Shekels Matter: Reform Judaism in Israel – Shabbat Shekalim and Parashat Terumah
Shekels Matter: Reform Judaism in Israel
Shabbat Shekalim and Parashat Terumah
March 1, 2025 – א׳ אַדָר תשפ״ה
Rabbi Barry H. Block
As we prepare to encourage members of our community to Vote Reform! in the upcoming World Zionist Congress election, we must prepare ourselves for some challenging conversations, particularly when we discuss the bottom line: Our votes will translate into shekels, potentially millions, even tens of millions of New Israeli Shekels, for our Reform Movement in Israel and on behalf of the values shared by Reform Jews in Israel and here in North America
Three portions we read from Torah this week prepare us for these conversations.
- We read Parashat T’rumah. The portion begins with a confusing verse. Moses is first commanded to “Tell the Israelite people to bring me gifts,” later to be detailed as precious metals, gemstones, and fine cloths. Expensive stuff. The requirement to bring these gifts does not seem to be optional. However, the next phrase says to take these donations “from every person whose heart is so moved.” Which is it? Are the donations required or voluntary?
Rashi resolves the apparent contradiction by interpreting that some donations are obligatory, while others are best received from those who give voluntarily, with a full heart.
2. This Shabbat is Shabbat Shekalim, so we also read Exodus 30:11-16, which we will see again in Parashat Ki Tisa in two weeks. Every Israelite counted in the census must pay one-half shekel, one of the donations that Rashi designates as obligatory when interpreting the first verse of Parashat T’rumah. Most people would call a required “donation” a tax! It’s anything but a progressive tax, since “the rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less.”
3. The Haftarah for Shekalim from Second Kings 12:5-17. We read about what was done and not done with both obligatory and voluntary donations to the Temple. The Israelites have brought gifts, but the priests have failed to use the funds received to repair the Temple. Were they slothful? Greedy? Waiting for the right time? Commentators disagree, but the bottom line is that King Jehoash offers a new plan. The money will be given directly to the workers charged with repairing the Temple.
We may compare the obligatory half-shekel tax to the $5 that the American Zionist Movement charges to cover the expenses of administering the election. Our Reform Movement does not set that fee, and we cannot charge more to the wealthy or less to those who are financially struggling. We are all charged a token fee to take part in choosing how much larger, gifts and budgets are distributed.
Consequently, rich and poor alike have an equal voice in determining the direction of money that comes into Israel from Jewish communities worldwide. American Jews, regardless of means, have an equal opportunity to ensure that money that flows to the Jewish State is used for proper purposes, just as King Jehoash does in our reading.
The current Israeli government was obligated, by laws enacted before they took office, to provide for our Reform Movement in Israel. The Israeli government significantly supports Orthodox rabbis and their synagogues, not to mention thousands upon thousands of ultra-Orthodox young men who choose yeshivah study over otherwise mandatory military service or working to sustain their families. Our Reform Movement is asking only for its appropriate and legally mandated share.
Among the gifts the people are asked to bring in Parashat T’rumah is a beautiful, diverse array of materials from which to create garments for the priests—blue, purple, and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, and lapis lazuli. This multi-hued mixture of textured raw materials was woven together to create symbols of inspiring beauty.
Similarly, our Reform Movement, in Israel as in North America and worldwide, draws on the time, the treasure, and above all the talents of diverse individuals and communities to create a bright future for Israel as the Jewish and democratic state of all of its citizens.
Rabbi Barry Block serves as rabbi of Congregation Bnai Israel of Little Rock, Arkansas. He serves on the board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Rabbi Block is the editor of The Mussar Torah Commentary, published by the CCAR Press in 2020. His writing appears in chapters and articles in several CCAR Press anthologies and other publications. He blogs at the CCAR’s Ravblog.