Parshas Shekalim

QUESTION: Why do we read Parshas Shekalim?

ANSWER: The Torah states in the beginning of Parshas Ki Sisa that there is an obligation to donate a machatzis hashekel (half a silver coin). This donation was made yearly by all adult males, and the money was used to purchase communal sacrifices in the Bais Hamikdash. The donation had to be made before the month of Nisan, and announcements were made throughout Eretz Yisrael a month earlier, beginning Rosh Chodesh Adar, to remind the people to fulfill this mitzvah.

After the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, there was no longer a Biblical obligation to donate a machatzis hashekel, since the money could not be used to purchase korbonos. Nonetheless, we commemorate the mitzvah in two ways. First, it is the custom of Ashkenazic Jewry to donate three half coins at mincha before or during Purim, in memory of the machatzis hashekel (Rema OC 694:2). We donate three coins because the word teruma (donation) is repeated three times in the Parsha. 

The second commemoration of machatzis hashekel is practiced by reading Parshas Shekalim. The Mishnah in Megilah (3:4) states that we read Parshas Shekalim on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh, when Rosh Chodesh Adar falls on Shabbos, or on the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh, when Rosh Chodesh Adar falls during the following week (as it does this year).

The Mishnah Berurah (685:2) explains that reading the Parsha of Shekalim is not simply a memorial. Rather, there is a well-known concept of “u’neshalma farim sefaseinu” (Hoshea 14:3 – “and our lips will replace the bulls”). One who is obligated to bring a korban and cannot fulfill his obligation should study the Torah portion and its halachos instead, and it is considered on some level as if the korban was sacrificed.  

Based on this explanation, the Binyan Shlomo (siman 54) suggests the following novel psak halacha. There is a dispute if the obligation of machatzis hashekel begins at age 13 or age 20 (see Mishnah Berurah 694:5). If we accept the position that the obligation begins at age 13, boys who are not bar mitzvah when Parshas Shekalim is read but will be bar mitzvah before Rosh Chodesh Nissan would be obligated to hear Parshas Shekalim even though they are ketanim (pre-bar mitzvah) at that time. Why should that be? This is because when Rosh Chodesh Nisan begins, the young man will be bar mitzvah, and he will be obligated to read Parshas Shekalim to satisfy “u’neshalma farim sefaseinu”. However the parsha is not read in the month of Nisan. Perforce, the young man must come to shul this week and listen to Parshas Shekalim even before his bar mitzvah, as this is the only way he can properly fulfill the mitzvah of Shekalim via, “u’neshalma farim sefaseinu”.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.