In Praise of Half Measures
Moshe took half the blood, and placed it in basins. Half the blood, he threw on the mizbe’ach.[2]
Take notice. Just prior to this event, the Bnei Yisrael had wholeheartedly agreed to accept the Torah. “All the words that Hashem spoke, we will do.”[3] Just after, they outdid themselves, with the majestic, “All that Hashem spoke, we will do and we will listen.”[4] How did this blood collection transform them, and why?
Halves, as it turns out, figure significantly in the Torah. It’s not just the machatzis ha-shekel. In quite a few places, “half” shows up as a prominent character. You’ll find it in regard to the anointing oil,[5] and the daily chavitin-offering of the kohen gadol.[6] In both of these cases, a larger quantity was prepared, and then deliberately split into two. The measurements of several of the kelim of the mishkan included half measures.
Behind all of this is an overarching reality about the world Hashem created. He wishes it to be a place of giver and recipient. It is meant to be a place where some provide influence and direction, and others receive it. The whole is comprised of two halves, one giving, the other receiving. Their coming together form units of special importance.
Why is this so? Because it mirrors the structure of the spiritual world. In this world, the Divine Light is transmitted and transmuted systematically through the ten sefiros, so that it arrives from Above to below in a form that is usable to us. The sefiros relate to each other as benefactor and beneficiary. Each sefirah gives, transmits, to the one below it. Hashem wants all of Creation to follow this template. So says the Zohar. Furthermore, Mankind was designed to split into many different talents and abilities, so that people would have many ways of giving to others. In fact, when we give to one another – be it Torah, or material things – we enable the sefiros to properly give from one to the other.[7]
Man without Woman is not a complete being. He becomes complete only in association with his spouse. By joining together, they make room for much chesed between them.[8] The chesed that they perform enables the sefiros to similarly give one to the next! The give-receive pairing allows the world to keep going through the Divine shefa!
Indeed, the very purpose of Creation stands behind this relationship. Olam chesed yibaneh/”The world is built upon chesed.”[9] Hashem’s Will was that there should be a place for Him to do chesed. Our receiving His chesed fulfils the design of the world; we attach ourselves to Him as the receiving end of a Divine system. When we do the same among ourselves, we empower the functioning of that system.
This is what machtzis means, and what Moshe conveyed to the Bnei Yisrael when he split the blood into two parts. It’s all about two pieces coming together – Shomayim and aretz; giver and receiver. The Bnei Yisrael grasped the message, and were able to articulate the ultimate expression of humans attaching themselves to HKBH: na’aseh v’nishmah!
- Adapted from Be’er Moshe, by the Ozharover Rebbe zt”l ↑
- Shemos 24:6 ↑
- Shemos 24:3 ↑
- Shemos 24:7 ↑
- Shemos 30:23 ↑
- Vayikra 6:13 ↑
- Tikunei Zohar 39:1 ↑
- Zohar3 145b ↑
- Tehillim 89:3 ↑
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Date: February 21, 2025
