The Forgotten Souls
When Rabbi Akiva showed Moses how to appreciate the alienated Jews
1. Exodus Chapter 38
21. These are the numbers of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony, which were counted at Moses' command; [this was] the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the Kohen...
24. All the gold that had been used for the work in all the work of the Holy the gold of the waving was twenty nine talents, seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the holy shekel.
25. The silver of the community numbers was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy five shekels, according to the holy shekel.
26. One bekka per head; [that is,] half a shekel according to the holy shekel for each one who goes through the counting, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand, five hundred and fifty [people].
27. One hundred talents of the silver were used for casting the sockets of the Holy and the sockets of the dividing curtain; one hundred sockets out of one hundred talents, one talent for each socket.
28. And out of the one thousand seven hundred and seventy five [shekels] he made hooks for the pillars, and he covered their tops and banded them.
29. The copper of the waving was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.
2. Tanchuma Pekudei, Chapter 7
Moshe said, “I know that the people of Israel are exacting, therefore I will make them an exact calculation for all of the work of the Mishkan, and hence, ‘These are the numbers of the Mishkan’” (Exodus 38:21). And he gave them an accounting for every single item, the gold, the silver, and the copper. “The silver of the community numbers was one hundred talents ...”
In the midst of making an accounting and taking inventory for each item and each material used in the Mishkan, he forgot about 1775 silver shekels that were used for the hooks and were unseen. He began to wonder and say, “Now the people of Israel will say that I took the silver” so he returned to take stock of each item and its function.
Immediately G‐d illuminated his eyes and he looked up and saw these hooks and thereupon proclaimed loudly, “And out of the one thousand seven hundred and seventy five [shekels] he made hooks for the pillars” (Exodus 38:28). And at that time, Israel was appeased.
3. Midrash Rabah Shemos 51:6
When the work of the mishkan was completed, Moses said: Come, I will give you an account. In the midst of making an accounting and taking inventory for each item and each material used in the Mishkan, he forgot about 1775 silver shekels that were used for the hooks and were unseen. He began to wonder and say, “Now the people of Israel will say that I took the silver.” What did G‐d do? He illuminated his eyes and he looked up and saw them used for the hooks. At that moment, all of the Jews were satisfied with the work of the Mishkan.
Why did Moshe make an accounting for them when G‐d Himself trusted him, as it says “Not so my servant Moshe, in My entire house he is trusted?”
Because Moshe heard the Jewish scoffers speaking about him, as it says, “And it was when Moshe entered the tent.” What were they saying? ... R. Chama says, Look at the neck of Amram’s son! And another would respond: Boor! The man that ruled over the building of the Mishkan, do you not expect him to be rich!?”
When Moshe overheard this he said, “By your lives, as soon as the Mishkan is completed I will give you a reckoning as it says, ‘These are the numbers of the Mishkan’” (Exodus 38:21)
4. Exodus Chapter 38
26. One bekka per head; [that is] half a shekel according to the holy shekel for each one who goes through the counting, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand, five hundred and fifty [people].
Rashi:
The number of the half‐shekels of 600,000 [people] equals one hundred talents, each one the equivalent of three thousand shekels. How so? Six hundred thousand halves [of a shekel] equal three hundred thousand wholes, which equal one hundred talents. The [additional] 3,550 halves equal 1,775 shekels.
