הֶֽעָשִׁ֣יר לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּ֗ה וְהַדַּל֙ לֹ֣א יַמְעִ֔יט מִֽמַּחֲצִ֖ית הַשָּׁ֑קֶל לָתֵת֙ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֣ת יְהֹוָ֔ה לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶֽם׃

the rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when giving God’s offering as atonement for your persons.

The Torah portion begins with the commandment for each Israelite adult to pay a half shekel contribution to the Tabernacle. This accomplished two things. First, it provided a census count of the Israelites. Second, this contribution would atone for their sins.

What does not make sense is the fact that we’ve received the means of forgiveness before the Israelites commit a transgression. At this point, save a little complaining here and there, there is nothing that needs to be forgiven! The Israelites will however, in the very next chapter, commit the ultimate transgression and make a golden calf, bowing down to it while idolatrously claiming that this is the God that took them out of Egypt. In the world of the Torah, this kind of idolatry is about as bad as it gets. It would have made more sense to report the grievous sin of the golden calf, and then explain the means of forgiveness.

When God begins God’s relationship with Israel, the expectation is that there will be mistakes. Even before any transgression occurs, God recognizes that forgiveness is going to be of primary importance. We can learn from this too. It’s a fallacy to expect that we won’t be disappointed or hurt by others. We are all human, and we will intentionally or unintentionally do things we might someday regret. To hold this in our hearts frees us from the shock of being hurt, and puts in place the means to heal a relationship even before it is damaged.