When a Half is Better: An
Appreciation of Machtzis HaShekel Based on the Torah of The Maharal
By Eliakim Willner
Eliakim Willner is author of “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv HaTorah: An
Appreciation of Torah Study”, a translation with commentary of a work by the Maharal
of Prague, published by Artscroll/Mesorah. This article is adapted from his
forthcoming continuation of the Nesivos Olam series, “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv
HaAvodah: The Philosophy and Practice of Prayer”.
Fundraising for the
Mishkan
When the Mishkan was
constructed Yisroel were asked to donate three times. One set of donations was
for the adonim, a set of bases for the cedar beams that constituted the
frame of the Mishkan. This donation set was fixed at a half-shekel.
A second set of donations was used to purchase the animals for the communal korbanos,
sacrifices, that were mandated in the Mishkan. This set was also fixed
at a half-shekel. The third donation set was comprised of the raw
materials that were used in the construction of the Mishkan and for creating
the clothing worn by the Kohanim, the priests. Here any Jew could give
as much or as little as he or she wanted of any of the required materials.
The Maharal (Gur Aryeh,
Shmos 25:2) explains that the Mishkan was an atonement for the sin of
the eigel, the golden calf, which Yisroel participated in with the three
components of their beings: their bodies, their spirits and their assets. By
believing that the eigel had some kind of power external to Hashem, chas
vesholom, they sinned with their spirits – that is, through their minds. By
going through the physical motions of offering sacrifices to the eigel
they sinned with their bodies. By offering their gold for the eigel they
sinned with their assets.
For the Mishkan to
properly atone for them they had to participate in its construction with the
same three components they used to indulge in the sin in the first place. Each
of the donation sets came from a different component and atoned for the
sin-contribution of that component. Two of the components comprise a person’s
actual being – his body and his soul (his assets are external to him). The two
half-shekel donations corresponded to those two components and that is
why each donation was only half a shekel. Each half-shekel
represented one half of a person’s being, one for his body and the other for
his spirit. Together they comprise his whole being.
Now, the Torah tells us (Shmos
30:15) that the sacrifices were “to provide atonement for your spirits”. Thus
the half-shekel donation that went toward the communal sacrifices atoned
for the spirit’s contribution to the sin of the eigel. The adonim
were the foundation of the Mishkan; the “container” which provided the
basis for the entire edifice. It is analogous to our physical bodies which are
the “containers” for our selves. Thus the half-shekel donation that went
towards the adonim atoned for the body’s contribution to the eigel.
Finally the assets that were contributed toward the construction of the Mishkan
atoned for the assets component of the sin of the eigel.
Moshe’s Half-Shekel
Difficulty
Rashi on Shmos 30:13, based on a Medrash
Rabbah, writes that Hashem showed Moshe a facsimile of a coin of fire
amounting to a half-shekel and told him, “they should give the
equivalent of this”.
There are other such Medrashim
and Gemaros that describe how Hashem showed Moshe a fiery equivalent to
clarify how a particular object should look or operate – for example, the Menorah,
the new moon, permitted and non-permitted insects, the shechita process
and others were all demonstrated to Moshe in this fashion. But in all those
cases there were complexities that needed to be resolved through illustration.
What, though, the Maharal asks, was the complexity that required a visual
demonstration in the case of the half-shekel? It is, after all, merely a
coin.
One answer the Maharal
provides is that man-made objects never achieve an exact measure. Try as we
might, our efforts to achieve exactitude always fall short. Thus our half-shekel
coins may be just a bit more than a half-shekel in weight or they may be
just a bit less, but they will never “hit it on the nose”. That limitation is
inherent in our physical world and we live with it – the half-shekel
coins we mint as currency are accepted as such despite the fact that they are
by definition, imperfect.
On the other hand when
Hashem shows a divine half-shekel we are guaranteed that it is a half-shekel
without the slightest deviation in either direction. When Hashem showed Moshe
the fiery half-shekel He was telling Moshe that the half-shekels
to be used for counting could not be run-of-the-mill half-shekels. For
counting Yisroel, exactitude was critical.
The Maharal’s answer,
however, raises two additional questions. First, why was such a level of
exactitude required? And second, how could it be achieved, given the
limitations of the physical world? To give more potency to the both questions,
consider that the utensils and artifacts of the Mishkan all had precise
measurements specified for them in the Torah. Yet we do not find an insistence
on attempting to achieve divine-level exactitude for them – in fact, the Gemara
in Bechoros 17b specifically acknowledges that we are unable to achieve
exactitude and declares that all the Torah expects of us is our best effort.
