ספר שמות

Another approach to understanding the opening verse of our ‎portion is based on the fact that the root ‎פקד‎ frequently is used ‎to describe something that is missing or lacking. Sometimes a ‎person feels he is on the way to becoming a tzaddik, or has ‎already become one.‎Such exaggerated self-esteem is not proof of a spiritual ‎accomplishment, but, on the contrary, indicates at least ‎immaturity if not arrogance. Anyone thinking of himself in such ‎terms has not even begun his career as a servant of the Lord. This ‎is hinted at in the words: ‎כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל‎, the Torah ‎teaches that “when you want to elevate the spiritual level of the ‎Children of Israel to a higher spiritual plateau”, then ‎לפקודיהם‎, ‎‎“you have to point out to them the areas in which their ‎personalities are still below par, still miss a basic ingredient, ‎humility.” One of the well known verses in which the root ‎פקד‎ ‎describes the absence of someone, something important being ‎missing, is in Samuel I 20,25 when David’s absence at the festive ‎meal given by the King on New Moon, is described with the words ‎ויפקד מקום דוד‎, “David’s seat had remained empty.” When ‎considering the dual nature of the meaning of this root, we may ‎translate this word in our verse as “their contribution consisted ‎primarily in their awareness that they still lacked many good ‎qualities and had to work on acquiring them.”The word ‎כופר‎ in our verse, translated as “ransom,” also ‎appears in different meanings, one that is familiar being in ‎Genesis 6,14 where Noach receives G’d’s instructions in how to ‎ensure that the ark he is building will be waterproof. The Torah ‎writes: ‎וכפרת אותו מבית ומחוץ בכופר‎; “smear it from the inside and ‎the outside with ‎כופר‎, i.e. the awareness that you need ‎atonement.” An appropriate translation, based on our ‎understanding of the word ‎פקד‎ as something lacking, would be ‎that “when is man truly attached, ‘glued to’ G’d, when he is truly ‎aware of his shortcomings.”‎ ‎