“And the priest Jehoiada took a chest and bored a hole in its lid… and the priestly guards of the threshold deposited there all the money that was brought into the House of God” 2 Kings 12:10
February 27, 2025 14:43
This Shabbat is Shabbat Shekalim, one of four special Shabbatot leading up to Purim and Pesach, each named for the extra portion we read from the Torah.
The Shekalim Torah section records how each male Israelite aged 20 and over would contribute a half-shekel to the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
It leads to the practice of donating three “half coins” to this day, on the fast of Esther - so for those of us in the UK, three 50p coins - three because the word terumah, meaning “donation”, is repeated three times in these verses.
For me, it is the haftarah from 2 Kings, rather than the Torah reading, which draws my particular interest. Focusing on one of the rare good kings of Judah, Jehoash, whose reign was approximately 837–800 BCE, the haftarah describes his campaign of Temple repairs.
The words bedek habayit meaning “repairing the House” (or just housekeeping) are repeated over and over in this haftarah. Artists’ impressions of the First Temple (which stood from 957 to 586 BCE) in Jerusalem look shiny and impressive, but our text tells us that over 100 years after being built, it was in a state of disrepair.
At first, the priests in charge didn’t follow instructions and the renovation project drifted. So Jehoash set up what is surely the first recorded money box, with a slot in its lid to collect renovation contributions and made sure that funds went directly to the artisans to get the job done.
A parallel account in 2 Chronicles 24 explicitly makes the link with our Torah reading, describing Jehoash’s collection as like “the tax imposed on Israel in the wilderness by Moses, the servant of God”.
Having just dealt with a stream of drainage issues and broken appliances in my own home, the matter of housekeeping as a perennial, necessary and expensive job, feels deeply relatable. In addition, Jehoash’s need to keep a close eye on the project managers and tradespeople hasn’t changed one bit in 2,850 years.
Then as now, our domestic homes and religious houses need care, attention and a regular refresh - something which is only made possible by the figurative giant money box, with many half-shekels contributed over time.
Rabbi Lorie is rabbinical scholar of Jofa UK