This Shabbos is a special Shabbos. It is the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar, Shabbos being 1 Adar 5785. It is Shabbos Parshas Terumah, when we learn of the beauty, intricate details and holiness of binyan ha’Mishkan. And it is the first of the four special parshios, preceding Purim and Pesach, when we read Parshas Shekalim. (The four special parshios are Shekalim, Zachor, Parah and Ha’Chodesh.) Hence, keriyas ha’Torah will be from three sifrei Torah: for the sidra of the week, Rosh Chodesh and Parshas Shekalim. 

Parshas Shekalim is found in the beginning of Ki Sisa, Shemos 30:11-16. The pasukim outline the command of G-d to Moshe regarding the counting of the nation. Moshe is to instruct the Bnei Yisrael that each male over the age of twenty years old shall contribute a half a shekel, annually, to the Mishkan/Temple fund, and it is these coins that will be counted (in lieu of counting the people directly). The half-shekels collected serve as an atonement for the nation. Rashi tells us: 

וְנָתְנוּ כָּל אֶחָד מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל, וְהֵן לִקְנוֹת מֵהֶן קָרְבְּנוֹת צִבּוּר שֶׁל כָּל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה, וְהֻשְׁווּ בָהֶם עֲנִיִּים וַעֲשִׁירִים, וְעַל אוֹתָהּ תְּרוּמָה נֶאֱמַר לְכַפֵּר עַל נַפְשׁוֹתֵיכֶם, שֶׁהַקָּרְבָּנוֹת לְכַפָּרָה הֵם בָּאִים

And each one gave a half a shekel, (the sum of which) were employed in purchasing the communal sacrifices for each and every year. Rich and poor were equal in regard to these half shekels (the rich could not give more and the poor could not give less, (Shemos 30:15); and it is with reference to this offering that the Torah uses here the expression לכפר על נפשתיכם, “to atone for your souls”, for the korbanos were brought in order bring atonement (for the nation) (Rashi to 30:15). 

וְלָקַחְתָּ אֶת-כֶּסֶף הַכִּפֻּרִים, מֵאֵת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְנָתַתָּ אֹתוֹ, עַל-עֲבֹדַת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד; וְהָיָה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְזִכָּרוֹן לִפְנֵי ה’ לְכַפֵּר עַל-נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם - and you (Moshe) shall take the silver of atonement from the Bnei Yisrael, and you shall give it (dedicate it to) the work of the Tent of Meeting, and it will be as a remembrance for the Children of Israel before Hashem, to atone for their souls (30:16).        

This parsha always coincides with the time of year on/around Rosh Chodesh Adar. In Temple times, the announcement of the machatzis ha’shekel collection gave people time to procure the necessary funds and make the donation, which was due one month later, by Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Given that Nissan is the beginning of the new year, new funds were collected for the communal sacrifices of the upcoming year. Hence, the announcement was made a month in advance. (Medrash Esther Rabbah gives another reason for this reading prior to Purim. Hashem said - let the contributions of silver shekels of My children cancel out the 10,000 talents of silver that Haman promised to Achashvairosh, for permission to kill the Jews [Esther 3:9]. Let the silver of the machatzis hashekel be a kaparah for their souls - an atonement to save their lives, and the life of My nation.)

Today, in the absence of the Beis Ha’Mikdash, R”L, we read the parsha of Shekalim to remind ourselves of this mitzvah, and to be prepared for its practice once again, when the third BHM”K will be built, speedily and in our days.  

A famous question on this mitzvah is asked. Why is every Jew to only give a half-shekel? If one wants to give more, he may not; and if one wants to give less, he also is not permitted to do so. Why only a half-shekel, no more, no less, and why not a whole shekel per person?

Just as famous as the question is the answer: every Jew must realize, internalize, and accept that on his own, he is only ‘half.’ Only when we join together with our fellow Jew, are we complete. One Jew and his half, and another Jew and his half, come together to make a whole. When we bind ourselves together with our fellow Jews, then we have shlaimus, completeness, wholeness and fulfillment. 

I recently heard a novel, and very beautiful, idea from Rabbi Zev Leff shlita. He noted that when a Jew says to his fellow Jew “shalom aleichem,” in essence, what he is saying is: my shalom, i.e.:my shleimus - my wholeness and completion, is aleichem - depends upon you, my fellow Jew! On my own, I am incomplete. Hence, when we greet each other, we say: shalom aleichem. I recognize I am only complete with you, aleichem is my shlaimus.

And when his fellow Jew answers back “aleichem shalom,” he too is acknowledging the same. Upon you, aleichem, the fellow replies to the first Jew, is my completion and wholeness, shalom!  Hence, each member of klal Yisrael, with humility, ahavas Yisrael and understanding, recognizes that we are all interdependent, one man upon another.

This, says Rabbi Leff, is the meaning of “vayichan sham Yisrael neged ha’har - ki’ish echad b’lev echad.” At the time of Matan Torah, Israel - as one nation - camped opposite Har Sinai, like one man with one heart (Shemos 19:2 with Rashi). Since no single Jew can fulfill all 613 mitzvos - for a man cannot fulfill the mitzvos of a woman, a kohen cannot fulfill the mitzvos unique to a Yisrael (and vice versa), a king cannot fulfill the mitzvos unique to a commoner (and vice versa), and so on and so forth - we understand that in order to accept the Torah, we must be b’shlaimus. We must come together to complete each other.

As we stand on the eve of Purim - the yomtov when Amalek rose to destroy, annihilate and kill es kol ha’Yehudim - each and every Jew, from youth to elderly, babies to women (Esther 3:13) - we surely are all cognizant that the descendants of Haman-Amalek are baring their fangs today, intent on doing the same thing Haman plotted to do. 

When we join together as one - יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם-אֶחָד (ibid., v.8) - internalizing the message of the half-shekel, recognizing the beauty of ‘shalom aleichem,’ and standing united to hear the voice of G-d in our lives, and the voice (and cries R”L) of our fellow Jew, then surely G-d’s great mercy will be aroused. 

We will then merit the great salvation that was extended to the Jews of Persia and Medes: לַיְּהוּדִים, הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה, וְשָׂשֹׂן, וִיקָר - to the Jews there was light (Torah) and gladness (yomtov), joy (bris milah) and honor (tefillin) (Esther 8:16, with Megillah 16b). 

בברכת בשורות טובות, חודש טוב, ושבת שלום