- Halacha
- General Questions
386
Question
What is the Jewish worth of 2 prutahs? What could be bought with 2 prutahs in the time of the second Temple? Do the prutahs put in the trumpet shaped chests in the Temple have any connection with acquiring some kind of meat offerings or what?
Answer
One prutah coin (worth about .025 gram of pure silver) could buy lamps and wicks, an etrog for Sukkot, or a pomegranate (Meila 6, 3-4), and it was the smallest common coin (8 prutahs in an issar; 32 prutas in a ma’ah; 192 prutahs in a zuz (or dinar). It took about 200 zuz (or 38,400 prutahs) to support one adult for a year, so a prutah is pretty small, and multiply that by 2! People would put prutahs (sometimes voluntarily and sometimes obligatory) in one of the 13 “shofarot” (trumpet shaped), where each one was marked for a specific designation for use of that money (e.g. for particular offerings, the upkeep of the Temple, etc.)

What causes so much division in the world?
Rabbi David Sperling | Av 7, 5784

Why is homosexuality forbidden in the Torah
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Av 8, 5784
Changing a babys name
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman | Nisan 2, 5784

Eating vis a vis benefiting
Rabbi David Sperling | Shevat 8, 5784

Lubricant Kashrus question
Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Cheshvan 7, 5783

Vitamix koshering for Pesach
Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Nisan 13, 5783

Pesach Shaila about Tea Kettle
Rabbi David Sperling | Nisan 12, 5780

Pesach - leaving home before Pesach
Rabbi David Sperling | Adar II 22, 5771

Ribit
Rabbi Daniel Kirsch | Tevet 25, 5785

coffee creamer
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Adar 25, 5785

Re how does God do terrible things to people
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Tevet 26, 5785
