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There is an opposite use of pakod, where it means to note not who is there but who is missing. We find it in Bamidbar 31:49, regarding no one being missing at the end of the battle, and Shmuel I, 20:18. regarding David being missing from King Shaul’s table.
The Ramban explains pakod differently. It is to remember and/or to give attention to some matter. This applies to Hashem being poked Sarah (Bereishit 21:1 - recalling that she needed a child and acting on it) and a pikadon (Vayikra 5:23 - an object that is given over to be guarded).
The term is used three times in the beginning of Parashat Ki Tisa, where the rules of counting Bnei Yisrael are taught (Shemot 30:12). The first time is in proximity to "when you raise the heads …," which is to show the love involved in the count. The second time, the pekida refers to the count itself. The third time, it is to show the special Divine Providence to which Bnei Yisrael are entitled in this context.
There is a less pleasant side to Divine Providence. When Hashem is "more discerning," then when we sin, there is also more accountability. This finds expression after the sin of the Golden Calf, as Hashem informed Bnei Yisrael that on the day of pokdi (My accounting), I will be poked on them (i.e., make them pay for) their sin (Shemot 32:34). Rashi (ad loc.) comments that whenever Hashem decides to punish the nation for their sins, there is a portion of it that is for the sin of the Golden Calf. On the one hand, because of Hashem’s love for them, He did not destroy the nation for that sin. On the other hand, He does not forgive that sin, without making them accountable at the proper times and manners. Similarly, pakod is used in the thirteen attributes of Hashem concerning His acting on a person’s sins for three or four generations of offspring (ibid. 34:7).
After Yaakov died and Yosef was about to die in Egypt, he told his brothers that Hashem would certainly be poked them, this time in a recollection that leads to liberation. Not only did pakod refer to liberation but it was also given as a code-word for the liberator to prove his authenticity (Midrash Hagadol to Shemot 3:16). The secret was kept by the elderly Serach daughter of Asher, as it was passed down by the previous generation.
Let us pray for a full redemption to get to the point that Hoshea speaks of in this week’s haftara: Bnei Yisrael should be "as many as the granules of sand by the sea, which cannot be counted" (Hoshea 2:1).
Naso “Do Not Disregard the Practices of One’s Mother”
Ideas from 5704 (1944) – Harav Shaul Yisraeli – from Siach Shaul, p. 368-9
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Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part II
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
Parashat Hashavua Happiness for the Right Reasons
[With painful longing, we share these divrei Torah from our co-Rosh Kollel for close to 40 years, Harav Moshe Ehrenreich zt”l.]
