By Rabbi Yaacov Haber God instructs Moshe that when he takes the census of the Israelites, they must be numbered indirectly: every man will give half a shekel, and the money thus collected will be counted. This is so that no plague will break out among them (Exod. 30: 11-13). Rashi explains that the plague would come from the “ayin hora” (evil eye) which would result from a direct count of the…