Parashat Ki Tisa — When you take (a census)
כִּי תִשָּׂא
Ki Tisa (כִּי תִשָּׂא) means "when you take (a census)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
Torah Exodus 30:11-34:35 Read →
Haftarah I Kings 18:1-39 Read →
B'rit Chadashah 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 Read →
What Happens in Ki Tisa
The portion opens with sanctuary business: when you take a census, every man gives a half-shekel as a ransom for his soul — the rich no more, the poor no less. Then the bronze laver for washing, the holy anointing oil and incense (both forbidden for common use), and the naming of the artisans: see, I have called by name Betzalel... and I have filled him with the Spirit of God — the first person in Scripture said to be Spirit-filled, for craftsmanship. The Shabbat seals the section as the sign between Me and you throughout your generations, and Moshe receives the two tablets of the Testimony, written with the finger of God.
Below, forty days feel like abandonment. The people gather against Aharon — make us gods who shall go before us, for this Moshe, we do not know what has become of him — and out of their gold earrings comes the molten calf: these are your gods, O Yisrael, who brought you up out of Egypt. Aharon proclaims a feast to YHVH; the people sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play. On the mountain YHVH offers to consume them and make of Moshe a great nation — and Moshe refuses, pleading Egypt's watching eyes and the oath to the fathers. And YHVH relented of the disaster. Descending, Moshe sees the calf and the dancing, burns with anger, and shatters the tablets at the foot of the mountain — the covenant broken in symbol as in fact. He grinds the calf to powder, scatters it on the water, and makes Israel drink it. The sons of Levi rally to his cry — whoever is for YHVH, to me! — and three thousand fall. Then Moshe climbs back up with the boldest intercession in the Torah: if You will forgive their sin — and if not, blot me, please, out of Your book.
What follows is the most intimate ground Moshe ever walks. YHVH threatens to send only an angel; Moshe refuses to move without the Presence — if Your presence does not go with us, do not carry us up from here — and then asks for everything: show me, please, Your glory. God's answer: you cannot see My face and live; but there is a place by Me. Hidden in the cleft of the rock, covered by God's hand, Moshe hears YHVH proclaim His own name as He passes: YHVH, YHVH God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in chesed and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty. The thirteen attributes of mercy become the Tanakh's most-quoted self-description of God. New tablets are cut, the covenant is renewed, and Moshe descends after another forty days — not knowing that the skin of his face shines from speaking with Him, so that Israel is afraid to come near, and he veils his face except when he goes in before YHVH.
Main Themes
The golden calf — impatience breeding idolatry Intercession that stands in the breach The thirteen attributes of mercy Show me Your glory — intimacy with God The shining face and the veil
Key Events
· The half-shekel and the laver
· Betzalel and Oholiav appointed; Shabbat the covenant sign
· The golden calf and the shattered tablets
· The Levites' zeal; Moshe's intercession
· The cleft of the rock and the proclamation of the Name
· The second tablets and Moshe's shining face
Key People
Moshe Aharon Betzalel Oholiav Yehoshua The Levites
Key Verses
Exodus 34:6 Read →
“The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,”
Exodus 33:18 Read →
“Moses said, “Please show me your glory.””
Exodus 32:32 Read →
“Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.””
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