1,231. What Money in the Treasury Was Used For

Shekalim 4:1

The money in the treasury was used to purchase the daily offerings that were sacrificed every day, the additional offerings for Sabbath and holidays, all other communal sacrifices and the wine libations for all of these. It was also used to purchase the salt that was placed on all sacrifices, and firewood for the altar since, if the donated wood ran out, they would need to buy it. The money was also used to purchase incense for offering and to pay the salaries of the people who prepared it, the showbread and to pay the salaries of the people who prepared it, the omer of barley, the two loaves, the red heifer, the goat sent to Azazel and the scarlet thread that was tied between its horns.

Shekalim 4:2

The following were not bought using money from the Temple treasury: the bull for a sin offering when the community sins due to a lack of awareness; the goats offered for communal idolatry. These should be fundraised among the community. The curtains in front of the Sanctuary in the second Temple replaced a wall that filled that purpose in the first Temple. These were not purchased with money from the treasury but with funds that were sanctified for Temple maintenance (bedek habayis). The curtains in front of the gates, on the other hand, were purchased using treasury funds. Regarding the menorah and the other holy objects, part of their mitzvah is that they come from money remaining from the libations, which the Rambam explains in the Laws of the Temple Vessels and Those Who Perform the Service with Them. If such funds are not available, then the money for these things comes from the treasury. Money for the uniforms of the Kohein Gadol and all the other kohanim who serve in the Temple comes from treasury.