Weekly Thought

זֶה יִתְּנוּ . . . מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ עֶשְׂרִים גֵּרָה הַשֶּׁקֶל וגו': (שמות ל:יג)
[G‑d told Moses,] “This is what everyone must give: a half-shekel; [specifically, half] of the shekel used for holy [purposes], which weighs 20 geirah.” Exodus 30:13
The half-shekel was an expression of Jewish unity – rich and poor alike gave the same amount. Everyone gave only half a shekel in order to teach us that we can only achieve unity when we all recognize that we are just halves. To be a complete shekel, we must unite with our fellow.

Similarly, we are also only “half” in our relationship with G‑d. The ten powers of the soul – our intellect and emotions – parallel the ten powers that G‑d used in creating the world and continues to use in order to constantly re-create it. When we channel all ten powers of our soul – every nuance of our being – toward uniting with G‑d and fulfilling our Divine mission, we align our soul-powers with G‑d’s attributes. Our ten becomes twenty – a holy shekel.

- One Plus One