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Jewish World Review
Feb. 20, 2003
/ 28 Shevat, 5764
Jews and money
By
Rabbi Berel Wein
A prominent author and historian gives the lowdown
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
In Temple times, the Talmud tells us, the collecting of the half-shekel
"tax" for the support of the Temple services began with the entrance of the
month of Adar. Therefore, in commemoration of this ancient Jewish rite, this Sabbath is known as "Shabbes Shekalim".
The half-shekel was to be assessed "b'shekel hakodesh," by the standard of the holy shekel. The Talmud describes in great detail the actual amount of silver required
in each coin to meet that specification. But the Talmud indirectly reminds us that part of the task of Judaism, and therefore of necessity of its adherents, the Jews, is to somehow invest a sense of holiness into the shekel — into otherwise grubby money.
According to
Midrash, Moses was shown a holy shekel of fire on Sinai. The Jewish
understanding of the symbolism of fire has always been that fire is
ambivalent — it can burn and destroy or it can light and warm. So, too, with
money. Money can accomplish great good and it also is able to bring about
great evil. It can build hospitals and schools and help the needy or it can
wreck personal character and corrupt society, government and industry. It
finances war and causes violence and cultivates crime and yet it can just as
well succor the widow and orphan and save the helpless from disaster.
Thus, the notion of "shekel hakodesh" exists in our world as strongly as it did in
the times of the Temples in Jerusalem. To take the ordinary shekel and
transform it into the "shekel hakodesh" is the mission of Torah and Israel.
There is an entire section of Shulchan Aruch (the Code of Jewish Law)
devoted to money and the task of transforming it into the "shekel hakodesh."
There are many volumes of Talmud devoted to this issue as well. Judaism sets
a minimum standard of human behavior regarding monetary matters that is
recorded in these legal tomes. But it also sets a standard of moral behavior
that though legally unenforceable is nevertheless necessary in order to
attempt to create a more just society — in short, in order to raise money to
the level of "shekel hakodesh."
This moral standard regarding money is called "lifnim meshuras hadin" — above the minimum face of the law itself. The Talmud saw that one of the spiritual causes of the destruction of the Temples was the lack of willingness to behave "lifnim meshuras hadin." People insisted on their legal rights and were not willing to accommodate
others even when morally obligated to do so. A society that does not allow
for a moral code of law to accompany the strictly legal code of law
eventually turns corrupt and rotten and dooms itself to destruction.
The Talmud is replete with examples of "lifnim meshuras hadin" in monetary
matters. Money is a great test in life. The rabbis of the Talmud held
monetary probity in such high and necessary esteem that groups of people
(such as shepherds, for example, who usually grazed their herds on other
people's property) who had bad reputations as far as money was concerned
were held to be unacceptable as witnesses in Jewish courts of law. A great
rabbi once told me that it is far easier to have glatt kosher meat on one's
plate than to have glatt kosher money in one's pocket. Sadly, he was right
in that assessment. "Shabbes Shkalim" comes to remind us about glatt kosher
money.
Judaism has always stressed the importance of imparting knowledge to its
children. But it has stressed even more the teaching of values. In current
world society, we speak of the value of money in purely economic and social
terms. But there is a value of money in spiritual and holy terms as well.
And it is that value of money — the "shekel hakodesh" value — that needs to
be addressed in the education of our children and in our own personal and
national life.
Throughout Jewish history, movements arose to help cleanse
the money of the House of Israel from immorality and cupidity. The Mussar
movement that originated in Jewish Lithuania in the nineteenth century did
wonders in developing a "shekel hakodesh" attitude amongst its adherents.
The influence of the Mussar movement was widely felt throughout Jewish
society. To a certain extent, even the secular Jewish labor organizations of
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries also were trying to
achieve a "shekel hakodesh" attitude and society, being still based upon the
Torah rules and attitudes regarding money that were part of the Jewish
psyche and soul over the ages.
Improving our attitude towards money is a
vital step in rebuilding ourselves spiritually and morally and refocusing
our attention towards creating a more just society.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in uplifting articles.
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and
founder of the Destiny Foundation.
He has authored over 650 tapes, books and videos which you can purchase at RabbiWein.com.
Comment by clicking here or calling 1-800-499-WEIN (9346).
© 2004, Rabbi Berel Wein
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