We continue with the description of how the terumah of the chamber was taken, and with the order of the three separations that were made from the shekalim each year.
The First Terumah and Covering the Shekalim:
The first terumah was taken before Pesach. When it was finished, all the shekalim that remained in the chamber were covered with large leather sheets. The reason for this: new, additional shekalim would arrive from other places, and it was desired that the terumah of the chamber be taken from the new coins that had arrived and from which terumah had not yet been taken.
The Second and Third Terumah:
The second terumah was taken before Shavuos, and from the new shekalim that had arrived. After it as well, whatever remained was covered with an additional set of leather coverings. Once further shekalim arrived, the terumah was taken a third time - and this time the shekalim were not covered again, since there was no need for it. The only reason for covering was to make it possible to take the terumah from the new shekalim, which had not been part of the process in the previous rounds.
It is worth emphasizing that even though the terumah was taken specifically from the new group of coins, as mentioned above it was always taken in the name of everyone.
"Shema Tishkach":
The Mishnah explains the reason for the covering - "shema tishkach" - lest he forget. Even if the shekalim had not been covered, the one taking the terumah could have intended to take only from the new coins, but he might forget exactly where they were lying and take terumah even from those coins from which terumah had already been taken.
In Whose Name Each Terumah Was Taken:
The first terumah - was taken "in the name of Eretz Yisrael." Although the Mishnah uses the term "Yisrael," as stated it was always done in the name of all of Israel, and even in the name of those who had not yet given their shekalim, and everyone had a share in it. It simply had a special connection to the people of Eretz Yisrael, because it was their shekalim that were actually lying there.
The second terumah - in the name of the cities near Eretz Yisrael.
The third terumah - in the name of the people of Bavel and the other very distant lands, whose shekalim arrived only later.
And again: each and every time it was done in the name of everyone, except that the greater connection belonged to those whose actual shekalim the terumah was taken from - in the first group the people of Eretz Yisrael, in the second the nearby cities, and in the third those who were far and very far away.
In summary: We learned that three times a year the terumah of the chamber was taken, and after the first two the remainder was covered with leather coverings, so that the next terumah would be taken from the new shekalim - and out of concern for "shema tishkach," that he might forget and take from coins from which terumah had already been taken. We also saw that each terumah was made in the name of all of Israel, but that it had a special connection to those whose shekalim were actually lying there: the first in the name of Yisrael, the second in the name of the nearby cities, and the third in the name of Bavel and the distant lands.