Questions — Parshah Ki Tisa
What are the reasons that censuses were taken in the ancient world? Why do we take them today?
Why is the payment associated with the census called a “kofer” or ransom? What is the association here with the previous parshah?
Why a half-shekel? The exact exchange rate of a half shekel is noted. Is there a half-shekel coin that they could pay with or was a shekel just a unit of measure at that time, like a foot or an ounce?
The text states that the rich may not pay more or the poor less. This certainly implies that the cases where the rich might want to pay less and the poor might want to pay more would also be forbidden. Why do we want to pay more or less than the fixed amounts that we owe as a debt or as a solicited gift?
How was the “kofer” paid/collected? The text says, “take from.” What would have happened if there was an Israelite who didn’t want to pay or lacked the means?
In the JPS translation of verse 30:16 “Le-Zikhron Lifne Adonai LeKofer al Nishmotehem.” is “as a reminder before the Lord, as expiation for your persons.” The original Hebrew text is unpunctuated. We understand how the text is divided up and read on the basis of the Masoretic traditions. This may be the source of the understanding of this part of the verse as two clauses. In the case of a parallelism, which is a common poetic device in Biblical Hebrew we would view the two phrases as similar or duplicative, perhaps viewing the same action from both the viewpoint of God and of those counted in the census. If we read the verse without dividing this section into two clauses how might we understand it?
Why does this census fall where it does in the order of the Torah? Why are these resources needed here? When the Israelites gave their free will offerings to build the temple why weren’t these needs included in what was needed? This is not a regular source of income for the Mishkan, so it doesn't make sense to think that this is for the service in the Mishkan rather than the further constructing and equipping of the Mishkan.
Why would the stand for the lave be made of the same material as the laver itself?
Where does the water for washing in the Temple precincts/ Mishkan come from? Are there any rules about the purity of that water?
How might the priests wash other than with water?
Why must they wash themselves all over to enter the tent of meeting and only wash their hands and feets when they go up to the alter to burn up a sacrifice?
“It shall be a law to them for all time.” Why didn’t the Pharisees of Saduccees seek to restore the sacrificial cult after the destruction of the Second Temple? What are we supposed to do if commandments in the Torah that are supposed to be “for all time” cannot be followed? Can we ever be the Jews that God wants us to be? Does the God of the Torah want us to be Jews or just Israelites? Can we ever be Israelites again?
What is a “choice” spice?
Olive oil seems to be the binding medium for the spice mix. The oil would make the other aromatic agents pourable. The building, the appurtenances and the priests are all anointed with the same mixture. Why were the priests not just anointed with plain olive oil? This seems to me to have been the understanding the last time the anointing of the priests was mentioned.
The anointing oil makes the anointed thing or person consecrated and causes those that come in contact with those things or people to become consecrated. Is the transfer of consecration similar in degrees to the ways that impurity can be transferred or not?
We are forbidden to make this mixture for any other purpose. Who is permitted to make it even for the use in the Temple/Mishkan? The punishment for doing so is to be”cut off from his kin.” Why isn’t it death? Similarly in the case of the incense.
God manifests as a cloud of smoke during the day. Wouldn’t the incense seem like a simulacrum of God as a cloud of smoke. Is that a benefit to God?
Is the incense burned to make the small of the Mishkan/Temple more aesthetically pleasing or is it to cover the small of the blood of the sacrifices. Are the physical manifestations of the sacrificial cult viewed as pleasant or unpleasant? As moderns could we experience the Temple as God intended it to be experienced or not?
Chapter 31
Bezalal’s generation is two generations that of most of the other leaders of the Israelites and a generation younger than the rest. What does this say about the biblical view of artistic talent and ability if anything? What do we know about Bezalel and would would we like to know?
What is Oholiab’s professional relationship to Bezalel?
31:11 “Just as I have commanded you, they shall do.” How does Moses pass on what he has been told by God to Bezalal and/or Oholiab? What is their relationship to prophecy?
31:13 “Ach?” Nevertheless, you must keep my Sabbaths… Why nevertheless? Why would we think otherwise? Why is the issue of Shabbat brought up here again? What are we learning here that is new?
The first set of tablets are described as “Inscribed by the finger of God.” Why the finger and not the hand? Is this a poetic turn or would there be an actual difference? If it is a poetic turn what does this imply about the way that God felt about giving the law to the Israelites?
The state of the Israelite camp is very much not what God (or Moses approves of. When did God create and inscribe the tablets in relation to when God gives them over to Moses?
