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Daf Ditty Shekalim 5: Haman’S Shekel

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Daf Ditty Shekalim 5: Haman’S Shekel DAF DITTY SHEKALIM 5: HAMAN’S SHEKEL Michelangelo’s “The Punishment of Haman” In Michelangelo’s depiction in the Sistine Chapel, “The Punishment of Haman” pays Haman the theological compliment of crucifying him. Though the Jewish (and literal) reading of the Book of Esther is that Haman is the evil antagonist, Michelangelo seems to imply the opposite: Haman’s attempt to kill the Jews was justified, and the fact that the Jews persecuted and killed Haman makes him like Jesus. 1 Halakha 1 · MISHNA When people who live far from Jerusalem wish to send to Jerusalem the shekels that have been levied from their community, they may combine their shekels and exchange them for darics [darkonot], which are large gold coins, due to the burden of the way. Instead of carrying large amounts of shekels, the agents who deliver the funds will bring a much lighter burden of gold coins with them. The mishna adds: Just as there were collection horns in the Temple to receive the half-shekel contributions, so too there were collection horns in the rest of the country, i.e., areas outside of Jerusalem. The local inhabitants placed their half-shekels in these horns, which were later brought to Jerusalem. § With regard to the residents of a town who sent their shekels to the Temple and they were stolen from the agent on the way or were lost, if the collection of the chamber had already been collected before these shekels arrived, the agents must take the oath of a bailee to the treasurers [gizbarin].After the collection of the chamber, all the shekels that have been contributed become the property of the Temple, so the Temple treasurers who are in charge of this property become the opposing litigants of the agents. 2 If the ceremony has not yet been performed and the contributions have not yet been collected into the baskets, the shekels are considered the property of the residents of the town, and therefore the agents must take an oath to absolve themselves to the residents of the town. Since those shekels are still considered the property of the residents of the town because the shekels never reached the Temple, they have not fulfilled their obligation. Therefore, the residents of the town must contribute other shekels in their place. If, after the residents of the town contributed other shekels, the original shekels were found or the thieves returned them, both these original shekels and those newly contributed ones have the status of consecrated shekels and belong to the Temple. However, they do not count for the following year. The people cannot claim that since they contributed twice in one year they are exempt from contributing the next year. GEMARA: It is taught in the mishna that residents of a town can exchange their half-shekels with gold darics in order to ease their burden on the way to Jerusalem. The Gemara asks: If the goal is to ease the agents’ burden by combining the coins into a more valuable commodity, let them make them, i.e., exchange them with, gems [margaliot], which are more valuable than darics and much lighter to carry. The Gemara answers: They do not do this due to concern lest the price of the gems decrease, since, like all commodities, their price can decrease and the Temple treasury of consecrated property will lose. 3 Like that which we learned in a mishna there, in tractate Bekhorot: All of them, all items that can be redeemed, such as different types of consecrated items and the firstborn male who is redeemed from the priest, may be redeemed with money or with an equivalent value of money in commodities, except for shekels, which may be redeemed only with money. The question remains: Why is it that one may not redeem the shekels with vessels or any other type of equivalent value of money in commodities? Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak said that it is due to concern lest the price of vessels decreases and the Temple treasury of consecrated property will lose. This is not the case with money, whose price remains fixed. So too here, they do not exchange shekels with gems out of concern lest the price of the gems decreases and the Temple treasury of consecrated property will lose. RAV AVROHOM ADLER WRITES:1 A city could collect shekalim from all its inhabitants, and then appoint a messenger to bring the money to Yerushalayim. If subsequently the money was stolen or lost from the messenger, he would take an oath that he didn't embezzle the money, and the loss will be Hekdesh's. This is only true if Hekdesh's treasurers already used the funds towards korbanos. But if the money was still