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שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות כל זכר לגלגלתםTake the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, according to their headcount.
Moshe was commanded to count each individual from Bnei Yisrael, which was by no means an easy feat. While it might have been hard to count the people, the Abarbanel raises a much more pressing issue,
הלוא הוא בהיפך שציותה תורה (שמות ל' י"ב) "כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקודיהם ונתנו איש כופר נפשו לה' בפקוד אותם", ופירשו רש"י (שם): "כשתחפוץ לקבל סכום מניינם לדעת כמה הם, אל תמנם לגלגלת, אלא יתנו כל אחד מחצית השקל ותמנה את השקלים ותדע מניינם", ואיך אם כן ציוה כאן שימנם לגולגלותםIs this not the opposite of what the Torah commanded (Shemot 30:12) 'When you take a census of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, every man shall give Hashem an atonement for his soul when counting them...' and Rashi explains: 'when you wish to take the sum [total] of their numbers to know how many they are, do not count them by the head, but each one shall give a half-shekel, and you shall count the shekels. [Thereby] you will know their number' If this is so, how can He command here that he should count them according to their headcount?
According to Abarbanel, Hashem seems to be going back on His own word from Parshat Ki Tisa when He outlawed counting individuals. As a result of this issue Rashi, here in Bamidbar comments,
לגולגלגולם: על ידי שקלים, בקע לגולגולתby means of shekels;“a bekka (half a shekel) per head
Rashi explains that even the though the Torah does not mention the half shekel requirement for the census in Bamidbar, it should be obvious given Hashem's words in Ki Tisa in which He said that "when you take a census" you should use a half shekel. Abarbanel, however, takes exception to Rashi's comments here and writes,
איך ציווהו יתברך במדבר סיני ובערבות מואב “שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחותם לבית אבותם כל זכר לגלגלותם? והדברים האלה יעידון יגידון שלא נמנו ישראל ע”י שקלים, כי אם לגלגלותם. ומה שפירש רש”י שם שנמנו אז ע”י שקלים (כבודו במקומו מונח) אינו אמיתי בפירוש הפסוקים, כי הכתוב אומר: “שאו את ראש” ואמר: “במספר שמות כל זכר לגלגלותם” - וזה יורה שנמנו לגולגלותם ולא ע”י שקלים.How could He have commanded them in the Sinai Desert and on the plains of Moab 'Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, according to their headcount'? These words testifty and tell us that Israel was not counted with shekalim, but rather according to their headcount. And as for what Rashi explained that they were counted with shekalim (his honor remains intact), is not true and cannot be found in the verses, for the written word states: 'count the heads' and it says: 'the number of names, every male, according to his headcount' - and this teaches that they were counted by heads and not through shekalim.
The Abarbanel does not find Rashi's explanation feasible because the Torah never once mentions shekalim here in Bamidbar. As a result the Abarbanel writes that it is permitted to count Jews directly and there is no need for a half shekel. Why then did they count using a half shekel when they took a census prior to building the Mishkan? Writes the Abarbanel,
אם כן היה המנין ההוא מפני צורך הבקע (כלומר, שהוצרכו לאסוף שקלים לצורך האדנים, אדני הכסף, לבניין המשכן) ולא הבקע להכרח המניין, אם היה השם יתברך מצווה למנות, כי שומר מצווה לא יידע דבר רע...עתה שהיה המניין הכרחי בעם, ציוה יתברך שיעשה אותו מבלי בקע ולא מדבר אחר מפחד המגפה, כי “שלוחי מצוה אינם ניזוקים”...If this is so, the count was done out of necessity for the shekel (that is to say, that they needed to gather shekalim for the sockets, the silver sockets, for the building of the Mishkan), but the shekel is not a necessity for counting, for if Hashem had given the command to count, the one who safeguards a mitzvah will know no evil. But now (in Bamidbar) when the actual count was necessary, Hashem commanded that they should conduct the census without a half shekel or anything else out of fear of a plague, because the one who sets out to perform a mitzvah is granted protection and not harmed.
According to Abarbanel the only reason a half shekel was given with the count in Ki Tisa was because the silver was needed for the construction of the Mishkan; had they not needed the silver there would have been no count. The only reason a census was conducted then was because once they had the half shekels from all Bnei Yisrael it did not hurt to count and see how many people there were. Now, in Bamidbar, when there was no need for silver and there was a need for a count, a shekel was not required. Rashi, however would disagree and claim that a half shekel is always needed to fend off a plague that can come from counting people. As he writes (Shemot 30:12)
שהמנין שולט בו עין הרע והדבר בא עליהם, כמו שמצינו בימי דודfor the evil eye has power over numbered things, and pestilence comes upon them, as we find in David’s time
This Rashi presents a challenge for the Abarbanel. What about the story in Sefer Shmuel II (Chapter 24) in which King David was punished for counting the Jewish and a plague is brought upon them as a result? It would seem that the reason for the plague was because David counted people and not shekalim or some other object. The Abarbanel in his commentary to Shmuel II writes,
אומר אני שלא היה גודל החטא מצד עצמו כי אם כפי החוטא ומעלתו, כי דוד שבטבעו היה שפל רוח, כמו שאמר (תהלים קל"א) "ה' לא גבה לבי ולא רמו עיני" והיה נשען באלוקיו, כמו שאמר (תהלים ע"א) "בך ה' חסיתי ובה' בטחתי" ואמר (שם קי"ח) "טוב לחסות בה' מבטח באדם", ומאשר שימש בשלמות גדול ודבקות נמרץ שבעים שנה ולבסוף נעשה גבה עיניים ורחב לבב ויבטח ברוב עמו ויתהלל במתת שקר, בצוואתו את יואב שימנה את העם להתגאות בו על אויביו, לכן היה ראוי לעונש גדול...I say that the severity of the sin was not inherent, but rather because of the sinner and his status, for David in his nature was modest, as he said (Psalms 131) 'Lord my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty' and he relied upon his God, as he said (Psalms 71) 'In thee O Lord I have taken refuge, and in thee O Lord I have relied' and he said (Psalms 118) 'It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to take refuge in man', and from the fact that he served with great integrity and vigorous devotion for seventy years and in the end he became haught and lofty and became confident because he had a large nation and he praised himself with these lies, when he commanded Yoav to count the people in order to be prideful...therefore he was worthy of a great punishment.
Abarbanel here operates based on his previously stated opinion that there is no problem to count heads and that there is no need for a half shekel. As a result he needs to explain why David was punished so harshly after counting Bnei Yisrael as individuals. Therefore he explains that David was punished for being overly confident; he wanted his people counted because he began to think that the size and strength of his nation was a result of his greatness and his accomplishments.
Rashi, in his first comments to Sefer Bamidbar writes,
מתוך חיבתן לפניו מונה אותם כל שעה, כשיצאו ממצרים מנאן, וכשנפלו בעגל מנאן לידע מנין הנותרים. כשבא להשרות שכינתו עליהן מנאן. באחד בניסן הוקם המשכן, ובאחד באייר מנאםBecause they were dear to Him, He counted them often. When they left Egypt, He counted them (Exod. 12:37); when [many] fell because [of the sin] of the golden calf, He counted them to know the number of the survivors (Exod. 32:28); when He came to cause His Divine Presence to rest among them, He counted them. On the first of Nissan, the Mishkan was erected, and on the first of Iyar, He counted them.
Even though Hashem had just counted them 13 months earlier, he counted them again because He loved them. A person counts that which is dear to him. King David was punished because he began to count the people as if they were his possessions, and as a result, according to Abarbanel, Hashem needed to remind him that the people, the world and all that inhabits it, belongs to God.
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