ק׳ ק׳ שׁערי תפילה
The funds raised were primarily used to purchase cattle for the communal sacrifices. The leftover monies were used for a variety of communal purposes, including providing salaries for the judges and maintenance of the Temple, its vessels, and the city walls.
This annual tax, known as the machatzit hashekel, was due on the 1st of Nissan. One month earlier, on the 1st of Adar, the courts began posting reminders about this Biblical obligation. In commemoration, the Shekalim is the first of four readings added during or immediately before the month of AdarTorah reading of the Shabbat that falls on or before Adar is supplemented with the verses (Exodus 30:11-16) that relate G‑d's commandment to Moses regarding the first giving of the half-shekel.
The Shekalim haftarah (II Kings 11:17-12:17) continues on the same theme, discussing the efforts of King Jehoash (9th century BCE) to earmark communal funds for the upkeep of the first Holy Temple.
(We too give a commemorative half shekel to charity—on the Fast of Esther.)
“Parshat Shekalim” is the first of four special readings added during or immediately before the month of Adar (the other three being Zachor, Parah and Hachodesh).
The Shekalim reading is also related to the upcoming holiday of Purim. According to the Talmud, Haman's decree was averted in merit of the mitzvah of machatzit hashekel.
Haftara
II Kings 11:17-12:17.
The Parshat Shekalim Torah reading discusses the annual obligation for every Jew to give half a shekel to the Temple coffers. The haftorah discusses the efforts of King Jehoash (9th century BCE) to earmark these communal funds for the upkeep of the first Holy Temple.
Background for this haftorah: Because of an alliance with the Northern Kingdom of Israel, idol worship had become rampant in the erstwhile righteous Davidic dynasty-controlled Southern Kingdom. When the king of the Southern Kingdom, Ahaziah, was killed, his mother Athaliah murdered the remainder of the royal family and seized the throne. During her brief reign, she actively promoted idolatry. Unbeknownst to her, one of Ahaziah's sons, a small baby, was hidden and survived. When he became seven years of age, Jehoiada the High Priest led a successful revolt against Athaliah, and installed the child king, Jehoash, as the new King of Judea.
The haftorah begins with the new king renewing the people's covenant with G-d. They destroyed all the pagan altars and statues and appointed officers to oversee the Holy Temple. Jehoash then instructed the priests regarding all the funds that were donated to the Temple. According to his plan, all the funds would be appropriated by the priests. In return, the priests would pay for the regular maintenance of the Temple. In the 23rd year of Jehoash's reign, the priests neglected to properly maintain the Temple. Jehoash then ordered that all monies should be placed in a special box that was placed near the Temple altar, and these funds were given directly to the workers and craftsmen who maintained the Temple
that we inform the Kahal
of the Petira of one of the
matriarchs of our Bet Hakeneset
Mrs Emilie Jacobs ע״ה
mother of our dear
David & Jonny Jacobs ש״י,
Mrs Emmanuella Hodari & Mrs Ruth Kachani שתח״י
and sister of our dear
Mr David Salem
מן השמים תנחמו
אריכות ימים
Moorlanenews
would like to use this opportunity
to send their heartfelt condolences
to
R'David & R'Jonny Jacobs ש״י,
Mrs Ruth Kachani & Mrs Emmanuella Hodari שתח״י
and
Mr David Salem ש״י,
and wish them
מן השמים תנחמו
אריכות ימים
תפלה לחורף תשפ״ג
Winter Timetable 5783 – 2022/23
מוצאי שבת | ערבית | שקיעה | מנחה שבת | סוף זמן קריאת שמע | הדלקת נרות | מנחה וקבלת שבת | תאריך | שבת פרשת |
Shabbat Ends | Arbit | Sunset | Minha | Shema before | Candle Lighting | Minha & Kabbalat Shabbat | Date | Parasha |
PM | PM | PM | PM | AM | PM | PM |
|
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6:15 | 6:11 | 5:23 | 4:50 | 9:52 | 5:07 | 5:07 | 17/18 Feb | משפטים (ש''מ) |
- In what context is a mezuza mentioned in this week's parsha?
21:6 – If a Hebrew slave desires to remain enslaved, his owner brings him “to the doorpost mezuza” to pierce his ear. - What special mitzvah does the Torah give to the master of a Hebrew maidservant?
21:8,9 – To marry her. - What is the penalty for wounding one's father or mother?
21:15 – Death by strangulation. - A intentionally hits B. As a result, B is close to death. Besides any monetary payments, what happens to A?
21:19 – He is put in jail until B recovers or dies. - What is the penalty for someone who tries to murder a particular person, but accidentally kills another person instead? Give two opinions.
