Siman 694, Se'if 1 · Background: the Midrash that Israel's shekalim came first

Shulchan Aruch, siman 694, se'if 1, in the gloss of the Rema

"One should give three half-gedolim in these countries, since there is no coin here that has the word 'half' on it other than this one; and in the Austrian lands they give three half-Wieners, and so in each and every country. And only one who is twenty years old and above is obligated to give."
(the Rema)

Background: the Midrash that Israel's shekalim came first

• What the Midrash says: Haman offered Achashverosh "ten thousand talents of silver," and the Midrash tells us that the Holy One preempted Haman's shekalim with the shekalim of Israel: already on Rosh Chodesh Adar the Jewish people give their shekalim to the Beis HaMikdash, before the shekalim that Haman gave to the king.
• The established custom: We read Parshas Shekalim on the Shabbos of Rosh Chodesh Adar or the Shabbos closest to it, as a remembrance of the practice in the Beis HaMikdash of sending out messengers and beginning to collect the shekalim for the Temple.

The difficulty with giving machatzis hashekel on Purim

• Two questions: First, there is no machatzis hashekel at all today, since there is no Beis HaMikdash. Second, we already made a remembrance of the shekalim by reading Parshas Shekalim two weeks earlier, so why another remembrance?
• The explanation: Giving before the reading of the Megillah is a remembrance of the Midrash, that Israel's shekalim preceded Haman's. Before we read in the Megillah about the money Haman offered, the Jewish people give their own shekalim, in memory of the Mikdash. This is an additional custom that grew out of that same Midrash.
• When it is done: The custom is to give at the end of Taanis Esther, at Minchah of the fast or before the reading of the Megillah.

Why three halves

• The source of the custom: In Parshas Ki Sisa, which is Parshas Shekalim, the words "machatzis hashekel" appear three times, and "terumah laHashem" appears three times. Hence the custom to give three halves.

A coin with the word "half" on it

• The Rema's insistence: One should give a coin that has the word "half" written on it, corresponding to the machatzis hashekel of the Beis HaMikdash, which was a coin with "machatzis hashekel" written on it. We make the remembrance as closely as we can.
• What "gedolim" means: It does not refer to size or measure; it was simply the name of a type of coin current in those countries.
• The half-Wiener: In the Austrian lands there was a coin marked "half Wiener," and so that is what they gave there.
• "And so in each and every country": Everywhere a person should try to give a coin that has the word "half" on it in the language of that country.
• In Eretz Yisrael: There was no such coin, and so the practice from early on has been to give three half-dollars.

Reasons for giving specifically a half

• Mutual responsibility: Each person gives only a half, to teach that no individual is complete on his own; a person becomes whole only when he joins together with Klal Yisrael.
• A derush on the letters of "machatzis": The verse says "Tzedakah saves from death." In the middle of the word stands the letter tzadi, which is tzedakah. The letters closest to it, ches on one side and yud on the other, spell "chai," alive. The letters farthest from it, mem at the beginning and tav at the end, spell "meis," dead. One who draws near to tzedakah lives, and one who distances himself from it, the opposite.

(The Torah did not explain why specifically a half, and many explanations have been offered.)

How it works in practice: buying the coins

• The problem: The coins sitting in shul do not belong to the person giving, and you cannot give away something that is not yours.
• The order of things: The owner of the coins brings them to shul and sets them out, as if giving them as a gift to the shul, and the shul later returns them to him. Whoever comes to fulfill the custom pays money and thereby buys the three half-dollars, and once they are his, he gives them as machatzis hashekel.
• The owner's consent: The very fact that he brought the coins to that place shows that the owner agrees to their being sold.

The "machatzis hashekel" coin issued by the government mint

• The coin: In later years a coin was issued in Israel with the word "half" explicitly on it, and some people take three of them to fulfill the custom. They are not always easy to obtain.
• An objection: Some poskim do not accept this coin, because it is not a coin actually in use but a commemorative coin issued for a specific purpose and not for commerce, whereas with a half-dollar you can actually buy something. The discussion turns on whether it is "over lasocher," current currency; and even though this coin too can be sold, it is not the same thing.

