About the Holy Half Shekel...

In Exodus 30 we read about the half shekel being given as a contribution to the Lord when a census is taken of all of the men 20yrs and older.

12 "When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.

13 "This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the LORD.

14 "Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD.

15 "The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves."

When we look at the last verse here, we see a very evident simple truth. In a word, we see “equality“. There is no class system here. Each one of the sons of Israel was required to give the half shekel. The rich were not required more, and the poor no less.

This simple truth was expounded on further by a friend I met in Jerusalem back in the early 90’s, and his name is Reuven Prager. Many people know Reuven in the Messianic community and many wear the garments that are made by him at Beged Ivri. Beged Ivri, which means Hebrew clothing, is described by him as a Levitical ministry for the research and restoration of ancient Israelite customs in preparation for rebuilding the Holy Third Temple in Jerusalem.

In an excerpt from his website below, Reuven describes the significance of the Holy Half Shekel:

The rich cannot give more, nor the poor less. Whether that speaks of material wealth or ritual observance, all are equal in the fulfillment of this Commandment. Everyone has to fulfill this Commandment with exactly the same amount. You cannot do it better than the next person, only the same, equally.

The Half-Shekel comes to remind the unaffiliated that they are at least half a shekel, and it comes to remind the very observant that they are only half a shekel. When you internalize this precept in the deepest reaches of your soul, it will change your personality. When you see yourself as half a shekel, then you will start to see every other Jew as also half a shekel. Even if there is a Jew that you hate in your heart, God forbid, when you see yourself as only half a shekel, you will see that the other person is also at least half a shekel, and you can no longer really hate them, because we are all equal, and one cannot hate someone who is equal. Only when people think themselves a whole shekel, where no one else is worth a prutah (an ancient penny) can disunity and hatred exist. When you give the Half-Shekel you are saying, "I am also Half a Shekel, count me amongst the House of Israel!"

The statement above had a great spiritual impact on me. I came to realize that I am nothing without my brothers and sisters in Messiah. There is no greater example of the “One New Man” than in the description of the giving of the half shekel. By myself I am only a half shekel, but together with any one of you I become a whole. For this reason, I carry a half shekel that I got from Reuven in my pocket to remind me every day that I need someone else to make me complete and that we can only be truly one when we see each other as equals.

This is the reason we have the half shekel prominently displayed as part of our logo.