אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר פֻּקַּד עַל פִּי מֹשֶׁה עֲבֹדַת הַלְוִיִּם בְּיַד אִיתָמָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן (שמות לח, כא).
In this shiur I would like to explore the meaning of the word פְקוּדֵי, the name of this week's parsha. The word פְקוּדֵי is derived from the root פקד and as we will soon see has numerous different meanings, which are all connected. The reason I chose this as the topic of the shiur is because it is closely connected to current events and can give us a deeper insight and direction in these troubled times.
Onkelos and Targum Yonatan translate פְקוּדֵי as מִנְיָנֵי, meaning "counting" and this is indeed what makes up the entire parsha – Moshe giving an accounting of the building of the Mishkan.
The Malbim on this passuk says there are two types of counting, the first is a מִסְפָּר and the second is a מִפְקַד. The word מִסְפָּר, according to the Malbim, refers to a מִסְפָּר פְּרָטִי, a "private number", while the word מִפְקַד refers to a סְכוּם כּוֹלֵל, a "sum total". In other words, the term מִסְפָּר is a sub-total, a component, while the term מִפְקַד is the final total – the bottom line.
R' Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin's method for understanding a word is to find the first time it is mentioned in the Torah. The first time we find the root פקד in the Torah is with Sarah וה' פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר וכו' (בראשית כא, א). How do Onkelos and Targum Yonatan translate the word פָּקַד here? They translate it as דְּכִיר, "remembered" (the letters ז and ד are interchangeable, i.e זְּכִיר), HKB"H remembered Sarah.
What possible connection is there between "counting" and "remembering"? So, you could say that the phrase וה' פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה in fact involved counting, i.e. HKB"H's remembering involved counting the months until Yitzchak was born, as He (via the angel Michael) promised Avraham שׁוֹב אָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ כָּעֵת חַיָּה וְהִנֵּה בֵן לְשָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ and therefore HKB"H gave an accounting of the months ("one year from now" [Rashi, ibid.] – the angels visited Avraham during Pesach and Yitzchak was born the following year in Nisan).
However, another interesting translation of וה' פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה, by the Targum Yerushalmi is וַעֲבַד ה' נִיסִין לְשָרָה. The word פָּקַד means "made a miracle". OK, what can "making a miracle" possibly have to do with counting? Usually words with a common root, share some common thread. Counting? Miracles? You could jokingly say, like Donald Trump, "My accountant worked a miracle with my annual IRS return!" Seriously though, there seems to be no connection whatsoever.
Another use of the root פקד is in the 2nd appearance of this root in the Torah, in connection with Yosef וַיִּמְצָא יוֹסֵף חֵן בְּעֵינָיו וַיְשָׁרֶת אֹתוֹ וַיַּפְקִדֵהוּ עַל בֵּיתוֹ (בראשית לט, ד). Potiphar "appointed" Yosef to run his household. What does counting have to do with appointing? You could say that Potiphar did an "accounting" of his employees' records, ranked them according to merit and Yosef ended up on the "bottom line" - the best of them all. The essence of appointing involves some kind of counting. Similar use is made with Pharaoh, upon the advice of Yosef, appointing officials to manage the grain stores in the seven years of plenty יַעֲשֶׂה פַרְעֹה וְיַפְקֵד פְּקִדִים עַל הָאָרֶץ (בראשית מא, לד).
Perhaps the most dramatic and iconic use of the root פקד was with Moshe when he related the "codeword" to Bnei Yisrael, to prove that he was the redeemer - פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי אֶתְכֶם (שמות ג, טז). This double usage seems to combine and reconcile the two uses of this root in relation to Sarah. Firstly HKB"H "remembered" (and "counted" how many years we were in Egypt חִשֵּׁב אֶת הַקֵּץ) and secondly, He performed a "miracle" and redeemed us.
The Torah continues to use the root פקד in a "counting" sense, with the half shekel כָּל הָעֹבֵר עַל הַפְּקֻדִים מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ (שמות ל, יג), and with the numerous censuses conducted in the Midbar, for example מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה כָּל יֹצֵא צָבָא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל תִּפְקְדוּ אֹתָם (במדבר א, ג).
Another related twist on the root פקד is from sefer Vayikra נֶפֶשׁ כִּי תֶחֱטָא וּמָעֲלָה מַעַל בַּה' וְכִחֵשׁ בַּעֲמִיתוֹ בְּפִקָּדוֹן (ויקרא ה, כא), where it is used in the context of a "deposit". What is a deposit? a sum of money or valuables left with someone for safekeeping (also related to counting).
Following in this vein we have this context used in the י"ג מידות that we recite daily to ask HKB"H to forgive our sins - פֹּקֵד עֲוֺן אָבוֹת עַל בָּנִים וְעַל בְּנֵי בָנִים עַל שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל רִבֵּעִים (שמות לד, ז). HKB"H, as it were, keeps the sins of our fathers as a kind of "deposit" against us. If we sin like they did, we will suffer punishment for their sins as well as ours. However, if we do not sin, we will not suffer the consequences of their sin.
