Shekalim 2a — the Talmud in English

The Sefer HaChinukh lists this as mitzva 105: The mitzva of giving the half-shekel each year: Every Israelite, from the age of twenty and above, whether poor or wealthy, must give a half-shekel, which is the weight of ten silver gera, each year to the kohanim, members of the priestly family who served in the Temple. As it is stated: “This shall they give, everyone who passes among those counted.” They would place all the money in one chamber in the Temple. From there, they would take funds to purchase the daily offerings and the additional offerings, every offering brought on behalf of the community, their libations, the salt used to salt the offerings, the wood for the altar arrangement, the showbread, and the wages of the person who made the showbread. They also purchased the omer offering, the two loaves, the red heifer, the scapegoat, and the strip of crimson wool. The root of this mitzva is that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired the good of all Israel and wished to grant them merit by making everyone’s share equal with regard to the offerings brought before Him continually throughout the year, and with regard to these other matters mentioned. Thus, poor and wealthy alike would be equal before Him in one mitzva, so that the memory of all of them would be brought favorably before Him through the mitzva in which they were joined together ... This mitzva applied during the time of the Temple. All Israel were obligated to give, whether they lived in the Land of Israel or outside it. When there is no Temple, no person is obligated to give it. Halakha 1 — Mishna:

In tractate Megilla [29b] it was explained that every year [beginning on the first of Nisan], the communal offerings must be brought from the new shekels that the public weighs for “the half-shekel.”

And we derive it from a verse, as it is written: “This is the burnt offering of the month in its month” — “month,” and bring the offering from the new contribution.

And for this reason,

on the first of Adar

the court would send emissaries throughout all the cities of Israel, and

make known [

proclaim]

concerning the shekels,

that Israel should bring their shekels, so that there would be new shekels in the chamber on the first of Nisan, and from them they would bring the daily offerings and the additional offerings, and the other communal offerings.

And

so too they would proclaim on the first of Adar

concerning diverse kinds,

that each person should uproot from his fields the diverse kinds of seeds that had grown in them. And they proclaim this at this time because in Adar the plants are already recognizable, and the diverse kinds are recognizable.

And on the fifteenth of it [

of Adar]:

a.

They read the Megilla

in the walled cities that were surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua son of Nun.

b.

And they repair the roads and the streets

and the markets that had been damaged during the rainy season, for the sake of the pilgrims who would come thirty days afterward, on the festival of Passover.

And likewise the emissaries of the court would go out on this day to repair

the ritual pools,

for if mud had increased in them, they would clean them, and if the measure of their water had diminished, they would bring water to them and fill them.

c.

And they perform in it all the needs of the public —

this will be explained in the Gemara.

d.

And they mark the graves

by pouring dissolved lime around the grave, so that it would be recognizable, and the kohanim and bearers of pure objects would not make a tent over them. And because during the rainy season the lime would dissolve, they would return and mark them on the fifteenth of Adar.

e.

And they go out

on the fifteenth of Adar

also concerning diverse kinds.

After they had proclaimed on the first of Adar that the diverse kinds should be uprooted, the emissaries of the court would go out on the fifteenth of Adar to the fields, to check whether the owners had uprooted them; and if they had not uprooted them, the emissaries of the court would uproot them.

Gemara:

And we raise the matter:

And why on the first of Adar

was the time fixed when they proclaim concerning bringing the shekels?

And we explain:

so that Israel would bring their shekels in their proper season —

at the appropriate time, before the new moon of Nisan,

and “the contribution of the chamber” would be taken from

the contribution of the shekels

new

that the public had weighed

at its time, on the first of Nisan.

All the new shekels that had been received from the public contribution for “the half-shekel” would be placed in the chamber, and on the first of Nisan they would “take a contribution” of money from the chamber, by filling three boxes with shekels from among the many shekels that were in the chamber.

And from those monies that had been “taken as a contribution” from the chamber into the boxes, they would take the communal offerings for the needs of the coming year.

