Parashat Pekudei/Shabbat Shekalim

One of the realities of Jewish institutional life is the necessity of major donors, the “machers”, the wealthy, influential, and hopefully very generous benefactors who make our costly Jewish life possible. How many of us worship in synagogues built by a few for the benefit of many, or were educated in,or send our children to, schools subsidized by a few families of means. Nothing inspires us more than seeing an extraordinarily  financially gifted family giving back to community, and we delight and share in their success.

As our sages point out, the Creator bestows material intellectual, and spiritual wealth to see what the recipients will do with their gifts. Will the strong use their strength to build, and not destroy? Will the brilliant use their intelligence to further the progress of civilization, and not plot it’s downfall? Will the rich rise to the occasion, and show their appreciation of G-d’s gifts by giving willfully to those less well off, assuring themselves of wealth in the next world as well, or will they deplete their allotment in this world, and leave spiritually empty-handed?

The building of the mishkan, the portable tabernacle in the desert that has been the subject of our weekly Torah readings of late, was built with many different types of voluntary contributions of precious materials, and the Torah records how people responded to the best of their ability and motivation. Inevitably a few people gave a lot, and many gave a little.

This week, as a special reading for the first of the Arba Parshiyot, the four special readings prior to the Pesach festival, we revisit a section we saw a few weeks back at the beginning of Parashat Ki Tisa.

Unlike the offerings of gold and other precious materials needed for the mishkan, which could be donated voluntarily, and without limit, the Torah states that the silver needed would be given equally, by everyone:
This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: MACHATZIT HASHEKEL, half a shekel according to the holy shekel.
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of
G-d, L’KHAPER AL NAFSHOTEYKHEM, to make atonement for your souls. (Ex. 30:13-15)

A challenging, if not somewhat cryptic verse, which sets up a homiletic playground for our commentators.
The Talmud (Megillah 13b) quotes R’ Shimon ben Lakish explaining the concept of atonement money tied to the intentions of the evil Haman in the Purim story:
It was known to The One Who Spoke and Created the World, that Haman would pay shekels to (the King) Achashverot to buy the destruction of the Jewish people. Therefore God caused the shekels of the Jewish people to precede his (Haman’s), and  for this reason we learn that on the first of Adar an announcement is to be made concerning the shekels.

A fascinating explanation, and the source for this special reading, which this year comes out the day before Rosh Chodesh Adar, the celebration of the new month.
(Ed. note: Be sure to come celebrate Rosh Chodesh with the Sixth Street Synagogue this Sunday at 10 AM, for our annual music service-guitars, drums, and a heap o’ horns!)

If we dig a little deeper other questions arise. Why a half shekel?  The word shekal comes from the word l’shkol, meaning to weigh, or consider. When we need half of something we must weigh it out first. As a result of the baggage of the Golden Calf, where precious metal was used to the spiritual detriment of the Jewish people, we are less than complete. In weighing out the half shekel we are to weigh out our spiritual accomplishments against our failures. Half of something hints at the necessity of completion.

The Ba’al haTurim points out that the gematria, the numerical value of the word shekel (430) is the same as the word nefesh, or soul. This is something that applies equally to all, whether moneyed or impoverished. By making this knowingly incomplete offering  with our full consideration, we are partnering with the Almighty, who will in turn  grant us kappara, an atonement for our souls. R’ Abraham Ibn Ezra explains the word kappara means a covering, a protection. The cover for the Ark of The Covenant is called the kapporet. Our misdeeds are covered up, not erased (as suggested by Rashi on Gen 32:21), and become part of the base of our spiritual foundation.

Our reading actually refers to two distant collections of the machazit hashekel, the half shekel offering to be given equally by the rich and poor alike. The first for the actual construction of the mishkan, for the silver that formed the base of the mishkan, joining and supporting the planks that formed the walls of the first Jewish communal structure. As fancy and as ornate as a house of worship can be, limited only by the generosity and creativity of its major donors, it can only stand on a base established equally by the entire community.
Our reading also references a second commandment to give the machazit hashekel, for the bedek habayit, the maintenance and upkeep fund of the mishkan. This fund paid for all of the animals used for the korban tamid, the steady daily offerings brought each and every day. This “tax” was to be collected every year going forward, and even in our present exile, we collect this machatzit hashekel right before Purim, the same amount from everyone, so we all have “ownership” of our spiritual homes away from home.

As a wise man once told me, “ Synagogues don’t close for a lack of dollars, they close for  lack of doers.”.
Yes, times are tough, and it is no secret that we desperately need more than everyone’s half shekel.
(If you are in good shape, please consider a voluntary contribution. You can make it online here.)

But regardless of ability to contribute financially, we all need to give our half shekel of involvement, to sustain the base of our community. Get involved, come to our services, attend one of our classes, join a committee, help us build the community we all aspire to be members of.
Together we can build a base of silver that will continue to stand for generations to come.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Greg
PS
We need volunteers to staff our weekly evening events.
Please contact me if you can commit to one day a week, or a month, to help out at our classes or concerts. Mitzvah notes available!
rabbi@sixthstreetsynagogue.org