How much money one gives

• The value of a coin in the time of the Mikdash: In the times of Chazal, and even more so in the times of Tanach, the value of a coin was the value of the metal in it. A gold dinar or a silver dinar was worth its weight, and that is the source of the name "shekel," that you weigh it and that is its true value.
• The value of money today: A paper bill has no intrinsic value whatsoever; its entire worth comes from the agreement of people.
• The conclusion: Someone who wants his practice to resemble what was done in the time of the Mikdash takes metal coins that have real value, such as a half-dollar.
• The sum: The calculation has been made that a machatzis hashekel weighs about ten grams of silver. The price of silver changes from year to year, and this year the calculation came out to roughly twenty-four to twenty-five shekels, and that is the sum for which one buys the three coins.
• Those who are not particular: There are people who are not exacting about all of this, since the giving is only a remembrance; in their view there is no need for three coins, nor for a coin with the word "half" on it, and one simply gives money as a remembrance of what once was. Whoever follows this practice and whoever follows that one, both are acting properly.

Who is obligated to give

• The source for age twenty: The Torah says "everyone who passes among those counted, from twenty years old and above," and from there comes the Rema's wording that only one who is twenty and above is obligated to give.
• The differing views: The Mishnah Berurah notes that this is the opinion of Rabbeinu Ovadiah of Bartenura, and brings that there are those who disagree (Tosafos), holding that from thirteen years old and above, when he is included in the term "ish," a man, he is obligated in machatzis hashekel. After all, this is only a remembrance, and every Jew who has reached the age of mitzvos performs the remembrance.
• The actual custom: The Mishnah Berurah brings that all this is the strict law, but the custom is to give even on behalf of one's small children, and a pregnant woman gives also on behalf of her unborn child.
• A hint for the unborn child: They read closely the wording "everyone who passes (ha'over) among those counted," as a hint that even the fetus (ubar) is included, and therefore a pregnant woman gives for it as well.
• The comparison to kapparos: Regarding machatzis hashekel the Torah says "to atone for your souls," and since its theme is atonement, we treat it the way we treat kapparos. With kapparos too, everything is a matter of custom.
• The Be'er Heitev in the name of the Levush: The custom is to give Purim money on behalf of each and every person, even on behalf of the children, and pregnant women give also for the unborn child. According to this, the age of twenty is not decisive, because the custom has prevailed.

A child whose father began to give on his behalf

"Any child on whose behalf his father began to give the shekel may not stop thereafter."
(Mishnah)

• The source of the halachah: This is brought both in the Be'er Heitev and in the Mishnah Berurah; the Be'er Heitev long precedes the Mishnah Berurah, and their words are in agreement.
• The novelty here: Normally a custom becomes binding only after three times, yet here, even though this is only a custom, beginning once is enough that he may no longer stop.

To whom the money is given

"In a place where the practice is to give the money of machatzis hashekel to the chazzan, there is nothing improper in it, since whoever gives, gives with the local custom in mind."
(Be'er Heitev)

• The question: In the Mikdash the shekalim were used to buy korbanos. Today, when there are no korbanos, what is done with the money?
• The answer: It is a form of tzedakah, and the community decides to whom it is given: to the chazzan, to the gabbai, to the shul's tzedakah fund, or to any other purpose. If they decided to give it to the chazzan, that is no shortcoming in the custom.
• Further discussion: The Shaarei Teshuvah also deals with this matter.

When it is given, and in a year when Purim falls on Motzaei Shabbos

• The main point: That the giving take place before Purim.
• Why specifically on Taanis Esther: There is a mitzvah to give tzedakah on a fast day, an old practice that appears in the Gemara. And since machatzis hashekel is essentially tzedakah, we give it on a day when tzedakah is given anyway, so that both things are accomplished at once: the giving before Purim, and the tzedakah of the fast day.
• In an ordinary year: Giving between Minchah and Maariv, or before the reading of the Megillah, is also still on Taanis Esther itself.
• This year: Purim falls on Motzaei Shabbos, and one cannot fast on Shabbos, so Taanis Esther is moved earlier to Thursday, and along with it the giving of machatzis hashekel is moved to Thursday.
• One who wishes to delay: It is possible to give on Motzaei Shabbos as well, but that is not the accepted practice.

