Komentaryo sa Exodo 30:13: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi, Chizkuni & Da'at Zekenim

“A half-shekel” [30:13]. Moses made a coin out of silver for himself because he was a king in Israel. The custom of the kings was that each one made a separate coin as a memorial. It was called the holy shekel because weights of holiness were weighed with this coin. When someone had a firstborn son to redeem, they weighed five shekels and also other positive commandments used this coin as a weight. Therefore, it was called the holy shekel because it was used for positive commandments from the Torah. We call the language of the Torah the holy language, because it is the holy language that the Holy One spoke with the prophets, only in the holy language. Similarly, the names of the Holy One are only in the holy language. The name of the angels are also only in the holy language. The world was created in the holy language and when the Messiah will come again, the whole world and all the nations will speak the holy language, as the verse says, “for then I will make the people pure of speech, so that all invoke the Lord by name” [Zephaniah, 3:9]. Why did they give a coin of a half shekel? This is because Israel had worshiped the Golden Calf and transgressed ten commandments of the Holy One. Each half shekel had ten gerah. Therefore, each one brought ten gerah to atone for the ten commandments that they transgressed. Therefore, they brought a half shekel because Israel transgressed in the middle of the day, just as they made the Golden Calf for half a day.³Bahya, Exodus, 30:13.

Zeror ha-Mor writes. The portion of Ki Tisa is written near the portion of the incense, because the incense stops the plague so that no person dies.⁴Zeror ha-Mor, Exodus, 30:12. The plague comes into the world from the counting that the people are counted. Therefore, they are written together to show us that the Holy One wants to lead us on the right path, so that we should not be harmed. Therefore, the verse says, “each shall pay the Lord a ransom for himself” [30:12]. That is to say, I want to teach you so that no plague should come on Israel, since the plague comes through counting. Rather, you should give a silver coin, which will stop the plague in Israel, just like the incense. That is to say, when the Temple stood, the incense stopped the plague. However, when the Temple was destroyed the charity stopped the plague, as the verse says, “charity saves from death” [Proverbs, 10:2]. This means, charity protects from death. Our sages also say that in the portion above it is written that the Holy One forgives the transgressions once a year on Yom Kippur. Therefore, he writes about it in Ki Tisa. That is to say, You, Holy One, should bear their sins and should forgive their transgressions through the charity that is given. Therefore, the verse says here that one should give only half a shekel. This teaches us that the Holy One does not desire much charity, but a half shekel from poor and rich alike.

Bahya also writes that the person divide half for the body and half for the soul, equally for each one. That is to say, he should eat and drink with measure and not excessively, but he should be able to serve the Holy One with the body. They made silver thresholds to hold the boards of the Tabernacle from the shekels that Israel gave. That is, this should be atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf. Just as a penitent lays himself on the threshold so that others might step on him, similarly, they made thresholds from the shekels in the Tabernacle as an expiation. Israel should have regret for their sins, not to do them anymore.⁵Bahya, Exodus, 30:13.

זה יתנו THIS SHALL THEY GIVE — He (God) showed him (Moses) a kind of fiery coin the weight of which was half a shekel and said to him, “Like this shall they give” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 9).