Coin's Counterbalance
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
On the Shabbos preceding Rosh Chodesh Adar we add Parshat Shekalim to the regular Torah reading. Each man of Bnei Yisroel, rich or poor, is commanded to donate a half shekel to the "holy shekels," money that would be used here for the census and later to buy the communal offerings and for the upkeep of the Beit Hamikdosh. This practice began in the desert, when everyone donated a half shekel to the building of the Mishkan irrespective of what other supplies or monies they donated. In the desert, these coins were melted down to become the foundation of the Mishkan into which all the upright poles of the structure could be placed. Since the year began with Nissan, subsequently the collection was carried out for the month preceding Nissan, the month of Adar. The reading of this portion acted as a gentle reminder to the people to begin their donations. Today, we continue to memorialize the practice by donating a "half dollar" on Purim.
In the Gemarra, Reish Lakish juxtaposes these half shekels with the monies Haman offered to give King Ahashuerosh to kill the Jews. Haman offered to deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the king's treasury for this purpose. Reish Lakish says that Hashem, Who is all knowing and knew this future, therefore, "...הקדים preceded the shekalim of the Jews to those of Haman..." How are the shekalim of the desert linked thematically to the monies of Haman and his annihilistic dreams?
From the human perspective, we can analyze ideas from either an intellectual or an emotional level. We will attempt to show the connection between Bnei Yisroel's donations of the half shekel and Haman's payment for the privilege of destroying the Jews on both these levels. [We will not discuss the qualitative value equivalence between the two amounts that some have calculated. CKS]
In Ohel Moshe, Rav Scheinerman gives us perhaps the simplest yet profound explanation of the purpose of the half shekel. Mandating that each donation, whether from the rich or from the poor, would be exactly a half shekel, the Torah immediately testifies that we are all equal and no personal agenda was in play. All were unified and focused on serving Hashem and on His honor. This unity among all Bnei Yisroel is what brings Hashem's Presence down to rest upon His people. It is for this fostering of unity that the half shekels of the desert could become the foundation for the Tabernacle and bring Hashem's presence to rest among Bnei Yisroel.
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Chaver presents an analogy to explain this unity. In a healthy body, each individual organ or limb has a specific function. For the body to remain healthy, however, all the parts must perform their role properly while focused on the common health of the entire body. So too, everyone in Bnei Yisroel served Hashem within the gifts, skills and talents that Hashem gave him, but together they were focused on bringing Hashem's glory to earth.
We are taught that the half shekel atoned for two major sins. First it atones for the sin of the golden calf, a sin between man and God. But it also atones for the sale of Yosef, a sin between man and his fellow man. The brothers sold Yosef for twenty pieces of silver, the equivalent of five shekel. [Four quarters =$1.00.] Since there were ten brothers involved in the sale, the profit each received was of a half shekel. The sale was an act of disunity, to be atoned for with the donations of a half shekel. The brothers believed they were correct in their judgment to sell Yosef, and they sat down to eat and drink, ignoring Yosef's cries. The communal offerings create unity; the matching measure for measure for the brothers' stonehearted reaction to Yosef's cries, to sit down to eat, was Haman's sealing the deal to annihilate the Jews and then sitting down with Ahashuerosh to drink together.
Haman himself is alluding to the disunity of the Jews, writes Rabbi Bernstein. Not only are they scattered throughout your kingdom, mefuzor, but they are also disunited, meforad. We will succeed, argues Haman specifically because of this disunity.
Esther's tactic is the perfect foil for Haman's plan. She directs Mordechai to gather all the Jews together to pray, but they should pray for her as she puts herself in immediate danger by approaching Ahashuerosh without being summoned, notes Rabbi Bernstein, citing R' Azaryah Figo. At the same time, she and her maidens will also pray, but they will pray for Bnei Yisroel whose threat is still a year away. By praying for each other, Bnei Yisroel will demonstrate that they are indeed united albeit they may be physically spread out. In contrast, even if many people are in the same room, if they are each praying for their own personal safety rather than for the community, they remain a group of individuals and their prayers are not reinforced with the power of communal prayer. As Rabbi Bernstein says, "Community is not defined by the room that holds us together with others but by the room we make for them in our hearts."
Haman is called tzorrer haYehydim, the oppressor of the Jews; Esther made them one tzerror, one bundle. Although Bnei Yisroel did not donate half shekels at this time, the Beit Hamikdosh had been destroyed and not yet rebuilt, the merit of the earlier half shekels preempted the power of Haman's decree.
Aside from listening to the Megillah, the other Purim mitzvoth of Purim all relate to creating unity and connection between people, whether it is gifts to the poor or mishloach manot. In fact, we are urged to give mishloach manot as a gesture to positively connect to someone with whom we may feel estranged. The gesture may bring healing and unity.
