Mishnah
Mishnah

Chasidut for Shekalim 3:2

בְּשָׁלשׁ קֻפּוֹת שֶׁל שָׁלשׁ שָׁלשׁ סְאִין תּוֹרְמִין אֶת הַלִּשְׁכָּה, וְכָתוּב בָּהֶן אָל''ף בֵי''ת גִימ''ל. רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, יְוָנִית כָּתוּב בָּהֶן אָלפ''א בֵית''א גָמל''א. אֵין הַתּוֹרֵם נִכְנָס לֹא בְּפַרְגּוֹד חָפוּת, וְלֹא בְּמִנְעָל, וְלֹא בְּסַנְדָּל, וְלֹא בִּתְפִלִּין, וְלֹא בְּקָמִיעַ, שֶׁמָּא יַעֲנִי, וְיֹאמְרוּ מֵעֲוֹן הַלִּשְׁכָּה הֶעֱנִי, אוֹ שֶׁמָּא יַעֲשִׁיר, וְיֹאמְרוּ מִתְּרוּמַת הַלִּשְׁכָּה הֶעֱשִׁיר. לְפִי שֶׁאָדָם צָרִיךְ לָצֵאת יְדֵי הַבְּרִיּוֹת כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לָצֵאת יְדֵי הַמָּקוֹם, שְׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר לב) וִהְיִיתֶם נְקִיִים מֵיְיָ וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, וְאוֹמֵר (משלי ג) וּמְצָא חֵן וְשֵׂכֶל טוֹב בְּעֵינֵי אֱלֹהִים וְאָדָם:

With three baskets of three sa'ah each (shekalim) are removed from the lishkah. [The shekalim were placed there (in the lishkah) and they were taken out in three baskets of three sa'ah each. Rambam writes that first three large baskets of twenty-seven sa'ah each are filled and from these, three baskets of nine sa'ah each are filled. This is an unnecessary, forced explanation.] And they were marked "aleph," "beth," "gimmel" [to know which had been filled first, to buy the communal offerings from that first; then, from the second; then, from the third.] R. Gamliel says: It was written in Greek: "alpha," "beta," "gamla." [They would write it in Greek because of (Genesis 9:27): "G d will beautify Yefeth and he will dwell in the tents of Shem" — the beauty of Yefeth will dwell in the tents of Shem; and there is no language among the sons of Yefeth more beautiful than the Greek language. The torem (the one who removes shekalim from the lishkah) may enter neither with: a bordered garment, (pargod chafuth) [When the garment is long and doubled from the bottom, that doubled fold is called "pargod chafuth." The torem may not enter thus attired so that he not be suspected of concealing lishkah monies in it.], (nor may he enter with) a shoe, a sandal, tefillin or an amulet [lest they say he undid the thread and placed money inside], lest he grow poor and people say: "Because of the sin of (stealing from) the lishkah, he has become impoverished"; or lest he grow rich and they say: "From the proceeds of the lishkah he has grown wealthy." For one must be upright in the eyes of men just as he must be upright in the eyes of the L rd, as it is written (Numbers 32:22): "And you shall be clean of the L rd and of Israel," and (Proverbs 3:4): "And you shall find grace and goodly understanding in the eyes of G d and man."

Kedushat Levi

We wish to explain a statement by the sages in the ‎Talmud Megillah 29. The Talmud there, ‎commenting on Numbers 28,14 ‎זאת עולת חודש בחדשו‎, “this ‎is the burnt offering of the new Moon on the day of its ‎renewal,” writes: ‎חדש והבא קרבן מתרומה חדשה‎, ”begin a new ‎cycle of public offerings by using the money ‎contributed by the people for the public offerings for ‎the year that commences on the first day of Nissan.” ‎The Talmud in Shekalim 3,2 has elaborated on ‎this procedure by describing three different boxes for ‎collection of contributions from which offerings are to ‎be bought. The boxes were numbered ‎א, ב, ג‎. The ‎reason was to enable the clerks to check in which order ‎‎(according to calendar dates) these donations had been ‎deposited. We also have a disagreement between the ‎Tannaim Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yoshuah in the ‎Talmud Rosh Hashanah 10 (scholars during ‎the period when the Mishnah was formulated) ‎whether the world as we know it was created in ‎‎Tishrey or in Nissan.
We have accepted the principle that G’d’s largesse ‎is dispensed to His creatures not so much because of ‎what they deserve but because the very fact that He ‎created the universe is proof of His positive ‎relationship to His creatures, so that His providing ‎them with necessities and comforts is not tied to their ‎having to earn this. [As distinct from creatures ‎who have forfeited such entitlement, from whom such ‎largesse may be withheld. Ed.]
There is also a “super-largesse” that is channeled ‎by G’d to His people which is due to that people’s ‎spiritual awakening and ascending higher rungs on ‎that ladder. Concerning this “largesse” my revered and ‎sainted father of blessed memory used to say that this ‎‎“largesse” is known as ‎ציץ‎, the masculine version of the ‎word ‎ציצית‎, i.e. in full flower, which usually is found in ‎the feminine mode, referring to the blossom that has ‎not yet flowered. Just as we are familiar with direct ‎light as well as with reflected light, (by a mirror, for ‎instance) so G’d’s largesse may be either direct or a ‎reflection of merits accumulated by His creatures. The ‎letters in the name of the month ‎תשרי‎ [the ‎alphabet read backwards. Ed.] are an allusion ‎of such largesse which reflects the good deeds of the ‎Jewish people. Seeing that during the month of ‎‎Tishrey most Jews perform more ‎commandments and good deeds than during any other ‎moth of the year, it is appropriate that this will result ‎in a “kickback” from G’d in the shape of additional ‎largesse. (Compare Rosh Hashanah 11 on this ‎point.) In contrast to this month, the month of ‎‎Nissan, a month that occurs in the spring, ‎אביב‎, the letters ‎אב‎ in that word proceeding in the ‎normal sequence of the aleph bet, are an allusion that ‎it is too soon for additional largesse in the form of ‎‎“kickbacks” as in the case of the month of ‎‎Tishrey.‎
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Previous VerseFull ChapterNext Verse