“If only my anger were weighed (Shakol Yishakel) and my suffering carried together with it on a scale. Because now, that side of the scale, it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore, my words stammer (Job 6:2–3).” Job wishes that his anger and suffering were weighed together on one side of the scale against all the sand of the seas. (Ramban).

I wonder if Job was correct. Although I am certain that he experienced his anger and suffering as greater than all the sand of the seas. I wonder what would have happened if God had responded, “Okay, Job; let’s do it and see what happens.”

I suspect that Job’s raging anger and horrible, devastating suffering, would not weigh half as much as the sands of the sea.

We often experience our anger and suffering as being far more than what they truly are. They are the Half Shekel compared to the full Shekel we believe them to be.

When we come to hand over a coin that represents the “Ransom of our Soul,” we often wonder whether or not we have already paid that ransom with all our suffering. Perhaps, the Half Shekel was a reminder that there is always another perspective, and it may very well be that we are only part of the way there in paying the, “Ransom of our Soul.”

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

“Who measured the waters in His palm, gauged the Heavens with a span, measured in a huge vessel (Bashalish) the dust of the earth, and weighed mountains with a scale and hills with a balance (Isaiah 40:12)?”

The Hebrew for “huge vessel,” is, “Bashalish,” meaning, only a third: A person does only a third, or part of what he can and should. We can think, speak, and act, yet, many, those who are “the dust of the earth,” do not invest all they do with all three. God responds in a “weighed measure,” and the person will only see one third of the potential results of his Service of God.

(Be’eir Mayim Chaim – Vaeira)

The Half Shekel, or, in our context, the partly measured, is a question we must ask ourselves: Are we fully invested in what we do with thought, speech and action?

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

The Talmud in Avodah Zarah 2a teaches that, “All the nations of the world will gather before God on the Day of Judgment in a large and mixed crowd. God will instruct them to organize themselves by individual nations so that each may be judged on its own.”

God will not be bothered by the confusion. He makes a statement when He instructs the nations to step out of the confusing mix of nations and stand before Him in an organized fashion.

Many have long argued against the idea of Individual Divine Providence. The great Almighty God does not bother Himself will small details, but only with the large picture. They appear before God as a whole, a large mixture, because they refuse to believe that the individual nations, certainly individual people are not the concern of Divine Providence.

God will instruct all those who have so argued to organize themselves as individual nations. I am involved with individual nations, says God. I am involved in what you call the details.

Nowhere is this more clearly stated than by the Mitzvah of the Half-Shekel, each individual is counted. God pays attention to each of us. Rich or poor, strong or weak, contribute the same amount, because each stands alone at the center of God’s attention, involvement and Providence.

This was the gift of the Half-Shekel: Each of us matters to Almighty God.

And there’s more…

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

People often ask whether the special relationship between God and Israel is with the nation as a whole, or with each individual. The Half Shekel is our statement that there is no difference between the two. A relationship with each Jew is a reflection of the relationship with the whole of Israel.

The Tabernacle and the Temples that followed were a unifying point for all of Israel. They unified us by focusing our attention. Unfortunately, we no longer have a Temple. Torah could and should reflect our unity. Unfortunately we are all too often divided by our understanding of and relationship with Torah. The Land of Israel could and should unite us. Sadly, it too, has become a point of division rather than a focal point that can unite us.

The Half Shekel is our statement that no matter the many things that seem to divide us, we are united in our acknowledgement that we cannot exist alone and that we depend on the unity of all of Israel.

Our Avodah – Spiritual Work – is to focus on all that unifies us, to repair broken relationships, to honor even those with whom we disagree. (Machberes Avodas Hashem)

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.