The Daily Halacha Moment - Zecher Lemachatzit Hashekel💲
״כל השונה הלכות בכל יום - מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא״ (נידה עג ע״א, מגילה כח:)
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Question:
What is zecher lemachatzit hashekel?
What is the correct amount to give?
Answer:
It is a widespread custom to give money to charity before the Megillah reading as a Zecher LeMachatzit HaShekel, a remembrance of the half-shekel that was donated annually to the Beit HaMikdash during that time. This minhag serves as a way to commemorate the original mitzvah, which was performed to support communal offerings and upkeep of the Bet HaMikdash. [1]
When fulfilling this custom, one should explicitly state that the donation is being given "Zecher leMachatzit HaShekel"—as a remembrance of the half-shekel that was once contributed during the time of the Bet HaMikdash. By doing so, the individual clarifies that this is not a fulfillment of the Torah mitzvah, which only applied when the Beit HaMikdash stood, but rather a custom to honor that mitzvah. [2]
The specific amount given varies by custom:
- Among Sephardic communities, the value of the machatzit hashekel is determined based on the worth of 9 grams of pure silver, calculated according to the current price of silver at the time of the donation.
- Ashkenazic communities have a different custom, where three coins, each half the value of the common currency in that location, are given. For example, in America, the common practice is to give three half-dollar coins. However, some poskim maintain that it is preferable to give an amount corresponding to the 9 grams of silver, even among Ashkenazim. [3]
Whenever possible, one should aim to give the value of the machatzit hashekel using three actual coins that are currently in circulation. [4] However, if one does not have the appropriate coins, it is permissible to use paper money or even another object of equal value as the donation for the Zecher leMachatzit HaShekel. [5]
Sources:
[1]. Rama 694:1; Chazon Ovadia, Purim, p. 101. See Yalkut Yosef, Purim, p. 585, which lists several opinions regarding when the machatzit hashekel should be given.
[2]. Chazon Ovadia, Purim, p. 101. See however, Kovetz Halachot, Purim, p. 42.
[3]. Kaf HaChaim §20; Yechaveh Daat 1:86; Chazon Ovadia, Purim, p. 102; Yalkut Yosef, Purim, p. 588. See Yaskil Avdi 1:19 & 2:11 and Minchat Yitzchak 9:69.
For The Ashkenazic Minhag:
The Rama 694:1 writes that one should give three coins corresponding to the three times "Terumah" is mentioned in the parasha. These coins should be half of the regular coin of the time and place. Almost all Ashkenazic achronim including Kitzur S”A 141:5, Aruch HaShulchan 694:8, Biur Halacha s.v. VeYesh Litan, and Nitei Gavriel 26:3 accept the Rama as halacha. Halichot Shlomo, Moadim vol 2, 18:9 records Rav Shlomo Zalman's minhag to use 3 half dollars that were minted before 1964. This is unlike Tzitz Eliezer 13:72, which says that one only has to give an actual half-shekel coin, even though it is worth much less than a silver machatzit hashekel.
[4]. . Rama 694:1; Moed LeChol Chai 31:51; Chazon Ovadia, Purim, p. 103.
[5]. See Yaskil Avdi, vol. 1, 19:16 & 2:11, which says that one must give actual money, and not something else with the same worth. However, Chazon Ovadia, Purim, p. 105 says that since the din of giving the machatzit hashekel is only a custom today, one does not have to be stringent, and may even give objects that have the same value of a machatzit hashekel. See also Kaf HaChaim 694:20.
See also Laws Of The Holidays - Nacson p. 602.
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