Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Bamidbar
At the first census, the shekalim were needed in order to protect the Jewish people from the ayin hara, the evil eye that would have been aroused by a direct count. At this census, however, there was no longer any reason to fear an ayin hara.
The Kli Yakar explains the difference with the following example. When a pauper is seen holding a wallet full of bills, he will activate the ayin hara, for such an unusual sight is likely to stir the jealousy of others. By contrast, the sight of a wealthy individual holding an equal, or even a far greater sum, is simply unremarkable, arousing no undue interest.
The first census was taken a short time after the nation - enslaved and persecuted for generations - were miraculously redeemed from their bondage. Precious little could have been expected of such a weakened nation, and therefore there was reason to fear the ayin hara, when the results of this first census would become known.
By the second census, Bnei Yisrael s greatness had already been established, and was now a regular 'part of the scenery'. In such circumstances, a direct count would not arouse the ayin hara, as their great number would surprise no one.
Following the Holocaust, there were those who feared lest the new Jewish state prove to be too successful...
many felt reluctant to express their true emotional ties to their national homeland.
Today, there is no longer reason to fear such an ayin hara, as , baruch hashem, the strength of our land is known to all. We can now acknowledge - openly and unreservedly - both our pride over its accomplishments, as well as our concern for its fate, and our desire to join our people in the chosen land.
Rabbis in Midrash
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
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)
