If one puts away money [little by little, p’rutah after p'rutah, for his shekel ], saying, [ when he begins doing so:] "This is for my shekel," [and when he counts it, he finds that he has more than his shekel], Beth Shammai say: The surplus is a gift. [It goes to the shofroth in the Temple, whose monies are used for "summer burnt-offerings" for the altar. Beth Shammai here is consistent with his view that "hekdesh in error is hekdesh."] And Beth Hillel say: The surplus is chullin, [his intent having been to dedicate only the amount of his shekel]. (If he said:) "I shall take from them for my shekel," [which is like saying explicitly: "If I find more than a shekel, I will take the shekel from them and the rest will be chullin"], they agree that the surplus is chullin. [If he put away money and said:] "This is for my sin-offering," they agree [i.e., Beth Hillel concede] that the surplus is a gift (to hekdesh). (If he said:) "I shall take from them for my sin-offering," they agree that the surplus is chullin.
Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
המכנס מעות – he collects/gathers bit by bit, penny by penny for his [one-half] shekel and states when he began to collect/gather that these are for his [one-half] shekel. But when he comes to consider what he has gathered and found that there was excess to his shekel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
Introduction
This mishnah discusses various scenarios in which a person set aside some money to use for his shekel or for another sacrifice and after he counted up the money he had set aside there was a surplus. The question is whether or not the surplus money is sacred and therefore must be used for a free-will offering.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
ב"ש אומרים מותרן נדבה – they would fall to the horn-shaped chests in the Temple, that stand to offer with their monies burnt offerings of the summer for the altar. And the School of Shammai, according to the reasoning, hold that whatever is dedicated to the Temple property, in error, is called dedicated to Temple property.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
One who gathered some coins and said: “Behold, these are for my shekel.” Bet Shammai say: the surplus [is used to purchase] freewill-offerings. But Bet Hillel say: the surplus is non-sacral property. The person gathered some coins together and declared that he would use them to bring his shekel. It turned out that there was more than a shekel’s worth of coins there. Bet Shammai say that since they had been set aside to give to the Temple, they are sacred and therefore they must be used to purchase free-will offerings. Bet Hillel, on the other hand, hold that the surplus is not sacred because when he collected the money his intention was that only a shekel’s worth of the coins should be given to the Temple.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
ובה"א מותרן חולין – for they did not intend this to be sanctified, but only up to their [obligatory one-half] Shekel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
[If he said:] “From them I shall bring my shekel,” they agree that the surplus is non-sacral property. In this case, instead of saying “These are for my shekel” he says “From them I shall bring my shekel”. It is clear that his intention is to use only whatever adds up to a shekel and therefore Bet Shammai agree that the surplus is not sacred.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שאביא מהן שקלי שוין שמותר חולין – for it is like saying explicitly – that if I bring in more than a Shekel, I will bring from them a Shekel and the remainder will be non-holy produce.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
[If he said]: “These [coins] are for a sin-offering, they agree that the surplus [goes to the chests of] freewill-offerings. In this case Bet Hillel agree with Bet Shammai that the surplus is sacred. Tomorrow’s mishnah will explain the difference between shekels and sin-offerings such that Bet Hillel agrees in the case of the latter.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
אלו לחטאתי – and if he gathered/collected monies and said, “these are for my sin-offering,” the School of Hillel agrees that the remainder is a free-will offering.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
[If he said]: “From these I shall bring a sin-offering, they agree that the surplus is non-sacral property. This is the same rule as in section two as long as he says “From these I will bring ….” the surplus is not sacred.
