08 Mar PARASHAT KI TISA- THE HALF THAT WE DON’T SEE

Parashat Ki-Tisa
begins with the

Misva of “Maha-
sit Ha’shekel” – the

mandatory half-
shekel tax that was

imposed upon all
members of Beneh Yisrael. The first time
this tax was collected, the silver coins were
used to make the “Adanim,” the sockets that
formed the foundation of the Mishkan. All
the other parts of the Mishkan were made

from materials that the people donated vol-
untarily. The sockets, however, were sup-
plied through a mandatory half-shekel flat

tax imposed upon each and every member
of the nation.
One Rabbi commented that the sockets

which formed the foundation of the Mish-
kan represent the foundation of the Jewish

religion. Of course, each and every Hala-
chic detail is crucial and indispensable. But

the foundation, the basis of it all, is faith in

Hashem. Without faith, sincere commit-
ment to the Torah’s precepts is impossible.

And this is why the sockets were supplied
through a mandatory tax. When it comes
to other Misvot, we find some commands
that are directed toward certain members
of the nation, and some that are binding
upon all but with room for some to excel at
a higher level than others. Some members
will choose to focus more on some areas of

Torah than other areas, and levels of com-
mitment will, naturally, not be the same for

everyone, as much as we should all be aspir-
ing to excel. But when it comes to the foun-
dation, we are all on the same page. We all

share equally the same obligation to firmly

believe in Hashem’s existence and provi-
dence.

If, indeed, the “Mahasit Ha’shekel” dona-
tion represents faith, we can perhaps under-
stand why it required donating a half-coin,

rather than a complete coin. A prerequisite
of faith is acknowledging that we see only
half the picture. We do not have access to

the whole picture; we can never truly un-
derstand why Hashem runs the world as

He does, why misfortune befalls the righ-
teous while the wicked prosper. Oftentimes

Hashem’s decisions seem to us unfair, but
this is because we see only half the picture,

whereas He – and only He – sees the com-
plete picture and has complete knowledge

of what’s best for us and the world.
Later in the Parasha, we read that Moshe
Rabbenu asked Hashem to show him how
he runs the world, the answer to the age-old
question of why the righteous often suffer
while the wicked prosper – “Har’eni Na Et
Kebodecha” (“Show me, if You please, Your
glory” – 33:18). Hashem answered Moshe
that no man can access this knowledge. Even
Moshe Rabbenu, whose level of prophecy
far surpassed that of any other prophet, who
spoke to Hashem “face to face,” in whatever

sense that can happen, was not given the an-
swer to this question. Indeed, even Moshe

saw only part of the picture.

This should be a great source of comfort
for us when we encounter times of hardship

and distress. All of us – even Moshe Rab-
benu – are in the same “half-shekel” group.

We are not supposed to have the answers to

all the questions, and we will never under-
stand why Hashem does what He does.

The foundation of the Mishkan, of the
Torah, is the acceptance of the inherent

limitations of our understanding, and be-
lieving that the full picture is known only

Rabbi Eli Mansour to the Almighty.