Why, then, is more seemingly expected of us with respect to the half-shekel?
The Delicate Half-Shekel
Balance
I would like to suggest two
possible answers to these questions. First, as we mentioned earlier, the two
half-shekels correspond to our body and spirit components. Now, we know
that the conjoining of our bodies and spirits is a seeming contradiction in
terms – it is nothing short of miraculous that such a feat is possible at all.
Indeed, the asher yotzar bracha concludes with “u’mafli la’asos”,
Hashem does wondrous things. What wondrous things are being referred to? The Rema
in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 6 explains this as meaning that it is
wondrous that the soul of man was “partnered” with his body – the coexistence
of two opposites.
If in fact the two half-shekels
represent this extremely delicate balance we can understand why Hashem wants us
to be as meticulous as possible in assuring that the balance is maintained as accurately
as possible. True, we cannot achieve divine perfection; this is understood. But
the message of the fiery half-shekel is that we have to be even more painstaking
with this particular “approximation” than we are with the others mentioned in
the Gemara in Bechoros, so that we appreciate the extent of the mafli
la’asos inherent in our creation.
No Jew is an Island
Another approach to
answering the questions is via a commentary of the Chida on Shmos
30:13. He answers the question, why specifically a half-shekel, by pointing
out that the lesson of the half-shekel is that no Jew can isolate
himself and maintain that he is “self-contained” and can function independently
of his co-religionists. As standalone entities we are only “halves”; to be
complete we need the assistance of, and the society of, other Jews.
Consider what this means. At
any moment of time any Jew may need the assistance of any other Jew and the
other Jew has to be poised to provide it. In “half-shekel terms”, if
each of us is represented by a half-shekel we have to “fit” with the
half-shekel of any and every other Jew since we may need the assistance
of, or be called upon to provide assistance to, any other Jew. This is only
possible if our half-shekels are precise; only then can we be assured
that we will be “whole” with the precise half-shekel of any other Jew.
Thus, although theoretical precision is impossible, we have to go the extra
mile to come as close as we can to it for this particular mitzvah.
This is an important lesson
to keep in mind as Purim approaches since Haman understood that our weakness
was disunity, as he said, “There is a certain people who are scattered
and separate…” . To counter that Esther asked Mordechai to “Go, assemble
together all the Jews”. We are in fact parts of an integral whole, not
disparate individuals and this message is inherent in the half-shekel.
The Protective Effect of
the Half-Shekel
The Torah tells us that the
half-shekel has a powerful protective effect. When Yisroel had to be
counted, half-shekels were used to protect them from the potential ayin
horah that could be unleashed thereby – blessing is most prevalent in
things that are hidden from the eye (Baba Metziah 42a) and counting is
the antithesis of “hidden”. But when counting has to be done, doing it with the
half-shekel shields from potential harm, as the Torah says (Shmos
30:12), “…then there will be no plague among them when they are counted”.
The Maharal in Ohr
Chodosh (140) writes that this is so because the half-shekels were
used for the purchase of sacrifices. To understand this we have to appreciate
the underlying meaning of sacrifices. In Nesiv HaAvodah chapter 1 and
similarly in Derech Chaim 1:2 the Maharal explains that a sacrifice is a
statement that the offeror is a slave of the sacrifice “recipient” – that is,
of Hashem; it is a statement that the offeror is transferring his animal to
Hashem in the same way that the property of a slave transfers automatically to
his master. My animal, declares the sacrifice offeror implicitly, is really
Hashem’s animal because I myself belong to Hashem; my existence has no
justification other than my servitude toward Hashem.
Donating the half-shekel
for purchase of sacrifices thus conveys the same message: “I belong to Hashem
and I exist to serve Him”! It is no wonder, then, that the half-shekels
have such a powerful protective effect. And when they are donated by the entire
nation en masse, as they were when the Mishkan was constructed
and every Adar when the Bais HaMikdash stood, and as we commemorate
on Taanis Esther even nowadays, they have an especially powerful
protective effect. The Maharal explains that this is why Haman’s plot
ultimately failed. Having handed ourselves over to Hashem, as it were, it is
impossible for us to fall into the hands of Haman, and equally impossible for
us to fall into the hands of the Satan.
As we donate our half-shekel
coins let us remember the significance of this commemoration and mentally
declare, as Jews have done through the centuries, “I belong to Hashem and I
exist to serve Him!” – as a cog in the organism called klal Yisroel and
not in isolation – and in that merit may Hashem protect us from our current day
enemies as he protected us on Purim and throughout the millennia.
