Intoxicated with Love
Everyone is intoxicated about something. The challenge is to know what, where, when and how to imbibe.
All Shekels were not created equal
This week’s Torah portion discusses the Half- Shekel contribution Jews had to make upon building the Mishkan (portable sanctuary) in the desert. This obligation continued throughout the duration of the Temple in Jerusalem. Even today—with the absence of the Temple—there is a custom to give a symbolic half shekel by giving a half-dollar to charity on the day before Purim.
Our sages tell us that nothing happens by coincidence. The fact that we read about the obligation to give a half-shekel right after the holiday of Purim indicates that there is a close relationship between the two.
Indeed the Talmud (Megillah 13b) discusses the connection between the giving of the half-shekel and the Holiday of Purim by first quoting the words used by the wicked Haman to King Achashveirosh:
“If it pleases the king let it be written that they be destroyed, and I shall pay ten thousand talents of silver.”(Esther 3:9)
The Talmud proceeds to quote the age, Resh Lakish who said:
“It was well known beforehand to G-d that Haman would one day pay shekels for [the destruction of] Israel]. Therefore G-d anticipated his shekels with those of Israel. And so we have learnt [in the Mishnah]: ‘On the first day of [the Hebrew month of] Adar a proclamation is made regarding the [giving of the] shekalim…’
This last statement concerning the proclamation is based on the fact that the new season for the Temple begins in the month of Nissan, the very next month following Adar. This is the simple reason why they would make the announcement in the beginning of Adar to make sure that the contributions for the Temple’s functions would be given before the new season would commence.
In this passage, the Talmud suggests that there is a deeper connection between the announcement concerning the half-shekel and the month of Adar. These half-shekels that we gave actually neutralized the power of Haman’s silver that he offered to the king.
The obvious question here is, how did the halfshekels the Jews gave to the Temple have the power to neutralize the money Haman offered?
A Half is Better than a Whole
The standard explanation given is that the halfshekel is a reminder that every Jew is merely a half and is incomplete without every other Jew. When Jews are united they form one impregnable force that can never be vanquished.
Haman’s argument was that the Jews are a fragmented people and are thus vulnerable. This act of giving the half-shekel was a repudiation of that contention.
Truly Equal
There is yet a deeper lesson. The fact that every one of us gives equally – only one half-shekel, no more and no less – implies that our relationship to one another transcends our value based on an external assessment. Logic dictates that each one of us possesses a different value and that we are not all equal. When we transcend logic, however, and view each other from the vantage point of the essence of our soul that transcends our mind, we are all indeed equal.
Intoxicated with Love
There is thus one more connection between the Half-Shekel and Purim. One of the obligations of Purim is to get intoxicated. Even those Talmudic authorities that take this statement literally agree that it contains deeper symbolic meaning as well.
Purim is when we become “intoxicated” with respect and love for one another. Even if logic dictates that the other person is inferior to us, or does not deserve to be loved, we must exhibit unconditional love to that person. This unconditional acceptance of the other Jew is based on the realization that we are utterly dependent on one another and that we are truly equal.
A person who is physically intoxicated loses his power of reason. Becoming intoxicated on Purim means, among other things, that we are to transcend the limits our mind puts on our appreciation for our fellow Jew.
Not only are we to view each and every Jew as a treasure, as the Ba’al Shem Tov stated, because that also places a finite value on him or her. Purim reveals the infinite value and quality of each and every individual.
It’s in the Name
This explains the name and opening words of the Parsha, Ki Sisa. Although it is understood to mean, “When you count the children of Israel,” literally, however, it means, “When you lift up the heads of the children of Israel.”
In light of the above understanding of the significance of the Half-Shekel, the name Ki Sisa points to the effects of the Half-Shekel message.
When we relate to the other by transcending our appreciation for his or her external and even internal value, we lift up the “head” of the other person to a new level. The “head,” metaphorically, refers to the highest and most advanced level of a person. It represents his or her most exalted and noble qualities. BY telling us that this process of counting the Jewish people had to come through the giving of the Half-Shekel, the Torah is thereby revealing to us that we cannot be content with viewing the other as an exalted person with many “head” qualities. We must “lift up the head” and recognize that the other possesses infinite value.
Moshiach: Intoxicated with love
Our sages tell us that in the Messianic Age when all other Holidays will lose their significance, Purim’s importance will not change.
A corollary of this statement is that the individual features of Purim will likewise be prominent in the Messianic Age. Among them is the idea of the half-shekel/unity and of “intoxication.” The combined result is that when Moshiach comes, the Jewish people will experience an unprecedented measure of unity, to the point that we will be “intoxicated” with love for one another. Moshiach himself is often described as a leader whose obsession is the care and love for every individual.
Moshiach’s passion for all will be “infectious.” His passion will become our passion. His “intoxication” with love will become ours as well.
In addition, the revelation of Divine energy in the world will remove all the limits that we impose on ourselves that divide us. Purim with its message of trans-rational love and acceptance of each other will become a permanent fixture in the new world.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Ki Sisa by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
