meant to live indefinitely, would be the same at each count. The sages have said that no one dies unless he had committed a sin (Shabbat 55). It follows that mention of a head count of people is an oblique reminder of man’s sin, his guilt. This being so, it is most appropriate that at the time of such count he should pay some ransom on behalf of his soul, his life, so that he will qualify for atonement. This also explains why the poor must not give less nor the rich more, as a soul’s ransom is not calculated in terms of the amount of money offered to G’d.