In an interesting aside, Rabbi Schor quotes the Ginat Egoz who notes that the gematria/numerical equivalent of מנות/manot and מלכות/malchut both equal 496. He suggests that when our souls go before the Throne of Glory and we are asked if we treated others with respect, we may offer as part of the proof in the affirmative that we gave mishloach manot to some to specifically show them we respected them despite any misunderstandings, that we did not "lord" ourselves over them.
Sefat Emet teaches us that while we do need to fulfill the initial mitzvah with food, we can also give others a portion of our time or talents. We can certainly enhance our traditional mishloach manot with unique art, writing or other gift, and we can certainly present others with personal gifts to show how we value them. After all, these gifts all come from Hashem, and only through us.
We are to attribute all our gifts to Hashem, whether wisdom, strength or wealth, and we are meant to use these gifts to serve Hashem. If you cannot acknowledge that truism, if you believe it is yours exclusively to do with as you wish, Hashem may take it away, as He did with Korach and with Haman, each considered the wealthiest man of his generation. Haman especially bragged about all his wealth and children. But with the proper mindset, the use of that money can become protective. In contrast, Bnei Yisroel willingly and joyfully donated the half shekels for God's service.
In a similar vein, continues Rabbi Kofman citing the Gerer Rebbe, the juxtaposition of the war with Amalek immediately followed by the mitzvah of bikkurim/bringing the first fruit to the Beit Hamikdosh punctuates the same point. While Amalek tried to cool our relationship with Hashem, we insist on continuing to strengthen that relationship, to acknowledge that our gifts come from Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
Much of our discussion here focuses on one word in the Gemarrah, "Therefore [Hashem] הקדים /preceded, did earlier their shekalim [of Bnei Yisroel] to his [of Haman]. R. Gladstein in Magid Harakiah notes that we have two contrasting people in the Torah who were so eager for their mission that they arose very early to begin their journey. While Avraham Avinu rose early to personally saddle his donkey when Hashem commanded him to bind his son of the altar, Bilaam also rose early and personally saddled his own donkey to go curse Bnei Yisroel. Just as then, when Avraham's merit preceded the evil plans of Bilaam, so too later did Bnei Yisroel's donation of the half shekels preempt Haman's evil plans.
Nevertheless, we can still take a lesson from these evil people, suggests Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. When we see how dedicated they were to doing evil, we should question if we are as dedicated to doing good, to serving Hashem. Perhaps, suggests Reb Moshe, Yaakov Avinu was critiquing himself when he declares that he lived with Lavan and, as Rashi explicates, he did not learn from his evil ways and apply Lavan's dedication to evil to his own dedication to Hashem.
Haman too was dedicated to his evil ways. However, our enthusiasm in donating the previous half shekels preempted his enthusiasm.
In the Mussaf repetition of Shabbat Shekalim the Chazan inserts a few lines of a short liturgical poem. He asks Hashem to shine His countenance upon us because we yearn to again bring shekalim for the Beit Hamikdosh. Rabbi Meislish notes that although we do not yet have a Beit Hamikdosh, we pray that Hashem will grant us salvation based on our desire for the future, that He advance us the credit. Similarly, in the time of Ahashuerosh, the second Beit Hamikdosh had not yet been built, but Hashem saved Bnei Yisroel in the merit of their desire to rebuild and again donate the shekalim to the Mikdosh. Reading Parshat Shekalim now is relevant because it awakens our desire to again be in a position to perform that mitzvah
Before we can rebuild the Beit Hamikdosh, God's House, we need to prepare the site. We need to desire that His face shine upon us. We need to feel the emptiness, even if our circumstances are full, writes Rabbi Apfel. Haman wanted to give Ahashuerosh kesef/silver into ginzei hamelech/the king's storehouses. But the root of kesef also means desire, and although Haman told Ahashuerosh that Bnei Yisroel was asleep with no great desire for a connection to their God, that desire and yearning remains ganuz/a hidden treasure within us. It is not enough to keep our desire for connection hidden, and on Purim we therefore go over the top in our celebration, both with each other and especially with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Our passion is awake, even if it is at times hidden. Hashem wanted that relationship with Bnei Yisroel from the time of creation itself, from the beginning of time, from קדם.
When Hashem gave Moshe the mitzvah to donate a half shekel, He showed Moshe exactly what He meant, "This they shall give." Moshe undoubtedly knew what a standard half shekel looked like. What did Hashem show him? Rashi tells us that Hashem showed Moshe a fiery coin. Rabbi Biederman explains that Hashem emphasized that the size of the coin did not matter. What was important was that Bnei Yisroel have a fiery passion for a connection with Hashem. Haman, with his money, fanned the flames of Bnei Yisroel's passion for Hakodosh Boruch Hu. For Purim represents a re-acceptance of the Torah, קימו וקבלו, they confirmed and accepted the Torah with full awareness and with love and fiery passion. The half shekel donation was a symbol of that love.