This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: half a shekel... The rich shall give no more, and the poor shall give no less than half a shekel, with which to give the offering to the Lord, to atone for your souls.
Rashi explains the word Ep §Y¦i d¤f Hashem showed Moshe a sort of coin of fire weighing half a shekel, and He said to him, Ep §Y¦i d¤f ̈M “Like this one they shall give.”
The question is: Why did Hashem have to show a coin of fire and not an ordinary coin, since Moshe wasn’t sure what the coin looked like? Another difficult Posuk ... Hashem tells Moshe that He has filled Betzalel with a Divine Spirit to be able to construct the Mishkan. Why did Betzalel need such wisdom? We also see in the Posuk that Betzalel had Ruach Hakodesh and was able to read the minds of the donors. Why did he need to possess such Divine Power?
Another difficulty is: that we found in last week’s Parsha: All the clothing for the Kohen, the Torah begins with the word ̈zi ¦U ̈r§e “you shall make”. The reason is that in the end that they should be z ¤x ̈` §t ¦z §lE cFa ̈k§l for honor and glory. How would we know if the Bigdei Kehunah was for honor and glory?
The answer is that the makers of the clothing had to be spiritual enough to have the right intentions when making them. The same goes for the Mishkan. Hashem chose Betzalel to oversee the work as he had divine spirit of Ruach Hakodesh to oversee the intentions of the workers. This brings us a question as to why the workers had to have the right intentions by making the Mishkan as well as the clothing? The answer is that in order to be an honor and glory for Hashem, it had to be done right. Besides, the Mishkan was an atonement for the sin of the golden calf, and in order to be atoned, it must be with the right intention and done with all Kavanos.
Now we come to the Machtzis Hashekel, which was also an intonement as the posuk states, x¥R©k§l 'd z©nEx §Y z¤` z ¥z ̈l m¤ki¥z W §t©p l©r with which to give the offering to the Lord, to atone for your souls. Therefore, in order for Hashem to see that the half shekel was given with fervor and willingness, Hashem showed Moshe a coin of fire and said “Like this one, they shall give.” With an introduction from the heilige Rebbe Levi Yitzchok of Barditchev in his Sefer Kedushas Levi end of Parshas Mishpatim: “The glory of Hashem was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain” (15:18). A person has to serve Hashem in all his dealings, but how does a person know if Hashem is satisfied with how he is serving Him in Avodas Hakodesh?
The Kedushas Levi teaches us the way to find this out: If when a person davens, learns, or does a Mitzvah, he does it with warmth and fervor, then Hashem is satisfied with that person’s work. However, if his davening, learning or his doing a Mitzvah is without any warmth and fervor, and he is just doing it out of habit for the sake of his conscience, then Hashem isn’t really satisfied with his work in serving Him. This is what the Posuk is telling us: 'd cFa §M d¥` §x©nE, if one wants to see that Hashem has cFa §M, honor and pleasure in your serving Him, the proof is W¥` §M z¤l¤k, if you serve Hashem with warmth and fervor and a bit of a fiery spark, as a consuming fire. If this is how your Avodas Hakodesh is performed, then Hashem is delighted with your work.
Therefore only an act that is done as fire with warmth, fervor, and a fiery spark, such a Mitzvah finds favor with Hashem. Hence the whole work that went into the Mishkan and the clothing which had to be for honor and glory to Hashem, had to be done with a fiery act of warmth. The same was by the Half shekel which was for atonement, and we find a beautiful Gemara in Bava Basra 48a ...
With regard to one who pledges to bring a Karban Olah, the verse states: “he shall bring it according to his will, before the Lord” (Vayikra 1:3). The superfluous phrase “he shall offer it according to his will” teaches that they can coerce him to bring the offering. since he is in fact amenable to achieving atonement. From here we see that in order a person should have a complete atonement from his sacrifice, he must consent wholeheartedly. Therefore, by the half shekel it had to be given with a full heart, and only by giving it with warmth and with a fiery act, does he show his full intention.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
