The Symbolism of the Half Shekel Donation – Part One
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly portion: #1241 The Case of the Mishloach Manos That Was Delivered to the Wrong Person. Good Shabbos!
The Symbolism of the Half Shekel Donation – Part One
Parshas Ki Sisa begins with the mitzvah of Machatzis Hashekel – the census based on the standard donation of a half shekel coin from all males aged twenty years and up, whether rich or poor. Rashi comments on the words “zeh yitnu” (“this they shall give”) (Shemos 30:13): “He showed him a fiery coin whose weight was a half shekel and said (to Moshe), ‘this is what they shall give.’”
Chazal say that Hashem had to show the coin to Moshe physically because he had difficulty conceptualizing the idea of donating a coin. This is not the first time Chazal say that Moshe had difficulty picturing something in his mind without a Divinely-provided visual aid. Chazal say that Moshe could not picture in his mind exactly what the Menorah was to look like, so, there too, Hashem showed him the image of a Menorah.
The Menorah was extremely intricate, so it is easy to understand the difficulty Moshe had creating that particular kayli (vessel). Moshe couldn’t quite envision it, so Hashem showed him what it looked like. Similarly, Chazal say by the parsha of the sheratzim – which crawling reptiles were forbidden and which were permitted – that Moshe also needed the Ribono shel Olam to show him what the specified sheratzim looked like. That is also very understandable.
However, many commentaries are troubled about the drasha in this week’s parsha. It is not so difficult to imagine what a coin looks like. Moshe Rabbeinu was certainly aware of what coins looked like and he did not need a picture to figure out the coins with which the census payment was to be transacted. Even in the days of Avraham Avinu, coins were used in the transaction of the purchase of Sora’s burial plot. So, a first question is, what was so difficult that necessitated Moshe being shown a coin? A second question is, what is the significance of Hashem showing Moshe a coin of fire? Obviously, the coins that would be donated would be made of gold, silver, or copper, not of fire. Why did Hashem specifically show Moshe a coin of fire?
The Oznayim l’Torah (Rav Zalman Sorotzkin (1881-1966)) explains (as do others) that Moshe Rabbeinu was not perplexed by what a coin looks like. Rather, Moshe couldn’t understand the fact that the census donation was called a kofer nafsho (atonement) (Shemos 30:12). Moshe did not understand how money could be a kaparah. Moshe knew full well that money is not necessarily the vehicle to bring kaparah to people.
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin says that the Ribono shel Olam was trying to teach something to Moshe Rabbeinu by specifically showing him a fiery coin, rather than one made from precious metal. We cannot live without fire. It cooks our food. It heats our homes and makes us comfortable. Yet fire, as we all know, can be terribly destructive. Fire has this duality – this paradox – that a person cannot live without it, and yet it can be one of the most destructive forces.
This is what the Ribono shel Olam was trying to show Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe, you are perplexed as to how money can be a kaparah (an atonement)? Money can be a kaparah because it depends on what you do with it. You can do tremendous things with money, and the world could not exist without money. We would not be in the building we are in without money. We would not be as educated as we are without money. However, just like when fire is not properly controlled, it can be extremely hazardous, so too, if money is not properly controlled, it can be extremely hazardous. That is when it becomes destructive.
Rav Sorotzkin also points out a second observation related to the idea that by the census, “he’ashir (the rich man) shall not give more and the poor man shall not give less.” (Shemos 30:15) The same half shekel coin was supposed to atone for everyone – both the rich man and the poor man. Without knowing specifically how much a half shekel coin was worth in those days, it is understandable how such a donation might serve as a kaparah for a poor man. A poor man will need to dig deep into his pockets and forgo the value of this half shekel coin. For him, such a donation can quite conceivably serve as a kaparah. But how can the same half shekel coin serve as a kaparah for a rich man? Whatever a half-shekel was worth, it was not very much. It certainly did not serve as a significant sacrifice for men of means.
Rav Sorotzkin explains that the kaparah for the ashir was not related to digging deep into his pocket for the half-shekel. The kaparah for the ashir emanates from needing to stay in the same line as the poor man in order to donate his half-shekel coin. For an ashir, who is used to VIP treatment (Ich bin nisht fun di pashete mentchin), this is beneath his dignity. He is used to first class seating. He is knocked down several pegs psychologically by needing to sit in economy class with everyone else. For him, that is a kaparah.
The bottom line is that there was kaparah for both the rich and the poor, even though the kaparah came about in different ways. For the poor person it came about because he had to make a financial sacrifice even for a half-shekel. For the rich person there is also a sacrifice, to find himself on the same level as the simple people, the masses.