unused, the messenger would swear to the individual people who entrusted him with the funds, and they will have to donate once again. The Gemora says that this is only true if the messenger was a shomer chinam (he was watching it for free), but a paid messenger will be liable for stolen or lost objects. But Rav Abba feels that even a paid messenger is exempt, since this case is similar to an armed robbery or an object lost at sea, where even a paid messenger is exempt. The Gemora continues discussing the case when the shekalim were stolen or lost, and the messenger must take an oath before being acquitted of the allegations. The fact that the messenger swears to the treasurer can only work according to Rabbi Shimon, who says that if one is responsible for the value of Kodshim, they are considered his property. Here too, the treasurers took possession of the shekalim, thus they are held responsible. Rabbi Yochonon argues this point, and says that this works according to the Chachomim as well. Chazal were so concerned for the "safety" of Temple property that they mandated an oath here. The Gemora asks: This explains why the Mishna first said that the messenger swears to the treasurers, and then to the 1 http://dafnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Shekalim_5.pdf 4 city's inhabitants. However, according to Rabbi Eliezer (the first opinion), why is the messenger swearing to the treasurers - the shekalim do not belong to them? Rabbi Eliezer answers that the treasurers are "awarded" this oath so that they don't suspect the messenger of stealing, and that the messenger shouldn't be perceived as a sinner. The next Mishna discusses the case when one gives his friend a shekel to bring to the Beis Hamikdosh, but the latter takes it for himself. If Hekdesh's treasurers already used the funds, then the person has transgressed the halacha of Me’ilah (unauthorized use of Hekdesh.) The sin has been committed even before any korbanos were purchased with the funds and sacrificed – says Rabbi Shimon – since the Kohanim are very quick to perform the Service. When one commits Me’ilah, he has to benefit from the Hekdesh. The benefit here (simply speaking, just donating a coin isn't considered pleasurable) is that since Beis Din could have taken a collateral from him had he not donated his shekel, and now he is exempt from that, this is a derived benefit. The Kli Chemda asks a very basic question. Why did the Torah prescribe that a poor person should not bring less than a machtzis hashekel, and a wealthy man should not bring more – regardless of each person's economic situation? The Torah generally disallows adding or detracting from a mitzva (Bal Tosif and Bal Tigra.) He derives a proof from our first mishna. The shekalim were stolen or became lost, and were returned or found after the people donated another shekel. The halacha is that both coins are considered this year's shekolim, and the second one cannot be considered an early donation for next year. Only in the mitzva of Shekolim – where the Torah openly says that one cannot give more or less than the required amount – does the prohibition of Bal Tosif and Bal Tigra not apply. Otherwise, how could the replacement shekolim be used for this year's donation? In all other mitzvos however, the prohibition of Bal Tosif and Bal Tigra will apply. Maseches Shekalim in Place of Machatzis HaShekel Today, we have no Beis HaMikdash and we are unable to bring the machatzis hashekel. However, our study of Maseches Shekalim takes the place of this mitzva. A hint for this can be found in the Gemara (Megilla 13b): “It was known before the Holy One, Blessed-be-He, that Haman was destined to offer Achashverosh shekalim to destroy the Jewish people. Therefore, Hashem prepared our shekalim first, to counter Haman’s. As we learn: ‘On the first of Adar [Beis Din] announces about Shekalim.’” 5 We can interpret this Gemara to mean, “Hashem prepared our shekalim…. as we learn.” By learning the Mishna and Gemara, it is considered as if we offered the shekalim (Elef HaKsav). Sara Ronis writes:2 Our daf discusses the logistics of how Jews who lived far from Jerusalem sent their half shekels to the Temple each year. The Mishnah imagines a messenger was tasked with bringing all the shekels of his town to Jerusalem — a not insignificant physical burden. It’s a funny image, but it would also have been a painful and difficult journey. Given the physical weight of these coins and the logistical difficulty, the first mishnah of chapter 2 concedes that: They may combine their shekels into darics because of the burden of the road. Darics were Persian coins of gold and silver, and were worth substantially more than a half shekel.
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