{"id":61301,"date":"2019-08-18T14:36:16","date_gmt":"2019-08-18T11:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61301"},"modified":"2023-03-13T12:15:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T10:15:48","slug":"a-senseless-census-and-a-problem-of-theodicy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-senseless-census-and-a-problem-of-theodicy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Senseless Census And A Problem of Theodicy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[689,366,547,400],"acf":{"old_id":"61301","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A challenge for readers through the ages","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this chapter, David commissioned a census and suffered its consequences. One verse and one moral from this chapter are of particular note.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 14 is noteworthy because it is the liturgical introduction to Psalm 6, which is the quintessential prayer of supplication (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tachanun<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) over whose recitation (or, more commonly, omission) daily worshippers are wont to good-naturedly argue. The noteworthy moral relates to the reason for which David was supplicating to the Lord, i.e., to ameliorate the consequences of the census he had conducted. The Torah seems to anticipate the need to conduct a census and stipulates, \u201cWhenever you do a per capita census of the Children of Israel, let each of them pay a poll tax of half a shekel to the Lord in lieu of a head count, lest a plague break out on account of the head count\u201d (Exodus 30:12). Indeed, it seems to be such a mundane matter that Rashi, here, expressed his perplexity over its lethal outcome, saying \u201cI do not know what they did [wrong].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In many respects, this situation is reminiscent of one we encountered in chapter 21. There, we read how God brought a multi-year famine on Israel on account of a wrong that Saul had perpetrated against the Gibeonites, and how David sought to rectify the situation by handing over seven of Saul\u2019s descendants for execution. Here, too, the Torah seems to say its piece unequivocally, \u201cChildren shall not be put to death on account [of the crimes] of their parents\u201d (Deut. 24:16). In both cases, then, we confront the challenge philosophers and theologians call theodicy: God\u2019s administration of justice, which becomes particularly trenchant when we consider the stipulation that \u201cGod incited David, saying go count the people\u201d (1).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The medieval exegetes were also alert to this, and offered the following explanation.\u00a0 It is permissible to conduct a census for a constructive purpose; it is prohibited to do so for no good reason\u2014and David had no good reason. Therefore, it would appear that the only objective he could have had was to satisfy his own need for self-gratification (\u201clook at how many people I rule over!\u201d) and that incurred a penalty for both him and for those who willingly participated in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if you are still troubled by the problem of vicarious punishment, you are in the company of Rashi, and how bad can that be?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: William Blake, The Good and Evil Angels, c.1805 \/\u00a0 CC-BY-NC-ND \u00a9 Tate<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61302,"id":61302,"title":"2sam24-blake angels","filename":"2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-senseless-census-and-a-problem-of-theodicy\/2sam24-blake-angels\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam24-blake-angels","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61301,"date":"2019-08-18 11:36:07","modified":"2019-08-18 11:36:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1400,"height":840,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","1536x1536-width":1400,"1536x1536-height":840,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","2048x2048-width":1400,"2048x2048-height":840,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Senseless Census And A Problem of Theodicy","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A challenge for readers through the ages","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":61302,"id":61302,"title":"2sam24-blake angels","filename":"2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-senseless-census-and-a-problem-of-theodicy\/2sam24-blake-angels\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam24-blake-angels","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61301,"date":"2019-08-18 11:36:07","modified":"2019-08-18 11:36:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1400,"height":840,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","1536x1536-width":1400,"1536x1536-height":840,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","2048x2048-width":1400,"2048x2048-height":840,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61301"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113444,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61301\/revisions\/113444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}