The mitzvot of Ki Tisa

The commandment of the giving of the half shekel during the year

Positive · Exodus 30:13

The half shekel exists so that all Israel, the rich just like the poor, are equal partners in the offerings brought before God all year round. In this way every Jew is part of the mitzvah, and the merit of them all rises together before God for good.

The commandment of sanctifying the hands and the feet at the time of the service

Positive · Exodus 30:19

This mitzvah too stems from the principle of magnifying the honour of the Temple and of all the work done in it, so it is fitting to cleanse the hands, which do the work, when the kohanim come to the service. That is why even a kohen who is pure and clean washes his hands and feet, for the washing is not meant to clean but to honour the House.

The commandment of anointing the high priest and the kings of the House of David with anointing oil

Positive · Exodus 30:25

God wished that on the day a person rises to be inaugurated into the honour of His holy service, an impression of greatness and honour be made on his soul, so he is anointed with oil, for anointing with fine oil is done only for kings and great ministers. Moreover, it befits the dignity of the place that this oil be ready in the House whenever needed, like an honoured householder in whose home everything needed is ready and no work is held up.

To not rub a foreigner with anointing oil

Negative · Exodus 30:32

This mitzvah too is meant to magnify the honour of the Temple and all that is in it, so it is not fitting for ordinary people to use the honoured oil, but only the chosen of the people - the kohanim and the kings. When the public refrains from it, it becomes very precious in their eyes, for in most people's hearts a thing's worth grows the rarer it is to them.

To not make oil according to the specification of the anointing oil

Negative · Exodus 30:32

The reason is as with the prohibition of anointing with the anointing oil - to magnify the honour of the Temple. Were anyone allowed to prepare oil like it, it would no longer be special and rare, and its worth in the people's eyes would fall. The sages related that only the oil Moshe made in the wilderness was ever prepared, and it was miraculously preserved for all generations.

To not make incense according to the specification of the incense

Negative · Exodus 30:37

The reason is as with the anointing oil - to magnify the honour of the Temple and all that is in it. When the incense belongs to the Temple alone and no one makes its like for himself, it stays precious and rare in the people's eyes, and the honour of the House grows in their hearts.

To not eat and drink a gift to idol worship

Negative · Exodus 34:12

The mitzvah is meant to remove from our sight and our thoughts everything to do with idolatry and anything connected to it. This distancing is for our own good, for one who draws near to emptiness moves away from all good, and so the Torah keeps us away even from food and drink that were offered to it.

The commandment of the land resting on the seventh year

Positive · Exodus 34:21

The Sabbatical year is meant to fix in our hearts that the world was created - six years we work the land and in the seventh we rest, like the six days of creation and Shabbat. When a person leaves his field alone and gives up its fruit, he remembers that the land does not yield its produce by its own power, but that there is a Master over it. It also strengthens his generosity and his trust in God, and stinginess does not rule him.

To not eat meat with milk

Negative · Exodus 34:26

The reason was written with the prohibition of cooking - it seems that, as with sorcery, there are mixings of kinds that God forbade, for they have the power to alter the order He set for each thing in creation. Since the prohibition stems from the mixing itself, the Torah forbids cooking, eating and deriving benefit alike. The Sefer HaChinuch admits that this is only what can be said by way of the plain meaning.