And therefore they make known on the first of Adar, thirty days beforehand, concerning the collection of the shekels, so that everyone would have enough time to bring them before the time of “the contribution of the chamber.”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak said:

the reason that the time of the contribution of the chamber from the new shekels is on the first of Nisan is that the time of

the contribution of the chamber —

it is

like its beginning!

Just as the first contribution was when the Tabernacle was erected, on the first of Nisan,

as it is written: “And it was in the first month, in the second year, on the first of the month, that the Tabernacle was erected.”

And it was taught concerning it: On the day the Tabernacle was erected —

on that very day the contribution was taken

for the needs of the communal offerings, which were already offered on that very day.

And likewise for the generations, they begin taking a contribution from the new [shekels] for the purpose of bringing the communal offerings from the beginning of the month of Nisan.

Rabbi Tavi

in the name of

Rabbi Yoshia in the name of Kahana

said: the reason that they offer on the first of Nisan from the new contribution is a derivation by gezera shava:

It is stated here,

in the section of the offerings [Numbers 28], “This is the burnt offering of the month in its month for the

months

of the year.” From here we learn that one must renew and bring offerings from a new contribution, as was explained above.

And it is stated there,

“This month shall be for you the beginning of

months

of the year.”

Just as “months,” which is stated there, are counted only from Nisan

as it is written in this verse: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months.”

So too, “months,” which is stated here,

in the verse “This is the burnt offering of the month in its month,” from which we derive that from here onward communal offerings must be brought from a new contribution,

are counted only from Nisan.

For from Nisan they begin bringing communal offerings from the new shekels for all the months of the year.

Rav Yona said: Rabbi Tavi left out the beginning of the teaching and stated the end [

Rav Tavi left the beginning of the beraita and took the end]. This exposition that Rav Tavi brought to teach us that the time of the contribution of the chamber is in Nisan is the end of the beraita, and he did not mention at all the beginning of the beraita, which brings the source of the law that there is a time when one must renew and bring from a new contribution.

For it is not so, as in this matter [

that it is not correct to act in this way, as in the matter] that Rav Tavi did, who did not mention at all the beginning, that one must bring from the new [contribution].

And thus we learned in the beginning of the beraita,

for it was taught:

it is written

“This is the burnt offering of the month in its month.”

Could it be that he should take a contribution

from the shekels in the chamber

every single month?

The Talmud says: “In its month, for its month.”

This teaches you:

in one month he takes a contribution for all the months of the year.

For if he takes a contribution every month, it could have been written, “This is the burnt offering of the month.”

Could it be that

he should take a contribution

in whichever month he wishes

for all the months of the year?

That is not so.

Since

it is stated here, “months”

in the verse “This is the burnt offering of the month in its month for the months,”

and it is stated there, “months,”

in the verse “It is the first for you for the months of the year.”

Just as “months,” which is stated there, are counted only from Nisan,

so too “months,” which is stated here

concerning the contribution of the chamber,

are counted only from Nisan.

We learned in our Mishna: On the first of Adar they make known concerning the shekels.

What is “they make known”?

Rav Huna said: They proclaim.

And this that they instituted proclaiming concerning bringing the shekels, they supported it by a verse,

as it is stated [

as it is said] in Chronicles [24]:

“And they gave a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem

to bring to the Lord the contribution of Moses, servant of the Lord.”

And there it is speaking about silver shekels, as is demonstrated by the verses in the Book of Kings. The inference is that one must give a proclamation and proclaim concerning bringing the shekels to the Lord.

We learned in our Mishna: On the first of Adar they make known concerning the shekels and concerning diverse kinds. And on the fifteenth of it they read the Megilla in the walled cities.

We learned in a Mishna: [

in the first chapter of Megilla]

there is no

difference

between the first Adar and the second Adar,

for they are equal in this, that both are prohibited for eulogies and fasting on the fourteenth and fifteenth, and there is no difference between them

except the reading of the Megilla and gifts to the poor,

which are practiced only in the second Adar, and not in the first Adar.

