Congregation Bnai Torah Olympia

Dvar Torah Parashat Mishpatim/Shekalim 5772

On Shabbat March 10, we will read the following from Parashat Ki Tissa (pp. 539/40 in
Humash Etz Hayim:)

- - : - :
: - - '
' : - -
: -

: -
: - -
He (Moses) said, Oh, let me behold Your Presence! And He
(God) answered, I will make all My goodness pass before
you, and I will proclaim before you the name Hashem, and
the grace that I grant, and the compassion that I show. But,
He said, you cannot see My face, for man may not see me
and live. And the Lord said, See, there is a place near Me.
Station yourself on the rock and, as My Presence passes by,
I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My
hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away
and you shall see My back; but My face must not be seen.i
Now, I know there are probably two questions youre
wondering right now:
1. Why am I reading from Ki Tissa when we read Mishpatim
today?
2. Why arent I talking about all the social justice issues in this
Parasha.
Ill answer the second first: While the social justice issues are of
vital importance, I wanted to bring a change of pace and explore a
problematic text.
That text is found in todays Parasha, pp 478/9

2012 Rabbi Jaron Matlow MAJEd/JS

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Congregation Bnai Torah Olympia

Dvar Torah Parashat Mishpatim/Shekalim 5772
:

- :


: -

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy
elders of Israel ascended; and they saw the God of Israel:
under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of
sapphire, like the very sky for purity. Yet He did not raise
His hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they beheld
God, and they ate and drank.ii
So, what are we to make of this? We see in Chapter 33 that no
man can see Gods face and live, yet here in todays reading we
have 74 people, who saw God, and God didnt strike them down;
rather they ate a festive meal and drank!
What do you all think? Take congregational input here!!
I have been troubled by this section for a number of years.
To help me understand this, I first went to the Mepharshim, our
classic Torah commentators.
Targum Onkelos renders our verse as They saw the Glory of
the God of Israel. Onkelos renders the Hebrew of verse 10
, they saw (physical vision) as they saw prophetically.
This is the same verb root as we see in verse 11 when we see
; they saw (prophetically).
Rashi learns that they peek and looked were liable for the
death penalty, but HKBH did not want to remove the joy of
Torah, and waited for Nadav and Avihu until they offered their
strange sacrifice; and for the Elders until (Numbers 11:1) the
2012 Rabbi Jaron Matlow MAJEd/JS

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Congregation Bnai Torah Olympia

Dvar Torah Parashat Mishpatim/Shekalim 5772
people complained and the fire of God consumed those in the
outlying parts of the camp. Rashi is basing this on the fact that
God didnt strike out at that time, when the Israelites were
having the festive meal on a Mitzvah, the Seudat Mitzvah, after
receiving the Torah, but waited. He bases this on our text
saying that God did not raise His hand against the leaders.
Ibn Ezra, Ramban and Hizkuni all say that this was by way
of a prophetic vision.
Rashbam sees it as that they saw Gods back, as in our
verse from Ki Tissa.
Rambam, in the Guide to the Perplexed, states that this was
an intuition rather than a physical vision.
Rashi is alone in saying that these 74 actually saw God. Our
other sources all see it as a spiritual experience, but not one
gained by physical senses.
Looking at the Acharonim, or later commentaries, we find:
Hertziii, in his commentary, states that What these men
actually experienced is, of course, beyond human ken; but it
is supposed that they fell into a trance in which this mystic
vision was seen by them.
According to a Chassidic tale,iv Rabbi Zusya of Hanipoli says
It is written - And they beheld
God, and ate and drank. When one sees the attribute of
stern justice which is indicated by the particular Name of
God used in this verse, , one should eat and drink and
be joyful, for thereby one can temper the sternness of a
Divine verdict.

2012 Rabbi Jaron Matlow MAJEd/JS

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Congregation Bnai Torah Olympia

Dvar Torah Parashat Mishpatim/Shekalim 5772
In the Psalm for the penitential season, Psalm 27, we see
One thing I ask of God, ' , to gaze on H
and contemplate in His sanctuary. This gazing, from the verb
, is a very powerful, spiritual encounter, no matter how we
describe it.
In the Talmud (B. Berakhot 17a) Rav states that the World to
Come is not like this world. In the World to Come there is no
eating or drinking (as we had with our verses) rather, the
righteous sit with crowns on their heads and take delight in the
Glory of Gods Presence, as it says, - .
Rashi here says that eating and drinking in this world is like sitting
at the feet of the Shekhina, Gods Presence, in the World to
Come.
Whether or not these 74, Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu and
the 70 elders, actually saw God, or experienced a prophetic vision
or a trance, the bottom line is that they experienced the very Holy
Essence of God, and when they experienced this Essence, they
ate and drank in celebration.
May we always be blessed to experience Gods Holiness,
and eat and drink in celebration.
Shabbat Shalom.

2012 Rabbi Jaron Matlow MAJEd/JS

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Congregation Bnai Torah Olympia

Dvar Torah Parashat Mishpatim/Shekalim 5772
Intro to
-
- First of four special before
- is observed before the beginning of the month of ,
which begins after Wednesday evening. During Temple
times the purpose of this was to collect money to
ensure a flock of animals was obtained that would be able to
serve for the , the Paschal Lamb.
- Our recounts the first census of the people after leaving
Egypt. The practice of collecting from each person to
indirectly count the census is the origin of our always
indirectly counting Jews present, such as the ever popular
not-one, not-two, etc.
The connection between the indirect counting of Israel to the
preparation for is a very ancient tradition, which we recall by
reading our , which begins on page 523, verse 11.

2012 Rabbi Jaron Matlow MAJEd/JS

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Congregation Bnai Torah Olympia

Dvar Torah Parashat Mishpatim/Shekalim 5772
Intro to :
- Our , from the book of Kings, explores the themes of
Census and Social Justice found in the corpus of our
readings today.
- King saw that the Temple treasury was not being used for
Temple upkeep as required. The priests were using the
money for personal desires.
- He changed the method of collection, requiring a collection box,
into which people placed their contribution.
- The royal scribes counted the money in the box the connection
to .
- The money was given to the foremen to pay the laborers directly
for their labor connection to social justice as requires
that day laborers be paid each day for their work.
- We now begin our spiritual preparations for , with the
on page 1277, chapter 12.
i

Humash Etz Hayim. JPS/RA/USCJ 2001. Pp. 539-40

Ibid. Pp. 478/9
iii
Hertz, Dr J H, London: Soncino Press. 1981 p. 322.
iv
Zevin, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef: A Treasury of Chassidic Tales vol. 1. NY: Mesorah Publications LTD. 1980.
P. 260
ii

2012 Rabbi Jaron Matlow MAJEd/JS

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