Ki Tisa Drash

Ki Tisa

This weeks Parasha is titled Ki Tisa. It comes from verse 12 When you take.

Right at the beginning of this Parasha we see that HaShem orders Moshe to take a census of the people and everyone over the age of 20 has to pay a ransom of a half shekel as a ransom to make atonement. As I read this one of the things that really seemed odd was the amount required of each person. As many other I have read this portion many times. In the past the half shekel did not bother me. I had always been taught and it seemed sensible that the half shekel was a price that even the poorest could afford and it was showing the equality of the wealthy and the poor.

While this is true, this time it just seemed like there was a deeper understanding of this. As I continued to think about it I started to get bothered by it. A half shekel! Come on, that is it?!? Am I really only worth half a shekel and not even a whole shekel? As I was discussing this with our brother Arlo he pointed out, of course you are only a half shekel you are only half a person. I had one of those moments where your mind fills with the enormity of space and existence, all because of a simple phrase.

Things suddenly started to fill in with the insight that he had shared with me. Even the very situation I was in, studying with a brother was an example of the statement. Studying on my own I was only half of what was needed. I also required another half or another student to truly get the full lesson.

A half shekle! I was kind of like thats it? Am I really only worth half a shekle and not even a whole a shekle? As I was discussing this with our brother Arlo he pointed out of course, you are only half a person. It was one of those moments where you mind fills with the enormity of a simple phrase. Things suddenly started to fill in with the insight that he had given to me.

We are each as individuals only half of a whole. I wanted to see if I could find some examples about this being half a person or being alone. As I was looking for something related to this, I remembered something else that I had learned about being half of a whole. Lo Tov, this phrase in English means not good or no good. It is only used in 2 places in all of the Torah. I thought this was interesting considering there are 365 negative commandments but only twice does the phrase Lo Tov appear.

The first place is in Bereshit/ HaShem says it is not good for man to be alone. The second place is in Shemot/ Yitro tells Moshe being the lone judge is not good. In both cases we have a fatherly figure who is with their son telling him being alone is not good. It is not evil or wicked but it is not good. In both cases they need another half. Adam needed his wife Hawwah and Moshe needed fellow elders one might say his friends.

I found this same idea of being a half of whole is also expressed in the Besorah. Yeshua is answering some people about divorce and he describes marriage in verse 8 as “and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”

Sometimes we may think to ourselves, “I am really OK with only being a half” the problem is what about the other half that may need you. What if we are not a half as Adam but as Hawwah? What if we are not the Moshe half of the shekel but his friends half of the shekel? In other words even if we think we are OK alone and only being a half shekle, what about the other half that is out their searching for us? Are they OK alone?

Loneliness is crippling, terrifying, and causes despair. We need to partner up, with friends, family, and new people. We need to make nuturing our relationships with others a priority. We need to find our many other halves. If not for our sake then for theirs.