This coming Shabbos we read
Parshas Shekalim
– our first step toward yearly redemption from slavery to freedom. How does the “coin of fire” (the half-shekel tribute) achieve this? Just as fire transforms metal, even the hardest heart is transformed by this humble act for the benefit of the community (
Shemos
/Exodus 30:11-16;
Bava Basra
10b, Rashi).
Also, fire is weightless and strives upward, while a coin is heavy because it's of the earth. The vision of the “coin of fire” teaches that the soul’s yearning upward transforms and shapes its material substance.
Connection with the
tzaddik
through
tzedakah
(charity) is an aspect of connection with the
mishkan
(sanctuary) through giving the half-shekel offering.
Another of the many lessons of the מחצית השקל is that a Jewish soul is only “half” and needs to connect with another Jewish soul to be complete.
Text:
Likutey Halakhos, Orach Chaim
1,
Hilkhos Tzitzis
7:8-9.
Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon.
