Ki Tisa: When You Take (or Make or Do)

Census-taking! Anointing oil! Incense! Betzalel - In the Shadow of G-d, son of My Light, son of White - namesake of the Academy of Arts and Design. The song we sing when making Kiddush on Shabbat afternoon. 2 Tablets broken, 2 Tablets created. A golden calf created, then destroyed, and… drank? 3000 people killed and a plague — but let’s forget that part. Names honoured and blotted out. The body of G-d, or an elaborate metaphor? 13 Attributes of Divine Mercy (another song.) How a radiating face from talking with G-d became a rumour that all Jews have horns. And so much more, in this past week’s parsha…

How much is the half-shekel worth? At the top of this parsha, everyone is asked to contribute an equal amount of money, no matter how rich or poor they may be. That sounds like not a lot of money by today’s standards. But 100 years ago, that may have bought you 15 chocolate bars (which could cost 150 shekel today.) To visualize the shrinking worth of $1 American over a hundred years, see this link.

In the audio, I mistakenly said Mel Gibson - who is not funny - instead of Mel Brooks. I was referring to History of the World, Part 1, where he says, “All pay heed! The Lord! The lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen... [drops stone tablet] Oy. Ten! Ten commandments for all to obey!”