Sunday Jan 04, 2026

21_ Ki Tissa: (1 of 4) Atonement Money

In this Torah reading from ZARABEN.ORG, RC JedidiYah introduces “Ki Tissa,” a phrase that carries the meaning “When you take” or “Because you take.” The Hebrew root behind Ki Tissa is nasa (nasah)—a word rich with layered meaning. It conveys the ideas of lifting, carrying, bearing, taking, forgiving, accepting, advancing, arising, and being enabled. It can also imply being armored, enduring suffering as a bearer, bringing something forth, or being elevated upward.

From this root emerges the sub-root nacah, which speaks of testing and trials—the judicial testing of men by God and the often failing response of those who choose to habitual complain. It encompasses temptation, examination, and the refining process that reveals what lies beneath the surface of a man and the truth of what he believes in his heart towards God.

A secondary sub-root, eb, introduces a contrasting yet complementary image: freshness, new life, green shoots, and fruitfulness—some men when tested by the promise experience growth that follows endurance.

At the same time, a concurrent sub-root, abad, presents the sobering counterpoint. It means to perish, to be destroyed, to wander away, to be lost, to fail, or to break—describing the consequences of separation, loss, and spiritual decay.

Together, these interconnected roots frame Ki Tissa as a powerful Torah teaching. The tension between lifting up and falling away, between testing and fruitfulness, and between preservation and destruction—revealing the profound responsibility that comes with what we choose to carry and how we respond when we are tested