Rav Simon in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi

said:

there is also the making known of the shekels and diverse kinds

present

between them,

between the first Adar and the second. For the law of making the shekels and diverse kinds known on the first of Adar mentioned in our Mishna applies only in the second Adar.

Rabbi Yose said: It is appropriate [

it is correct and fitting] that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that the making known of the shekels and diverse kinds likewise applies only in the second Adar.

For

is it at all so

for what reason

did

the Sages say that on the first of Adar

they make known concerning the shekels,

and is it

not only so that Israel would bring their shekels in their proper season

by Nisan, when offerings must be brought from the new contribution?

And if you say

that the making known of the shekels should be done

in the first Adar,

then

until now [

still]

there are sixty days in the year [

there are sixty days] until the first of Nisan, and a person will say to himself: I still have much time to bring my shekel; and because of this he will be negligent and will not bring it.

And therefore they instituted that they should make it known on the first of the second Adar, which is thirty days before the time, and he will hurry to bring his shekel.

And likewise the words of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi are correct in what he said, that the making known of diverse kinds also takes place in the second Adar.

For

is it at all so that they said

on the first of Adar

they also go out concerning diverse kinds,

and is it

not so that the plants should be recognizable

and they should see whether there are diverse kinds among them?

And

if you say

that

in the first Adar

they proclaim concerning diverse kinds,

until now [

still]

they are thin [

the plants are thin] and it is not recognizable whether there are diverse kinds among them. For this is the reason that they intercalate the year and add the first Adar: because of the grain that has not ripened, as it was taught in Sanhedrin [11b].

And since this is so, there is no place for making the diverse kinds known until the second Adar.

It was explained in the Gemara above that the reason for proclaiming about the shekels on the first of Adar is so that Israel would have enough time to bring their shekels by the first of Nisan.

Rabbi Hezekiah asked: From now,

since you have said that the proclamation concerning the shekels is so that they should bring their shekels in their proper season, this is difficult:

If so,

the people of Babylonia,

who are very far from Jerusalem and require much time to bring their shekels to Jerusalem, should

make the shekels known from the beginning of winter, so that Israel

of Babylonia

would bring their shekels in their proper season

by the first of Nisan,

and the contribution

also on their behalf

of the chamber would be taken from

the contribution

new, at its time, on the first of Nisan?

Rabbi Ulla raised an objection before

[

before]

Rabbi Mana

But we learned

below

[that there are] three periods [

times]

in the year when they take a contribution from the chamber.

There was in the Temple a large chamber into which they brought all the shekels contributed by Israel. And when they took them for the purchase of the offerings, they did not take all the shekels at once for the offerings of the entire year; rather, three times a year they took a contribution from the chamber:

a.

Before Passover [

that is, fifteen days before Passover]

b.

Before Shavuot [

the festival of Weeks]

c.

Before the festival [

the festival of Sukkot].

And he continued and

said to him

Rabbi Ulla: For what reason did they take a contribution from the chamber three times, at three times, and not once? Necessarily, because not everyone managed to send the shekels collected in the month of Adar by the first of Nisan.

Let us say [

and let us say as follows]: By Passover, not all the shekels of Israel from all the exiles had yet arrived, but only those from the places near Jerusalem. And therefore:

These who are near [

those who are near] bring their shekels

before Passover,

and these who are far

bring their shekels

before

Shavuot.

And these who are farther than them [

and those farther from them still] bring their shekels

before the festival.

And thus all Israel will have a share in the offerings.

And if so, since a special contribution is taken from the shekels of the distant places according to the time of their arrival, there is no need to make the shekels known to the people of Babylonia and to the other distant countries before the first of Adar, since the time of the contribution of the chamber from their shekels is indeed later than before Passover, and there is no place for Rabbi Hezekiah’s question.