In modern Hebrew, we have numerous other applications of this same root פקד and they are all are "counting/appointing" related. Some examples –
מְפַקֵּד – an officer/commander ("appointee")
פְּקוּדָה – an order/directive given by a superior ("appointee")
נִפְקָד – someone who is absent (defied an order from an "appointee")
תַּפְקִיד – role/position (to which someone is "appointed")
פָּקִיד – clerk/civil servant (someone who is "appointed" and/or "counts")
פָּקַד – arrived at a place (after "counting" steps or miles/km)
etc.
Excepting for the one explanation of the Yerushalmi that פקד means to perform a miracle, all the other uses of this root are at their heart "counting" related.
Counting can be a potentially dangerous thing.
The Gemara (Ta'anit 8b) says - אֵין הַבְּרָכָה מְצוּיָה לֹא בְּדָבָר הַשָּׁקוּל וְלֹא בְּדָבָר הַמָּדוּד וְלֹא בְּדָבָר הַמָּנוּי אֶלָּא בְּדָבָר הַסָּמוּי מִן הָעַיִן. Someone who weighs/measures/counts something will never see any bracha from that thing, because bracha only rests on something that is undefined/unseen.
Wow! That is a real whopper of a statement! Does that mean that someone who takes stock of their store at the end of the year and counts their merchandise, or someone who counts and analyzes their investments on the stock exchange, or someone who counts and keeps track of how much money they have in the bank … will never see HKB"H's bracha in any of these things? Must we not take stock, keep track of our assets … not count anything?
The Maharsha explains that when somebody counts/defines/quantifies something, they arouse and expose that thing to עַיִן הָרַע. A contemporary example - The media frequently publishes salaries of different elites, like bank managers, department heads in the civil service, mayors, deans of universities, managers of hospitals, etc. and without exception this arouses antagonism from the public (that is the purpose of publishing it in the first place).
What? The bank manager didn't work hard and excel and his job to reach that salary bracket? Does a top neurosurgeon who excels not deserve to be compensated for their talent? The problem is when it is flaunted in public, it arouses jealousy.
This is what the Maharsha means. According to the shita of the Maharsha, one should not disclose their income to anyone except for their spouse. It is nobody else's business and only bad things will come from making it public.
The Iyun Yaakov explains the Gemara in a different way. When someone quantifies a thing, it becomes more difficult for HKB"H to add bracha to that thing. If someone precisely quantifies something, then the only way for HKB"H to increase that thing is by a miracle. HKB"H does not like performing overt miracles for everybody to see (except in very specific circumstances).
If you counted the gold bars in your safe deposit box on Monday (10 bars) and the next day you looked there were 20 bars – the only way to explain that is a miracle. HKB"H does not want this world to run on miracles, but rather by the rules of nature.
However, if someone purposely doesn’t frequent his safe deposit box and doesn't accurately keep track of how many gold bars he has, HKB"H finds it easier to slip another one or two in without raising any eyebrows, because that can be explained away without involving miracles.
The Akeidat Yitzchak says that the most important brachot in this world are not associated with things that are definitive, like possessions or wealth. True blessing only resides in spiritual things that cannot be quantified - like love, prayer, chessed, tefilot, etc.
We know for a fact that HKB"H frowns on counting people! When someone counts people (without a directive from HKB"H Himself), bad things happen. This is why when you want to check if you have a minyan in shul, you don't count 1, 2, 3, etc. but instead recite a passuk that has 10 words, like הוֹשִׁיעָה אֶת עַמֶּךָ וּבָרֵךְ אֶת נַחֲלָתֶךָ וּרְעֵם וְנַשְּׂאֵם עַד הָעוֹלָם (תהילים כח, ט).
HKB"H does not want us to quantify ourselves מִי מָנָה עֲפַר יַעֲקֹב וּמִסְפָּר אֶת רֹבַע יִשְׂרָאֵל (במדבר כג, י). When HKB"H told Moshe to do a census of Am Yisrael in the Midbar, Moshe used a מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל – counting the coins instead of the people. We see when David HaMelech did a head count census he was severely punished (דברי הימים א כא, א-יז).
If that is the case, a number of questions arise.
Why does HKB"H tell us to place precisely 12 loaves of Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan? If there are only 11 or 8 the bracha does not flow to the world through the Shulchan.
Why did Moshe do an audit on the Mishkan in our parsha and count every last thing? If counting is so bad, then Moshe perhaps should not have done this?
The answer to these questions and the solution to the paradox above (that the root of פקד means both "counting" and "miracle", when the two seem mutually exclusive) is – it depends on who is doing the counting.