21:23 – (a) The murderer deserves the death penalty. (b) The murderer is exempt from death but must compensate the heirs of his victim. - A slave goes free if his master knocks out one of the slave's teeth. What teeth do not qualify for this rule and why?
21:26 – Baby teeth, which grow back. - An ox gores another ox. What is the maximum the owner of the damaging ox must pay, provided his animal had gored no more than twice previously?
21:35 – The full value of his own animal. - From where in this week's parsha can the importance of work be demonstrated?
21:37 – From the “five-times” penalty for stealing an ox and slaughtering it. This fine is seen as punishment for preventing the owner from plowing with his ox. - What is meant by the words “If the sun shone on him”?
22:2 – If it's as clear as the sun that the thief has no intent to kill. - A person is given an object for safe-keeping. Later, he swears it was stolen. Witnesses come and say that in fact he is the one who stole it. How much must he pay?
22:8 – Double value of the object. - A person borrows his employee's car. The car is struck by lightning. How much must he pay?
22:14 – Nothing. - Why is lending money at interest called “biting”?
22:24 – Interest is like a snake bite. Just as the poison is not noticed at first but soon overwhelms the person, so too interest is barely noticeable until it accumulates to an overwhelming sum. - Non-kosher meat, “treifa,” is preferentially fed to dogs. Why?
22:30 – As “reward” for their silence during the plague of the first-born. - Which verse forbids listening to slander?
23:1 – Targum Onkelos translates “Don't bear a false report” as “Don't receive a false report”. - What constitutes a majority-ruling in a capital case?
23:2 – A simple majority is needed for an acquittal. A majority of two is needed for a ruling of guilty. - How is Shavuot referred to in this week's parsha?
23:16 – Chag Hakatzir — Festival of Reaping. - How many prohibitions are transgressed when cooking meat and milk together?
23:19 – One. - What was written in the Sefer Habrit which Moshe wrote prior to the giving of the Torah?
24:4,7 – The Torah, starting from Bereishet until the Giving of the Torah, and the mitzvot given at Mara. - What was the livnat hasapir a reminder of?
24:10 – That the Jews in Egypt were forced to toil by making bricks. - Who was Efrat? Who was her husband? Who was her son?
24:14 – Miriam, wife of Calev, mother of Chur.
משנכנס אדר
מרבים בשמחה – פורים
משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה
בגמרא במסכת תענית (דף כט.) אמר
רבי יהודה בנו של רב שמואל בן שילת משמו של רב , כשם שמשנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה כך
משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה. אמר רב פפא, הלכך כל אחד מישראל שיש לו דין (דהיינו משפט) עם נכרי (גוי), ישתמט ממנו בחודש אב, משום
רוע מזלם של ישראל בחודש אב, וישתדל שיצא הדין בחודש אדר משום שאז מזלם של ישראל
הוא טוב מאד.
ומקור הדברים, הוא כמו שנאמר
במגילת אסתר, “והחודש אשר נהפך להם מיגון לשמחה”, ללמדנו, שמזל החודש גורם הצלה וטובה לישראל, שבחודש זה מזלם הוא
טוב.
קושית המפרשים: “אין מזל לישראל“
ובשנים קודמות הזכרנו מה שהקשו
המפרשים, כיצד אמרו בגמרא שבחודש אדר יש מזל טוב לישראל, והרי אמרו רבותינו (שבת
קנו🙂 שאין מזל לישראל, דהיינו שישראל אינם נתונים תחת
השפעת כוכבים ומזלות כמו הגויים, אלא נתונים באופן מוחלט וישיר להשגחת השם יתברך,
ואם כן כיצד זה שחז”ל מדריכים אותנו לנהוג על פי המזל?
והזכרנו, שהריטב”א
(רבינו יום טוב בן אברהם) כתב, שאף על פי שאין מזל לישראל, מכל מקום בשני חודשים
אלו, אב ואדר, יש מזל לישראל, דהיינו שהמזלות משפיעים על ישראל, משום שכך נגזר
עלינו מאת השם יתברך. והוסיף עוד שאפשר לומר, שלעולם אין המזל שולט בישראל, ומה
שנאמר שיש מזל טוב בחודש אדר וכו', היינו שיש גזירות טובות על ישראל בחודש אדר.
(והגזירות הם מהשם יתברך, ולא על ידי כוכבים ומזלות, אשר הם אינם משפיעים כלל על
ישראל).
