Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Exodo 30:13

zwei Silberstücke. Zwei der geringsten Silbermünzen, d. i. zwei Gera (Exod. 30, 13), neuhebr. Maah (מעה). Zwei Maah (= ⅓ Denar) wiegen nach den Kommentaren in reinem Silber soviel, wie 32 Gerstenkörner.

שאו את ראש בני ישראל , “take a census of the sum of Children of Israel;” according to Rav b’chor shor, this census was performed by means of each person included handing over a shekel, as opposed to the census in Exodus 30,13, where only the total number of Israelite males between the ages of 20 and 60 was of interest. Here we find that the number counted in each tribe is listed separately, and they were listed according to families, i.e. each individual was of consequence. In Numbers, in the fortieth year after the Exodus it was of interest to number of members of each tribe all of whom had replaced the generation that had been condemned to die in the desert. This latter count did not include a single person who had been counted by Moses and Aaron at this time.

ויקחו לי, and they shall take for Me, etc." Why is this paragraph introduced by the conjunctive letter ו? Perhaps we can explain this by a statement attributed to our sages in Shekalim 1,3 according to which a person had to pawn some of his possessions in order to to contribute the half shekel for the building of the Tabernacle. We read in the Tanchumah on our portion that actually the Torah speaks here about three different kinds of תרומות, contributions. Two of these contributions consisted of a shekel per head whereas the size of the third contribution varied in size according to the individual's generosity and ability to contribute. One of the fixed contributions was used for the silver sockets holding up the beams of the Tabernacle, the second one was each individual's contribution for the purchase of the animals required for the public offerings, whereas the third contribution was a free-willed gift towards the materials needed for the construction of the Tabernacle. Keeping the above in mind the conjunctive letter ו before the word יקחו suggests a contrast between this donation and the one following which was determined by the individual's generosity, and which was not imposed on each Israelite. The words בני ישראל indicate that the levy was imposed only on the male Israelites, not on the women. Only the males were counted as we we know from Exodus 30,13. Accordingly, the words: מאת כל איש, "from each man," indicate that the levy was of equal size for each person from whom it was taken. Even if a person wished to contribute more than the half-shekel the Torah legislated in פרשת כי תשא, he was not allowed to do so. The extra letter ו also alludes to the fact that something else had preceded the compulsory levy, namely the spirit of generosity mentioned in our verse. When we adopt this method of interpreting the verse, the Torah speaks here of the various kinds of contributions made in connection with the building of the Tabernacle. G'd wished for each one of these three contributions to be made due to a spirit of generosity; a person should not make a contribution until he was in the proper frame of mind.

מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה כאשר צוה וגו׳ FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND ONWARDS, EVEN AS [THE LORD] HAS COMMANDED [MOSES AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, WHO CAME FORTH FROM EGYPT] that the counting of them (of those who came out from Egypt) should be from twenty years old and upwards, as it is said. (Exodus 30:14): “Every one that passeth amongst them that are numbered [shall be from twenty years old and upwards]”.

The half-shekel [given by every male over twenty,] and donations representing the value of one’s age. Two types of money are mentioned here. “Everyone who passes the numbering,”³Shemos 30:13-14. [The first type is] the money of anyone who passes the numbering, i.e., the money of the annual shekalim, about which it is stated, and [the second type is] anyone who volunteers his own value, i.e., one who says, “My value shall be incumbent upon me [to donate].”⁴See Vayikra 27:1-8.

The half-shekel [given by every male over twenty,] and donations representing the value of one’s age. Two types of money are mentioned here. “Everyone who passes the numbering,”³Shemos 30:13-14. [The first type is] the money of anyone who passes the numbering, i.e., the money of the annual shekalim, about which it is stated, and [the second type is] anyone who volunteers his own value, i.e., one who says, “My value shall be incumbent upon me [to donate].”⁴See Vayikra 27:1-8.