Haftorat Pekudei- Shekalim

This week’s Dvar Torah is לעילוי נשמות of those that were brutally murdered by Arab terrorists Thursday night,

Remember to have in mind in your Tefillos all the victims who are critically injured.

This Shabbos we have the unique opportunity of taking out three Sifrei Torah. This is due not only to the fact that it is Rosh Chodesh Adar but it also the first week of the four special Torah readings where this week we will read Parshas Shekalim. ( See Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin’s ‘Moadim BeHalacha’ for a detailed backround of these special readings)

In this situation, the Parsha of the week is read followed by the reading of Rosh Chodesh and then Parshas Shekalim is read. This order is based on the rule of 'תדיר ושאינו תדיר קודם', that when one is faced with two Mitzvos and he has the ability to perform both of them then the Mitzvah that is more commonly done takes precedence. Therefore, Rosh Chodesh which comes out more often than Parshas Shekalim is read first. However, this principle only tells us which Mitzva takes precedence but not which should be performed if one only has the choice to perform one of them. Therefore since we only can read one Haftorah we choose the Haftorah of Shekalim even though Rosh Chodesh is more common. This based on the principle of (לבוש סי' תרעה) 'מאי דסליק מיניה', meaning “that which he has just left” which tells us that Haftorah that is read always relates to the immediate preceding Torah reading. Therefore this week the connection between the Haftorah and the Parsha is between the Haftorah of Shekalim and the special Maftir of Parshas Shekalim.

It appears that the theme of Parshas Shekalim is Achdus, unity among Klal Yisrael. This was not any regular census, rather the goal of the requirement of every member of the Jewish People, rich or poor, to contribute half a Shekel, was in order elevate ourselves by contributing to a sacred cause. The Talmud (Bava Basra 10b) learns this idea out from Pasuk 12, "כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל וגו', which means “when you elevate the heads of Bnei Yisrael”. Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch writes in stressing this theme of unity, “But the symbolic expression of the duty to work for the common weal is מחצית השקל, half a shekel per person. Objectively, actually, even the most complete and most perfect work of any single individual is never the whole of the work, can never accomplish everything, the work of any single person will always remain but a fragment, it requires an equally devoted sacrifice on the part of his brother to establish a whole” (‘The Pentateuch’, Judaica Press, page 578). We see that that the point of being counted through contributing a Half Shekel was in order to facilitate every Jew striving together and putting aside selfish interests in order to accomplish the national goal of building a Mishkan.

This theme of unity is clearly seen in this week’s Haftorah. The back round to the Haftorah is the evil king Achav’s daughter, Queen Asaleyahu, murdered every member of her family in order to be able to rule as queen. The Jewish People led by the righteous Kohein Gadol Yehoyada, destroyed the houses of idol worship setup by the evil queen and put her to death by the sword. Yehodaya had sealed a new covenant with Hashem and there was peace among Klal Yisrael. The one family member who had been saved by Yehodaya was Yehoash who was accepted by Klal Yisrael to be the king. The Haftorah tells us that as king, Yehoash reinstituted the service in the Beis Hamikdash as well as setting up a new system of maintenance for the necessary repairing. Yehoash decreed that all money contributed to the Beis HaMikdash would go directly to the repair fund.

Why did Yehoash focus on reparing the Beis Hamikdash so much? Why out of the forty years of Yehoash’s reign as king is his devotion to the Beis Hamikdash heavily stressed by the Navi?

It seems that the message we are being given that just like by the Mishkan a census was imposed in order to unify the Jewish people, so too after a period of tragedy and suffering under the reign of King Ahchav and Queen Asaleyahu, the best way to once again unify the Jewish People is to instill in them the common national goal of taking care of Hashem’s house. King Yehoash saw that only through this way will once again peace and harmony be brought back to Klal Yisrael.

The past few weeks Klal Yisrael has been experiencing terrible suffering, how fitting is it that after this past week full of tragedies we can read the Navi telling us the importance of unity. As the Rambam quoted earlier writes, only through a national unified effort of davening and reflection can tranquility be achieved and the sufferings removed.

Have a great Shabbos!