Judy Wartell suggested in class that a possible explanation of why we each give a half shekel is so that no one points a finger (negatively toward someone who has not contributed) and that no one raises a finger pointing to themselves (I gave more).
I would like to focus your attention on the idea of not counting a person directly (assigning them a number) and instead “counting them” by a half-coin they have donated. It seems at first glance childish—are we not counting them anyway—just indirectly? Perhaps the deeper meaning of this counting is to be very cautious in seeing each person as an individual, especially when it comes to how each participates in the community. All are equal and yet that does not make them just a number—they are still the unique individual adding their half coin to the whole.
We have seen the indignity of making people a number. I am referring especially to the Nazis who branded each concentration camp inmate with a number. A television show I was fascinated by as a child was The Prisoner in which Patrick McGoohan (a name I will never forget) was prisoner #6. That was his identity. That was the inmate’s numbers in the camps—dehumanizing the person and counting them only as a number.
While all of our names equal a number (in Gematriyah) that does not mean we are a number. The number provides another clue about our essence. So we were commanded to never count people—not to assign them a number. We must elevate through our counting the dignity of each person.
I would therefore like to suggest and request that each of you give a quarter (we will set up a donation box) and with that we will purchase candles that we can light before each class. Please follow the lead of the half shekel—a quarter from each one of us—no more and no less.