If the counting is done by HKB"H then that is obviously not a negative thing. If HKB"H gives us a directive to count then that is not a negative thing.
The only time that counting is a negative thing, is when we do it of our own initiative, without a directive from HKB"H. Unless HKB"H specifically told us to count something, we should refrain from counting it. Nothing good will come from counting it.
HKB"H tells us to place 12 loaves of Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan, the directive comes from HKB"H, so it is OK in that case. Moshe did an accounting of the Mishkan to dispel any doubts of foul play וִהְיִיתֶם נְקִיִּם מֵה' וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵל (במדבר לב, כב), and HKB"H said to him yasher koach that you did so, because when it comes to public funds, counting is required, it is essential. With your own private possessions, that is another matter.
This is not to say that a person should not keep track of their finances, obviously you need to know how much money you have in the bank – in order to pay bills, to give ma'aser, etc. However, a person should not be obsessive with their assets, their worldly possessions. The lesson of the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim is that bracha does not reside in a vacuum, in order to receive bracha there must be bread on the table. This is where the halacha (שולחן ערוך, אורח חיים קפ, א-ב) comes from that before reciting Birkat HaMazon a person should not completely clear the table of everything, but rather leave bread on the table during Birkat HaMazon. How much bread? It doesn't matter – an undefined amount.
A person must value their possessions that were earned honestly (Rashi בראשית לב, כה) and must have a general picture of their finances, but not obsess with them, making it all כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי. We must leave some "elbow room" for HKB"H to give us bracha.
Regarding OPM (other peoples' money), public funds, the opposite is true. We must obsess with counting that, with preserving total transparency to be נְקִיִּם מֵה' וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, as Moshe did in our parsha.
We are currently in the midst of (another) crisis in Am Yisrael that all revolves around the root פקד. We have a hegemony of פְּקִידִים, civil servants, who are basically running the country and not allowing the democratically elected government to rule and carry out the policy of the majority who elected them.
We have a government who is less than transparent with public funds and for whom the concept of וִהְיִיתֶם נְקִיִּם מֵה' וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵל is not exactly at the forefront. It is all about agendas, on both sides, all about כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי.
When you reach such an impasse, with neither side willing to back down, the prospects seem bleak. Threats of "civil war", Jew against Jew, are once again being aired in the media and by vocal minorities, as they were prior to the 7th of October.
In order to restore some form of equilibrium and trust in Am Yisrael, the elected and non-elected officials, the government, the civil service, the military, the secret service, the courts, the industry and the academia, we ALL need to take a step back, tone down the arrogance, the hate and the rhetoric.
The majority of Am Yisrael on the street will not allow civil war. It is no longer in our DNA, neither on the left nor on the right. After October 7th most of us have woken up and realized who our real enemy is – it is ourselves. We have not suffered 2000 years of galut for nothing, we are wiser as a nation than we were in the time of Bayit Sheini.
Unfortunately, there exists a small group of provocateurs with agendas, reshaim with lots of money and power who want to see anarchy, blood in the streets, Jew fighting against Jew, Rachmana litzlan. They prey on the insecurity of the secular masses who see the demographics in the country shifting towards true, authentic Jewish heritage and fear what will become of them and their culture. They fear the newly elected right will take their revenge on the left for the lefts' decades of maltreatment of their political opponents. They project their misdeeds on us.
We need to prove that we are better than that. We need to prove that we will not descend to that level. We need to raise this nation, not tear it down. We need to remove the provocateurs by making them irrelevant, not following their scripts and agendas, exposing them from the shadows into the light of day so all can clearly see who they are and how conniving they are, proving them wrong and praying for them – that they will do tshuva.
We need to heal Am Yisrael, not in the media, but on the street, person to person – in the supermarket, at work, on the train, radiating love not hate to everyone around us, breaking stereotypes.
We have a unique opportunity in this point in history, right now, to herald the Geulah, to completely change the geopolitical reality.
To do that we all need to tone down the כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי and give HKB"H some "elbow room" to do what He does best, to facilitate the miracles, not strangle them.
We need to stand up and be counted, each of us as a מַחֲצִית שֶּׁקֶל who is incomplete without the other half.
We need to transcend the רוּחַ רָעָה currently enveloping our entire nation, the yetzer harah in his final death throes, as he tries a last-ditch effort to prevent the inevitable Geulah.
And we will b"H, because the era of בְּעִתָּהּ is upon us.
Just to end off, a few nice gematriyot. The gematriya of פקד is –
הַלְעִיטֵנִי
מֶגְּלוֹמָנִיָּה
אֵהוּד וּבִנְיָמִין
הָעֲקֵדָה
הָבוּ לַה' כָּבוֹד וָעֹז
וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי
ה' בְּצִיּוֹן
עִידַּן הַגְּאוּלָּה
צְבָא הָאֱ-לֹקִים
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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