INSIGHTS
LETTERS OF THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE
This week we take out an additional Torah scroll on Shabbat and read an additional special reading for what is known as "Parshat Shekalim." We read of the "shekalim call”, whereupon every Jew was obligated to contribute half a silver shekel to the Sanctuary chest which provided the public sacrifice on behalf of all the Jewish people.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, the third Chabad Rebbe, aka the "Tzemach Tzedek”, offers some insights into this mitzvah. The mitzvah requires no more and no less than half a shekel. This indicates that when a Jew makes a contribution toward a sacred cause, it is immediately matched by a similar benevolence from G-d to him, in accordance with the principle that human initiative acts like an impulse, which calls forth a corresponding impulse from on High. The two together constitute the complete Shekel ha-Kodesh ("holy shekel").
Moreover, though human endeavour must be voluntary and spontaneous, the assurance has been given that where there is a resolute intention, the person receives aid from On High to carry it to fruition in the fullest measure.
The mitzvah of the half-shekel teaches us, among other things, that human effort, provided it is sincere and resolute, is "met halfway" by divine grace. Thus, though the goal may, at first glance, seem too ambitious or even beyond reach, we are not limited by our own human resources, since our initial effort evokes a reciprocal "impulse" from On High, which assures the attainment of even the "unattainable."
