Ki Tisa

This week, we are reading in the Book of Exodus (known in Hebrew as 'Shemot') in the portion called Ki Tisa.  The main focus of this portion is taking of the census of the Children of Israel. Let's examine the teaching of Rabbi Yaakov, a/k/a The Baal HaTurim.

The Baal HaTurim was born in Germany in the 13th century.  His father, Rabbi Asher, was a very famous commentator in his own right and was known as The Rosh.  The Baal HaTurim wrote his own commentary to the Torah.  In contrast to Rashi, who was known for his p'shat commentary which focused on the simplest meaning of words, phrases or verses in the Torah, the Baal HaTurim focused on the remez or hidden meaning of words phrases or verses in the Torah.

A nice example of the Baal Ha Turim's approach can be found in the opening verses of this weeks' portion:  God spoke to Moses:  "When you take a head count of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, every man shall give to God atonement money for his soul...(Exodus 30:11)

The Baal HaTurim points out that the Hebrew word for 'give' in this conjugation is 'vuv-nun-tav-nun-vuv' which is a palindrome--it reads the same way in both directions.  The Baal asks why this is so.  His answer?  Because the word itself suggests the very essence of 'giving' or 'tzedakah:' it comes back to you.  You offer tzedakah (in this case a contribution as a result of the census to be used to support the Jewish community) and it comes back to you in ways you cannot even imagine!  Or as the Baal HaTurim says, 'you will not be missing anything as a consequence of giving.'