It’s Not Easy Being Rich – Parshat Ki Tisa

It’s hard to be rich. You can end up having the feeling that people are after your money all the time. They want to steal from you. And what’s even harder is that there are rich people who feel that it is the poor people who want to rob them. But you can look at it in a different way. This is the topic of our weekly article.

This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Ki Tisa. G-d tells Moses to command the Nation of Israel to give half a shekel as a contribution to G-d. “When you count the heads of the Jewish people according to their numbers, each man will give an atonement for his soul to God, so a plague will not break out among them when you count them…This is what each one should give…a half-shekel contribution to God…The rich should not give more, or the poor give less than half a shekel” (Exodus 30:12-15).

In this parsha there is a difficult challenge:

Who can simultaneously be perfectly humble without any pride and, at the same, time spiritually strong so that nothing can break him? Usually, a person with strong opinions has an inflated ego, so it is easy for him to deal with oppositional public opinion, pressure, and crises. On the other hand, humble people sometimes suffer from false humility, feelings of inferiority and a lack of mental resilience to stand up to public opinion, pressure, and crises.

Each type has his weak point. One who has unyielding opinions finds it very difficult to be humble. And those who are humble, often experience feelings of inferiority and find it difficult to deal with crises. So, what should one do? How can one integrate the two, to be humble and yet still be strong and able to uphold his opinions in the face of trials and pressures?

Truthfully, it is very difficult to implement this. This is the issue that the parsha is addressing: the mitzvah of “half a shekel.” The word “shekel” is similar to the word “mishkal,” meaning weight. This is like a weight which is used to weigh something on a scale which measures half the amount so that it is difficult to decide exactly how much the item weighs. Our sages relate that Moses had a hard time with the issue of the “half shekel,” meaning that Moses had a hard time understanding how to direct the Nation of Israel to reach the right balance: on the one hand, they needed to be completely humble, and on the other hand, their humility needed to be real humility – and not false humility which comes from feelings of inferiority that prevent a person from achieving perfection. He could not grasp this until G-d showed him a kind of coin of fire and told him “This is what they will give” (Rashi). Giving is the way to merit this perfect balance.

Why is giving the solution? Rabbi Natan explains that the main reason that prevents those who have the ability to give generously to the poor are thoughts of pride: “I am a respectable person, and I deserve to be wealthy, while maybe this poor person isn’t such an upright person, and that’s why he doesn’t deserve to be wealthy.” Then when the poor person asks for help, he feels that the poor person has come to oppress him and steal his money! Thus, it is written in Proverbs: “A rich man replies with impudence” (Proverbs 18:23), because the way of the rich is to have haughty thoughts. They have no problem with mental resilience to deal with crises, but they certainly lack humility.

Who can simultaneously be perfectly humble without any pride and at the same time spiritually strong so that nothing can break him?

In fact, every person should be firm and very strong in serving G-d without giving in on what he feels is correct and without falling down from anything. But a wealthy person, even though he is firm and strong in mind, because he lacks humility, thinks that having humility is not a prerequisite for serving G-d. But this is in fact arrogance, and it is completely unacceptable.

On the other hand, the poor person is the symbol of humility, as King David, may he rest in peace, who was himself a symbol of humility, said: “For I am poor and needy” (Psalms 119:22). But usually, a poor person suffers from false humility. Due to his poverty, he feels despised and humiliated and feels disproportionately inferior, even when there is no justification for it. Just because he doesn’t have wealth doesn’t mean that he is unable to do good and beneficial things. Therefore, not only is the poor person lacking the toughness and the firmness required to be able to cope, but his humility is not true, but rather laziness and sadness which are utterly false.

So, what are we left with? With false boldness and false humility, what are we to do? The solution is to give. When a rich person lowers his pride a little and thinks: “Who knows? Maybe the poor person is much more upright than I am, and yet the Holy One, Blessed Be He, for His own reasons has granted me wealth, even though I do not deserve it.” With such thoughts, there is no doubt he will give charity as generously as he can, and perhaps even more than that. When a rich man gives charity to the poor, the giving itself softens the rich man’s heart and diminishes his pride. And also on the other side, the rich person’s giving uplifts the spirit of the poor person and elevates him from false humility, from the feeling of humiliation.

The commandment to give charity, then, is the solution for achieving proper humility. The rich person is saved from his pride in the merit of giving to the poor, and the poor person is saved from false humility as a result of the giving of the rich person.

Let us return to this week’s parsha. This is what the Torah is teaching us about the mitzvah of half a shekel: “The rich shall give no more, and the poor shall give no less than half a shekel” (Exodus 30:15). The rich person should beware of “increasing,” that he shouldn’t become filled with pride. In contrast, the poor person should beware of “diminishing,” that he shouldn’t underestimate his self-worth and feel too inferior. This is done by donating to G-d through the act of giving. The rich man subdues his impertinence, and despite its attacks, he remains refined and balanced. The poor person can also rise from false humility to a balanced humility. The rich person becomes humble, and the poor person merits to be strong and steadfast and not humiliated and lazy.

The commandment to give charity is the solution for achieving proper humility!

Now both the “greatness” of the rich person and the humility of the poor person become included in holiness. In fact, at their root, both are one, greatness and humility, as it is written: “In the place of His greatness, there you find His humility.” Rebbe Nachman taught that in giving charity, there is also an aspect of justice. Just as with regard to the law, one party is acquitted and exonerated, while the other is found guilty and humiliated, so too, when the rich person gives charity, he increases his humility and thus he subordinates his pride, and at the same time, he raises up the downtrodden. He lifts up the poor person – the mochin or mind of the poor person – elevating him from his feelings of inferiority and his false humility. When humility and greatness are both included in holiness, this is the ultimate perfection of humility.

The continuation of the verse we quoted at the beginning of the article says: “…then there will be no plague among them when they are counted” (Exodus 30:12). We can now understand this well. As is well known, it is forbidden to count the Nation of Israel because this may, G-d forbid, bring a plague (as it was in the days of King David when he counted the Nation of Israel). If so, why do we count them using the shekels? Wouldn’t it be better not to count, and then there would certainly be no plague? The answer is that when the numbering and counting are in the aspect of “increasing,” it comes from pride that is from the “Sitra d’Mota,” the side of death. And then, death can rule, G-d forbid. But through the mitzvah of the shekels, which is the mitzvah of charity, then humility achieves perfection, as we have explained. Then it is possible to count and “there will not be a plague,” because the main aspect of the eternal life that we will have in the future, which is the opposite of death, is achieved by having an unassuming spirit, which is true humility.

Now let us return to the opening verse of the parsha: “When you count the heads of the Jewish people,” means when you want to lift up the “head” – which is the “mochin” or “mind” – so that both humility and expanded consciousness will be included in holiness, this will be accomplished through the giving of the half shekel to G-d. Thus, the rich will achieve humility, and the humility of the poor will not be a false humility but a humility of an uplifted “mochin,” which is perfect humility.

(Based on to Likutei Halachot, Tefillin 6:25)