Back to the order of the Shulchan Aruch: siman 685, se'if 2, the second Shabbos

"On the second Shabbos we take out two Sifrei Torah; in the first we read the weekly parshah, and in the second we read 'Remember what Amalek did to you,' and the haftarah is 'I have remembered what Amalek did.'"
(Shulchan Aruch)

• The second Shabbos is not necessarily the next one: The "second Shabbos" need not be the Shabbos immediately following the first; there can be a Shabbos in between.
• The order of the reading: From the first sefer we read only the weekly parshah, and the second sefer is for maftir, Parshas Zachor.

"We read the weekly parshah, and place the second Sefer Torah next to it and say Chatzi Kaddish."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 6)

• Do not get confused: The second sefer is not part of the weekly parshah reading; it is a maftir in its own right. We place both sifrei Torah on the table, say Chatzi Kaddish, do hagbahah, and then read the maftir of Parshas Zachor.
• When three sifrei Torah are taken out: The Kaddish is said after the second sefer, because from the first we call up six aliyos, from the second we read the seventh aliyah of the weekly parshah, and the third is the maftir.
• When there is only one Sefer Torah: There is no choice but to roll it.
• The prohibition of talking: It is forbidden to talk, and not only in the middle, but from the beginning of the reading until its end.

The maftir and the haftarah

• How much is read for maftir: We read from "Remember what Amalek did to you" until "you shall not forget" (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 7).
• Where the haftarah begins: The Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 8) brings that this is the ruling of the Rambam and the Levush, that we begin one verse before the verse "So says Hashem, Master of Legions: I have remembered what Amalek did." That is how it is printed in the machzorim and siddurim.

Siman 685, se'if 7: the obligation of the reading is min haTorah

"There are those who say that Parshas Zachor and Parshas Parah Adumah are obligatory to read min haTorah."
(Shulchan Aruch)

• What the "there are those who say" refers to: Some explain that the phrase "there are those who say" refers to Parshas Parah, since with regard to Parshas Zachor everyone agrees that the obligation is min haTorah, and we are very stringent about it.

"Parshas Zachor: as it is written, 'Remember what Amalek did to you,' and we have a tradition that this 'remembering' means specifically saying it out loud from the sefer, and remembering it in one's heart is not enough."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 14)

• The proof from the verse: On the face of it "Remember" means remembering in the heart. But at the end of the parshah it says "you shall not forget," and that already covers remembering in the heart; therefore "Remember" must be teaching an additional command of saying it with the mouth, an actual reading from the sefer.
• Other "rememberings": In other places too the Torah uses the language of remembering where the mitzvah is fulfilled with speech, such as "Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it," which we fulfill with Kiddush, and the remembering of yetzias Mitzrayim; and some say that sefiras haOmer too is said aloud. With Parshas Zachor it is clear from the double expression, "Remember" and "do not forget."
• The intent of the reader and the listener: Since the obligation is min haTorah and the listener fulfills his obligation through "shomea ke'oneh," hearing is like speaking, the reader must have in mind to be motzi all the listeners, and the listeners must have in mind to fulfill their obligation. This is a general rule in every mitzvah in which one person discharges another's obligation: the intent of the one who speaks and the intent of the one who listens.

Parshas Parah Adumah

• The view of the Acharonim: The Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 15) brings that many Acharonim wrote that this parshah is not min haTorah.
• Even in a mitzvah miderabbanan: Even in a rabbinic mitzvah one must have in mind to fulfill the mitzvah, and the same pattern of intent by the reader and by the listener applies, only that the stringency is less.

(The practical ramifications of the stringency of Parshas Zachor will be explained further on.)

In passing · related notes

1. The giving is not a remembrance of the counting of Bnei Yisrael

• The distinction: In the parshah it says "When you take a census of Bnei Yisrael according to their numbers," and there the giving of the machatzis hashekel served the purpose of the count. Even though we read that parshah, our custom of giving is not connected to a census, but to the shekalim of the Beis HaMikdash and to the Midrash about Israel's shekalim preceding Haman's.

2. The order of Purim night when it falls on Motzaei Shabbos

• A question left for later: As far as machatzis hashekel is concerned there is no problem this year, since we give it on the earlier Taanis Esther. But the rest of the arrangements for that night, whether one stays in shul or goes home first, will be clarified closer to Purim.