והמהרש”א תירץ, שמה שאמרו רבותינו אין מזל
לישראל, היינו שאם נגזר מן השמים שלא תבוא שום פורענות על ישראל, באמת לא תבוא שום
פורענות, וכן אם נגזרה טובה על ישראל, בודאי היא תבוא, בלא קשר למזלות, אבל אם
חלילה יש על אדם איזו גזירה רעה, אותה הגזירה עשויה יותר לבוא בזמנים שמזלו של
אותו אדם אינו טוב,
ולכן הרבה גזירות קשות באו על
ישראל בחודש אב בכלל ובתשעה באב בפרט, וכן להיפך, אם נגזרה על אדם גזירה טובה,
אותה הגזירה עשויה יותר לבוא בזמנים שמזלו של אותו אדם הוא טוב, ובחודש אדר מזלם
של ישראל הוא טוב.
מחלוקת החתם סופר ומרן זצ”ל
אולם הגאון חתם סופר כתב, שדין זה,
שיהודי שיש לו משפט עם נכרי, יסדר שהמשפט יהיה בחודש אדר, אינו נכון להלכה. וטעמו
הוא, משום שאין מזל לישראל. והסביר, שמטעם זה השמיט הרמב”ם בחיבורו הגדול את
הדין הזה, משום שלהלכה אין להתחשב בענינים אלה, שהרי אין מזל לישראל.
ומרן רבינו הקדוש זכרו לברכה לחיי העולם הבא,
חלק על הגאון החתם סופר בזה, הואיל ומדברי רבותינו הנ”ל מוכח, שאף על פי שאין
מזל לישראל, מכל מקום שייך לומר שבחודש אדר מזלם של ישראל טוב יותר. ומה
שהרמב”ם בחיבורו לא הזכיר ענין זה,
יש לתרץ שהוא משום שאין זה ענין
הלכתי שיש לכתבו בספרו של הרמב”ם, אלא עצה טובה בלבד.
“When Adar Begins, Our
Happiness Increases”- Purim
When Adar Begins, Our Happiness Increases
The Gemara in Masechet Ta’anit (29a) tells us, “Rabbi Yehuda son of Rav Shmuel
ben Shilat taught in the name of Rav: Just as when the month of Av begins
happiness is diminished, so too, when Adar begins happiness increases. Rav Papa
says, therefore, if a Jew has a court case with a non-Jew pending, he should
avoid having it during the month of Av when the Jewish nation’s fortune is bad
and try to have it held during the month of Adar when the Jewish nation’s
fortune is good.”
The source for this is based on a verse in Megillat
Esther which states, “And the month which was switched for them from tragedy to
joy,” which teaches us that the good fortune of this month brings about
salvation and goodness for Israel since their fortune is optimal during this
month.
The Question of the Commentaries
We have mentioned in previous years that the commentaries ask: How can the
Gemara say that during the month of Adar the fortune of the Jewish people is
good if another Gemara (Shabbat 156b) states that the Jewish nation has no
fortune, which means that they are not under the influence of various stars and
constellations as are the other nations of the world, rather they under the
direct supervision of Hashem. How is it then that our Sages guide us to act
based on our fortune?
We have also quoted the Ritba (Rabbeinu Yom Tov ben
Avraham) who writes that although the Jewish nation has no fortune, in the
months of Av and Adar they are indeed under the influence of the
constellations, for this was the way it was decreed by Hashem. He adds that it
is possible that the Jewish nation is never under the influence of the
constellations and what is meant by the Gemara that Adar is auspicious etc. is
that during the month of Adar, good things are decreed upon the Jewish people.
(These decrees are directly from Hashem and not based on the constellations or
stars, for the Jewish nation are not influenced by them.)
The Meharsha explains that what our Sages meant when they
said that “the Jewish nation has no fortune” is that if it was decreed in
Heaven that no punishment befall Israel or that a certain good thing happen to
them, it will surely happen as such, regardless of any stars or constellations.
However, if, G-d forbid, something bad was decreed on a specific person, it
will usually befall him during times when his fortune is not the best. Thus,
many tragic experiences have befallen the Jewish nation during the month of Av,
especially on Tisha Be’av (the Ninth of Av). Similarly, when good things are
decreed upon a specific person, they will usually befall him when his fortune
is good and the month of Adar is especially auspicious for the Jewish people.
The Disagreement Between the Chatam Sofer and Maran zt”l
However, Hagaon Chatam Sofer writes that this law that a Jew who has a pending
court case with a gentile should try to have it fall out during the month of
Adar, is halachically incorrect. His reasoning for this is because the Jewish
nation has no fortune. It is for this reason that the Rambam omits this Halacha
from his great work, for the Halacha is that one should not pay any attention
to these matters, as Israel has no fortune.
Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l disagrees with
this opinion, for it is quite clear from the words of the aforementioned
authorities that although the Jewish nation has no fortune, nevertheless, it is
still possible that during the month of Adar their overall fortune is better.
We can explain that the reason why the Rambam omits this law from his work is
because this matter is not of a halachic nature; rather, it is merely a wise
piece of advice.