In the Torah reading cycle, we come this week to Parasha Vayakhel, which this year is also the Shabbat “Shekelim” that begins the four special Shabbats – Shabbats which revolve around the holiday of Purim and leads to the holiday of Pessah. Shekalim, Parah, Zakhor and Hachodesh.
After the rainy winter and towards the new year that begins in Nisan and Passover, when many will go up to Jerusalem and the temple, a big fund-raising operation is needed. In the Maftir of Shabbat “Shekalim”, we read that in 836 BC Yehoash, King of Judah, was made king in Jerusalem. He was the son of King Ahaziah and his wife Tzivya, grandson of Jehoram, King of Judah and Athaliah, who was the daughter of Ahab, King of Israel.
When Jehu rebelled against Joram he also killed Ahaziah. Atalia, who belonged to both the royal house of Judah and the royal house of Israel and lost her royal relatives, decided to take over the kingdom of Judah and took the monarchy for herself. In order not to be threatened by other heirs, she executed all her grandchildren, the potential heirs to the throne. But Yehoash himself was overshadowed by his aunt Yehosheva who raised him in secret for six years. When Yehoash was seven years old, his uncle Yehoiada who also was the greatest priest – Cohen Gadol, made sure to bring him out of hiding and make him king of Judah, and on that occasion he killed his grandmother Atalia. And so, the Haftara this Shabbat, “Shekalim” starts with this piece of history – “Seven year old Yehoash in his kingship.” And because Yehoash is only seven years old, the real decision-maker in the palace is his uncle Yehoiada, the Cohen Gadol: “And Yehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, as Yehoiada the priest commanded him.”
King Yehoash authorizes the priests to be responsible for the use of the contributions and gifts that the people brought to the temple for the maintenance of the temple and its renovation. He places a casket with a hole next to the altar that serves as the box for collecting donations, and when the casket is full, the king’s representative and the high priest’s representative sit together, count the money and hand it over to the craftsmen for the maintenance of the temple. In this way, the money also returns to the people themselves as livelihood by contracting them to do the temple work.
Today, our Temples’ board of directors represents the priests in the Temple, and just like then, the trust we have in the management team is absolute! We donate, and continue to donate, because we know that the funds are directed to programs and investments that will benefit our children and grandchildren.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen