"The Half Shekel and the Unity of Israel"

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir 

After the Second Temple’s destruction, our sages ordained the reading of the Torah section dealing with the half-shekel, for the Sabbath prior to the start of the month of Adar. Through that reading, the Jews fulfilled Hoshea 14:3: “We will offer the words of our lips instead of calves.” During the Temple period, “on the first of Adar [the courts] would proclaim regarding the shekalim” (Shekalim 2a). They would remind the Jews to fulfill the mitzvah of donating half a shekel to the Temple, regarding which each Jew had an equal obligation: “The rich may not give more and the poor may not give less than this half a shekel. It is an offering to G-d to atone for your lives” (Exodus 30:15).

The unity of Israel would find concrete expression through that mitzvah. The whole nation, regardless of tribe, social standing, or pedigree, would become partners, as one man and of one mind, in the Temple and in the twice-daily Tamid offering, and such communal offerings served to atone for, purify and exalt the whole House of Israel.

Yet when groundless hatred grew, hatred between brothers, in the Second Temple period, that unity grew weak, the Temple was destroyed and we, unfortunately, went out to the exile. All that remained of the mitzvah of the half-shekel was our reading the section dealing with it, and the donation we make in memory of it (on the Fast of Esther). We fulfill these customs in hope and anticipation that unity and love of Israel will reign once more, this being the precondition for the Temple’s reconstruction.

Right now, we are approaching another chapter in a long, stormy, and dangerous election campaign. The danger is that through irresponsibility and lack of caution, the terrible blight of hatred between brothers, which led to destruction and exile, is liable to strike once more. We must apply for preventative medicine and extinguish every spark and every fire, and even the small flame of strife, which could grow into hatred. Rav Abraham Isaac Kook, the great lover of Israel, when he saw the wars and struggles between the parties and streams within the Jewish People, and their bitter results, said, “We will be unfortunate indeed if we do not find the way to live together and combine our strengths, despite our differences in outlooks and in political views. Quite the contrary, the different groups within our society have hope for the future only if they are capable of joining their strengths. If they become more and more separate instead of blending together, then we are called upon to come to their rescue” (Orot 77).

For the sake of this combining together, we must understand that all of the great political forces and streams of the nation, be they religious, nationalist, or liberal, have a role to fulfill in the crystallization process of the Jewish People on its way toward redemption, with each stream preserving and struggling to maintain its own uniqueness. At the same time, each stream must bear in mind that the other streams as well possess importance for the building of the nation. Each supplements what is lacking in the other streams and causes the other streams to bridle their own extremism. It is like a person who has different limbs and organs, and various attributes, each of which has shortcomings that are compensated by other limbs, organs, and attributes within him. Through our understanding and recognition that despite our differences, we are one nation marching together up the windy path to complete redemption, the mitzvah of the half-shekel will be renewed and the Temple will be rebuilt speedily.

Looking forward to complete redemption,
With Love of Israel,

Chodesh Tov,

Shabbat Shalom.