Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Pekudei/0/he
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Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Pekudei
Identical Tallies
שמות ל"ח:כ"ה speaks of the half shekel donations contributed for the construction of the Tabernacle, and through which the nation was counted. Surprisingly, the head count reached is identical to the tally of the census in במדבר א':מ"ו which took place only in the second year in the Wilderness.
- How can this be? Were there no deaths or births in the interim? Moreover, considering that only a few months separated the two events, why were two censuses necessary at all?
- מ"ד קאסוטו uses knowledge of Ancient Near Eastern censuses to suggest that the two events were were both part of a single extended process which started with the building of the Tabernacle. ר' יוסף בכור שור agrees that there was only one census, but suggests that it occurred only in the beginning of the second year in Bemidbar 1. He claims that the half shekels of Parashat Ki Tisa played no role in counting the nation and were solely for the building of the Mishkan. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each approach? See מפקדים בני ישראל במדבר and Half Shekels – For Census or Tabernacle.
