Ki Thisah: Taxes


The parsha starts with the poll tax, half a shekel per man ( over age 19) as a general atonement. Later, the people all contribute gold for the creation of the molten calf, the anti-atonement.

When Moshe descends from the mountain he sees the scene as :
וַיַּרְא מֹשֶׁה אֶת-הָעָם, כִּי פָרֻעַ הוּא: כִּי-פְרָעֹה אַהֲרֹן, לְשִׁמְצָה בְּקָמֵיהֶם. 25 And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose--for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies--


The translation misses the repeated use of the word Pharaoh. It is translated as “loose”
To justify the word with its use for the ruler of Egypt, perhaps the idea of “out of bounds” is the intention. But there is also the sense that Aaron has somehow become the Pharaoh. he is collecting tax. He is leading the people in the wrong direction.

The people remove their jewelry ( Edyo) and then Gd tells them to remove their jewelry. The great divorce. The parsha is full of symbols of courtship, marriage.... The jewelry, the veil, the cleft in the rock. The parsha leads to interpretations that are out of bounds.