On the fifteenth (of Adar) money-changers sat in the province (medinah) [Jerusalem, and they made change for the half-shekel for those who brought the currency of their province and were unacquainted with the conversion rate.] On the twenty-fifth, they would sit in the Temple. [Since the time was drawing near, they would sit in the Temple, so that they (the people) would hasten to bring (their shekalim). Rambam explains that all the cities of Israel were called "medinah," and that on the twenty-fifth they sat in the Temple in Jerusalem.] From the time they sat in the Temple, they began to take pledges [from those who had not brought their shekalim.] Whom would pledges be taken from? Levites, it being written (Exodus 30:14): "All who pass to be numbered, from twenty years and above." And the Levites were not counted from twenty years.], Israelites, proselytes, and freed bondsmen; but not women, [it being written (Exodus 30:12): "Then each man shall give the ransom of his soul" — a man, and not a woman], nor bondsmen [bondsmen being obligated only in the mitzvoth that women are obligated in], nor minors [even one who showed two hairs, if he were less than twenty]. Any father who has begun to give the shekel for his minor son cannot leave off doing so. [And if his father dies, he must give the shekel for himself.] And pledges are not taken from the Cohanim [ even though they are obligated in the half-shekel] because of "the ways of peace." [Because they perform the sacrificial service, honor was accorded them, and they were depended upon not to defer their shekalim. And even if they did defer and not give them, beth-din stipulated that the shekalim be theirs in exchange for their service, just as allocations are made from the Temple treasury to others engaged in Temple work, as explained below.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
במדינה – in Jerusalem and they would exchange the one-half Shekel to people that each one would bring from the coinage of his country and did not know how many of them come out to one-half Shekel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
Introduction
This mishnah returns to dealing with the half-shekel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
ישבו במקדש – because the time would get close that they would sit in the Temple in order that they would hurry to bring [the one-half Shekel]. And Maimonides explained that all the cities of Israel were called "מדינה"/Country/provincial towns, and on the twenty-fifth, they would sit in the "מקדש"/Sanctuary in Jerusalem.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
On the fifteenth of [Adar] they would set up tables [of money changers] in the provinces. The half-shekel had to be given in Israeli currency. In order to help people exchange their currency they would set up money changer tables in the provinces to change money. The money changers could also exchange large currency for smaller coins.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
התחילו למשכן – for whomever did not bring their [one-half] Shekel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
On the twenty-fifth they set them up in the Temple. As the first of Nisan approached, the time when they would begin to use the shekalim collected from the previous year, they would stop having money changers throughout the land and limit their presence to the Temple.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
את מי ממשכנין לוים – to exclude from the one who states that the Levites do not take pledges, as it is written (Exodus 30:14): “Everyone who is entered in the records, from the age of twenty years up, [shall give the LORD’s offering],” but the Levites were not counted from age twenty years.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
When [the tables] were set up in the Temple, they began to exact pledges [from those who had not paid]. At this point, they would begin to take pledges from people who had not yet paid. A “pledge” means that they would take something away from the person and only return it when the half-shekel had been paid.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
אבל לא נשים- (Exodus 30:12): “Each shall pay the LORD a ransom for himself,” is written, and not a woman.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
From whom did they exact pledges? From Levites and Israelites, converts and freed slaves, but not women or slaves or minors. Pledges were not taken from everyone, but rather only from free adult Jewish men (excluding priests, as we shall see below), those who are obligated to give the half-shekel. They didn’t take pledges from women, slaves or minors because women, slaves and minors are exempt from the half-shekel. Women are exempt because Exodus 30:12 states, “each man (ish) shall pay a ransom for himself” the word “man” is understood as exempting women. Slaves are usually in the same category as women so they too are exempt. Exodus 30 explicitly excludes minors under the age of 20 (Ex. 30:14).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
ולא עבדים – for slaves are not obligated other than in commandments that women are obligated for.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
Any minor on whose behalf his father has begun to pay the shekel, may not discontinue it again. Sometimes fathers would begin to donate the half-shekel on behalf of their sons, even though they were not obligated to do so. The mishnah teaches that if they had begun to give the half-shekel, in subsequent years they must continue to do so.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
וקטנים – even if he brought forth two [pubic] hairs and he is less than twenty years of age.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
But they did not exact pledges from the priests, because of the ways of peace. The only category of free adult male from whom they did not exact a pledge is the priest. They didn’t do so in order to avoid fights. Albeck explains that the priests thought that they were exempt from the half-shekel. Although they are indeed obligated, the court seems not to have wanted to get into a fight with them over the subject. Tomorrow’s mishnah will deal with the priests obligation to pay the shekel. We might note that if many of the priests were Sadducees and the Sadducees seem to have rejected the whole practice of giving the yearly half-shekel, then we have here evidence of the Pharisees not wanting to provoke a fight with the Sadducees.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שוב אינו פוסק – his father, once he had begun, but if his father died, he pays the Shekel on his own.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
ואין ממשכנין את הכהנים – even though they are obligated in the one-half shekel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
מפני דרכי שלום – because the service of the Sacrifices is upon them, they extend to them honor and rely upon them that they would not have to delay [bringing] their Shekel; alternatively, they would delay and the Jewish court would not grant upon them a gift like they give from the Temple treasury to the rest of those who do the Holy work as we will explain further on.
