Medrash Rabba Bamidbor (12:3) / Tanchumah Nosso (11) Rabbi Yehudah bar Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, “This is one of the three commands which Moshe heard from the mouth of the Almighty and which took him aback: When He said to him (Shemos 30:12), ‘Each shall give a ransom for his life.’ Moshe said, ‘Who can give a ransom for his life? It is written (Iyov 2:4), “Skin for skin; all that one has [he will give for his life],” and still it is not enough. Thus it is stated (Tehilim 49:8), “Surely no one will redeem a brother nor give a ransom for him to G-d.”’ HaKodosh Boruch Hu, said to him, ‘I am not asking [a ransom] in accordance with My means but in accordance with their means.’ [Hence,] (Shemos 30:13) ‘This shall they give.’”
There is a statement made by Reb Zushya from Hanipoli of the two saintly brothers: When I go to heaven after 120 years, they won’t ask me why I was not like my brother Reb Elimielech but they will ask me why I was not like Reb Zushya could have been. Each person is expected to be the very best of his ability. Not that he will be compared to anybody else.
Given the second half: Summary: The deeper intention in the giving of the half a Shekel which is ten Geirah is that the person shall serve HaShem with all of his ten faculties. The reason why the Possuk gives the value of the whole Shekel as twenty Geirah is because when a person invests his half including all of his ten faculties to serve HaShem he is given a second half Shekel and now he has together twenty Geirah.
The Possuk: Tehilim (100:2) עִּבְּדוּ אֶת ה׳ בְּשִּמְּחָּׂה בֹאוּ לְּפָּׂנָּׂיו בִּרְּ נָּׂנָּׂה “Serve HaShem with joy, come before Him with praise”.
Simcha as a Fundamental Principle in Avodah
Simcha is a fundamental principle in Avodah. As the Rambam writes at the end of the laws of Lulav: The Simcha, that a person shall ‘rejoice’ in the performance of a Mitzvah and [also] in the love of Hashem who commanded that Mitzvah is a great Avodah. [Furthermore] anybody who desists from this Simcha is worthy of punishment. As the Possuk states: תַחַת אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָּׂבַדְּתָּׂ אֶת־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּשִּמְּחָּׂה וּבְּטוּב לֵבָּׂב “Because you did not serve the Hashem, your G-d, with happiness and with gladness of heart”.
This means that even when a person has his Avodah in order, and he only lacks the Simcha he deserves a very serious punishment as if he did not even do the Avodah at all [!] This is because Simcha is fundamental to Avodah.
However, according to this we now have to clarify what the Possuk says: שִּמְּחוּ צַדִּיקִּים בַה׳ “Rejoice You Righteous Ones with Hashem” implying that it is only the Righteous who get to serve Hashem with Simcha.
Two Types of Simcha and Love
The explanation is as follows; there are two types of Simcha. This is due to Simcha generally emanating from the Avodah of love and there are two types of love. First, there is a logical love that when one contemplates how the true reward for a Mitzvah is the Mitzvah itself, one begins to appreciate the precious value and prominence of Torah and Mitzvos resulting in rejoicing in one’s Avodah.
This [level] is attainable by every single Jew; so that everyone needs to feel the precious value and prominence of Torah and Mitzvos and for this reason one’s Avodah should be with joy (Simcha). And when this Simcha is lacking in one’s Avodah, this is no mere absence of an element within the Avodah. On the contrary this shows that one is lacking in any kind of appreciation of the precious value and prominence of the Torah and Mitzvos.
Love Beyond Logic
However, all this above is regarding the type of love which makes sense according to logic. There is a [second] type of love however, which transcends logic being above reason and understanding, beyond any objective [at all], as the Tanya writes about the ‘B’nei Aliyah’ that their Avodah is not exclusively to cleave to Hashem alone. [This] to quench the thirst of their soul which longs for Hashem. But as the Tikunim explain in the words of the Zohar: אֵיזֶהוּ חָּׂסִּיד הַמִּתְּחַסֵד עִּם קוֹנוֹ “Who is a Chossid? One who does kindness with his Master”, and the Tikunim says: “Read the word קוֹנוֹ (which we translated as Master) to read עִּם קַן דִּילֵיהּ “with His nest”. To unite HaKodosh Boruch Hu with his Shechinah in the lower realm. [Thus, making HaShem a nesting place in this world.]
It is regarding this, that the Possuk states: שִּמְּחוּ צַדִּיקִּים בַה׳ “Rejoice you righteous with Hashem” because this is the Simcha that comes from a love which transcends logic, and not all Yidden are able to love in this manner. Only Tzaddikim have this ability. It is a gift from above.
Shivisi Hashem and the Concept of Equalizing
This concept can perhaps be further explored via the following [novel] perspective: The Possuk states: שִּׁוִּּיתִּי ה׳ לְּנֶגְּדִּי תָּׂמִּיד “I שִּׁוִּּיתִּי Hashem before me constantly” according to the Baal Shem Tov’s explanation (Tzavo’as Horivash) that the word שִּׁוִּּיתִּי comes from the word הִּשְּׁתַוּוּת which means to equalise. This means that Man needs to render equal all matters, [simply] because Hashem is constantly before him. Such an Avodah transcends [the intellect and] logic, because when one’s Avodah is in accordance with intellectual reasoning and understanding, it automatically has a [specific] objective, so that one cannot possibly maintain a position of ‘all things being equal’.
However, when Avodah transcends logic devoid of any ulterior motive, then everything becomes equal in one’s eyes. And it is from this perspective that one can serve Hashem with an attitude of Mesiras Nefesh, to fulfil Hashem’s Supernal Will because nothing [no thing] hence no ulterior motive phases him.
The Second Half Shekel: A Gift from Above
Accordingly, we will understand the second half Shekel. After a person does his Avodah using his own ten faculties (symbolised by the first half a Shekel) in a logical Avodah, he is then given a second half by way of a gift. In other words, he reaches an elevated status of שִּמְּחוּ צַדִּיקִּים בַה׳ “Rejoice You righteous with Hashem” which is the love and the Simcha of an Avodah performed beyond logic. And indeed, the Possuk states: וְּעַמֵךְ כֻלָּׂם צַדִּיקִּים “All your people are righteous” so that everybody [after all] can reach there through the Love and Simcha of a logical Avodah, as a result of which he is given the Supernal Love and Simcha from above.
This is also the difference between the two halves of a Shekel. Concerning the first half Shekel whereby everyone gives their own ten faculties, there are [indeed] differences between the poor and the rich (as mentioned earlier), but the second half Shekel, which transcends logic, [itself] symbolises ‘wealth’.
The Meaning of Raising the Head
This then is the meaning of the Possuk: כִּי תִּשָּׂא אֶת־רֹאשׁ בְּנֵֵֽי־יִּשְּרָּׂאֵל לִּפְּקֻדֵיהֶם גוֹ׳ זֶה יִּתְּנוּ גוֹ׳ מֵַֽחֲצִּית הַשֶקֶל גוֹ׳ “When you raise the head of the Yidden according to their numbers ... This they shall give, ... half a shekel ...” The initiation of all [these] things is by ‘raising the head’. This is achieved by Moshe and by the extension of Moshe in each generation.
