We’re half-way there already! | Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
Vayakhel

קטגוריה משנית

102

This Shabbat is Shabbat Sh’kalim, commemorating
the time when monies would be collected for the
upkeep of the Bet HaMikdash. It also connects to
the upcoming Chag of Purim; the funds we donated
were an "antidote" to the bribe that Haman
offered Achashverosh to murder the Jews of Persia
(which Achashverosh actually refused!).

Buy why a half shekel? We Jews are generally
makpid on "shleimot" – full portions. For
example, we don’t make a Motzi on half a Challa!
And when saying brachot on food, a full, whole
item takes precedence over a partial portion. So
why does the Torah specifically require that this
donation be a half, & only a half?

There is no shortage of answers to this question.
One famous approach is that two Jews need to
unite in order to arrive at one whole shekel.
Another idea is that giving money is certainly
admirable, but it’s only "half the battle;" one
must also give of oneself in any project or cause.

I have a different thought. The concept of a
half, or an "unfinished" shekel tell us that we
do not always have to adopt an "all or nothing"
approach to life. We look at a goal, at the way
our life should be, and its very enormity
frightens & dissuades us. "I could never
accomplish all that!" we tell ourselves, & so, sadly, we never start at all.

But we don’t have to swallow life in one whole
bite! All we have to do is start & do what we
can, & then have faith that we’ll eventually
reach our goal. Like the famous Rabi Akiva
legend, every drop makes an impression, every act
has value, and the "halves" eventually becomes wholes.

Hashem sends us this message loud & clear. "Just
open the door a tiny bit," says G-d, "and I will
open it the rest of the way." As the song goes,
"It is not up to you to finish the job – though
you are not free to absent yourself from it."
G-d, our silent partner, rewards our efforts by
"filling in the blanks" & making up the deficit.
Our job is to take that first (half) step, & then put our trust in Hashem.

The fuel gauge broken, the shocked pilot suddenly
sees that his plane is out of gas. As it spirals
down towards the sea, he quickly puts on his
parachute & thinks to himself, "I’ll never
survive this! I don’t have the strength to swim
all the way to shore!" As he lands in the ocean,
the pilot immediately begins to tread water. But
after a couple of hours, exhausted & out of
breath, he says Shema, & is ready to give up. But
when he stops moving & extends his legs, his feet
touch bottom! He had actually come down on a
sandbar, & eventually he was seen, & rescued.

Never give up, never lose hope. Just do your half of the job.