The Symbolism of the Half Shekel Donation – Part Two
I saw another insight on the symbolism of a fiery coin. There is an interesting Medrash Rabbah in last week’s parsha (Tezaveh) explaining the metaphor “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah ohr” (for a candle is a mitzvah and the Torah is light) (Mishlei 6:23). It is a well-known fact that it is difficult for people to part with their money. For some people, it is more difficult and for some people it is less difficult, but in general, it is not easy for a person to part with his hard-earned money.
Hashem speaks of a “coin of fire.” The idea is that it is possible to light a thousand other candles from a single lit candle without diminishing the first candle’s light at all. This census donation is the first time Hashem is asking us to give tzedakah (charity). Hashem is reminding us that tzedakah is like fire: When you give, it does not diminish the fire from which it came. This is what Hashem is teaching us with the pasuk “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah ohr.”
The Rambam writes in Hilchos Matonos L’aniyim: “A person never becomes poor from giving charity.”
The “coin of fire” teaches us this lesson: Don’t think you will be lacking after giving this half-shekel coin. Just as a single candle can light a thousand candles without diminishing its light at all, that is the way tzekakah is as well.
This fits in with a comment of the Baal Haturim in this week’s parsha. “v’nasnu ish kofer nafsho…” (and a man will give an atonement for his soul…” (Shemos 30:12). The Baal Haturim writes that the word v’nasnu (vov-nun-saf-nun-vov) can be read forwards and backwards without changing its meaning or spelling. This teaches, he writes, that whatever a person gives in tzedakah will return to him and he will not be missing anything from having given it.
I knew someone who invested a lot of money with Bernie Madoff and lost his entire retirement account when the Madoff Ponzi scheme collapsed. However, the money this fellow had given to tzedakah, he of course had not given to Bernie Madoff. That money remained with him. In other words, he lost the money he wanted to invest – to make his fortune. But the money that he gave to tzedakah remained forever to his credit.
A person needs to keep these facts in mind: A person never becomes impoverished from tzedakah and tzedakah is like fire in that it can light other fires without its light being diminished.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Vayakeil/Pikudei is provided below:
- # 047 Pikuach Nefesh: To Save a Life
- # 090 The Melacha of Carrying
- # 138 The Melacha of Tying Knots on Shabbos
- # 185 The Melacha of Writing
- # 231 Making a Siyum
- # 275 Electricity in Halacha
- # 321 Leap Year and the Second Adar
- # 365 The Melacha of Tearing
- # 409 The Melacha of Melabain (Laundering)
- # 453 Wearing A Watch on Shabbos
- # 497 The Tefillah of B’rich Sh’mei
- # 541 Learning Kabbalah
- # 585 The Melacha of Trapping
- # 629 Sitting in Judgement on Shabbos
- # 672 The Mishebeirach in Halacha
- # 673 Putting A Sefer Torah in the Aron
- # 717 One Hundred Brachos A Day
- # 761 Killing Two Birds with One Stone
- # 805 Baruch Sh’omar, Ashrei and Yishtabach
- # 849 Saying L’shem Yichud – A Good Idea?
- # 893 The Unique Parshas Sh’kolim
- # 937 Magnetic Forces
- # 980 Siyum M’sechta: For The Past Or For The Future?
- #1024 Turning That Old Dress Into A Cover for a Sefer Torah?
- #1068 “This (Aron Kodesh/Ner Tamid/Window) Is Donated By”…A Good Idea
- #1111 Paying the Baal Koreh/Chazan/Babysitter for Shabbos
- #1154 Does The Husband’s Early Kabolas Shabbos Affect His Wife?
- #1197 Hachana Issues: Loading Dishwasher on Shabbos; Defrosting For Yom.Tov Sheni
- #1241 The Case of the Mishloach Manos That Was Delivered to the Wrong Person
- #1285 “It’s A Siman Min HaShamayim”: Is There Such A Thing?
- #1328 A Fascinating Muktzeh/Tevilas Keilim Shaila
- #1329 Finishing a sefer of Tanach: Does It Warrant a Seudas Siyum? And Other Siyum Issues
- #1416 Does the Prohibition of Not Taking Medicine on Shabbos Still Apply in Our Day and Age?
- #1461 What Do the Urim ve’Tumim and Scrabble Have to Do With Each Other?
- #1503 Being Mechalel Shabbos to Relieve the Anxiety of a Choleh Mesukan – Is it Mutar?
- #1546 The Issur of Maaseh Shabbos Oops I Turned on the Light by Accident – Now What?
- #1590 Must We Spend Shabbos Near Hospital During 9th Month To Avoid Driving on Shabbos?
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Date: March 13, 2025
