Parshas Ki Sisa 5786
On the back of a one dollar bill sits a constellation of stars perched above the head of a bald eagle, arranged in the shape of a Magen David. Although actually not a Magen David at all. The shape is a hexagram, comprised of two intersecting triangles, which is nothing more than a convenient and attractive shape in which to display thirteen individual stars, representing the Thirteen Colonies.
So if it’s Jewish symbols depicted on currency you seek, you’ll have to look elsewhere. But beware. Those “Jewish symbols” may not be as obviously Jewish as a Magen David.
Parshas Ki Sisa opens with a call for the donation of a silver-half shekel which was to serve the dual purpose of conducting a census—offering the ability to simply count coins rather than counting Jews directly—as well supplying the silver necessary for the construction of the silver sockets into which the beams of the Mishkan would be inserted.
But it didn’t end there. That same coin was collected annually as a means of replenishing the coffers of the Bais Hamikdash, ensuring there would be sufficient capital to purchase the communal korbanos that would be required throughout the year.
What did the half-shekel coin look like? A description actually comes our way from the Ramban, who provides the images present on the two sides of this coin. Decidedly Jewish symbols, though perhaps not quite as obviously so as a Magen David.
The Ramban describes that on one side of the coin was n stick bedecked with almond blossoms; on the other, a jar.
Simple. Elegant. Jewish? Yes, indeed.
The Ramban explains that the stick was not meant to represent an organic branch of an almond tree, but rather the staff of Aharon HaKohen. Following Korach’s attempted rebellion, designed to prove that Moshe and Aharon had improperly usurped the reigns of Jewish leadership for themselves, the staffs of the heads of all the tribes—included Aharon’s—were left in the Mishkan overnight. The next morning, the people beheld the miracle that had transpired: Aharon’s staff—and Aharon’s staff alone—had produced almond blossoms.
And the jar? Not Skippy, not Jiff, but mann. The jar represented the sample of mann that Hashem had commanded Moshe to save in a jar and place in the Aron Kodesh for future generations.
Almond blossoms and a jar of mann. Symbols more deeply rooted in the Jewish experience, in Hashem’s Providence and miracles than a Magen David could ever be.
Yet, why? Of all potential symbols, why these two? Hashem performed many miracles for the Jewish People between Mitzrayim and the Mishkan. Why not a depiction of the split Yam Suf, of Har Sinai, of any of the plagues that left our Egyptian oppressors decimated? Of all possible choices, why the staff and the jar?
In just a few weeks, we will sit around our Seder tables, retelling the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim, using an unusual section of the Chumash to do so. The core of Maggid borrows from the pesukim at the beginning of Parshas Ki Savo, in which a Jewish farmer is told to present his first fruits—the Bikkurim—at the Bais Hamikdash by offering a brief history of the travails of the Jewish People and Hashem’s miraculous deliverance from them. It is an interesting passage to read from. Why use the words of the farmer, spoken so years after Yetzias Mitzrayim, rather than quoting the pesukim that tell the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim directly?
Perhaps because embedded in the proclamation of the farmer is the lesson that we must discern Hashem’s providence not only when He is clearly the only actor on stage, but even when human beings crowd much of the spotlight. As the Jewish People experienced liberation from Mitzrayim, Hashem’s guiding hand was obvious, but when, generations later, they would exert every human effort in wresting sustenance from the earth, Hashem’s involvement would be less apparent. That the farmer can see through the curtain of his own labor to the truth of Hashem’s presence is a critical lesson for every person seated at the Seder, whose relationship with Hashem occurs against a backdrop of his own involvement and effort undertaken in leading his life.
And yet the opposite is likewise true. Even the Jew of perfect faith in Hashem is not entitled to sit idly by as Hashem runs the world. The person who simply waits for Hashem to deposit his livelihood directly into his pocket waits in vain. The Torah insists that we recognize Hashem’s providence on the one hand, but demand that we utilize our own agency on the other. We must simultaneously take responsibility for our own lives and acknowledge the utter futility of trying to do so independent of Hashem’s guidance and support.
It is perhaps this full picture that is fleshed out by the two images on opposite sides of the machatzis hashekel, the coin earned by every Jew as part of his livelihood, donated of his own volition to the treasury of Hashem’s palace. The almonds on the one hand, the jar of mann on the other.
The mann is the sustenance that comes directly from Hashem, without any human effort necessary. A jar of mann is kept in the Aron Kodesh for all time so that every future generation will remember that “not by bread alone does man live, but by the decree issued by Hashem’s mouth does man live.” (Devarim 8:3)
And yet, the almond blossoms. Almonds which are the first fruit to blossom when spring arrives, and which symbolize the need for man to grind, to hustle, to work hard. Almonds are called “shkeidim”in Hebrew, which translates to “diligent ones.” It was this symbol that indicated Aharon’s proper selection as the Kohen Gadol, not out of lineage or nepotism, but because of his diligence, the effort he exerted day in, day out on behalf of his constituents and in service of Hashem. The almonds on the half-shekel remind us of the agency Hashem has given us, and the need to work hard to gather in the bounty He’s prepared for us.
Two symbols that are actually one. Not just icons that remind us of events in Jewish history, but that provide comprehensive instruction for how a Jew should live his life and earn his living. No matter how personally diligent, to remember that this coin came his way through Hashem’s guidance. And that no matter how much we recognize His involvement, to assume the responsibility he expects and demands of us. Almonds on the one hand, mann on the other.