The Fiery Coin

Everyone included in the census must give a half shekel. This shall be by the sanctuary standard, where a sheqel is twenty gerahs.  It is half of such a shekel that must be given as an offering to God.                                        Exodus 30:13 (The word “this” is emphatic, teaching that) God took a kind of fiery coin from His throne of glory, showed it to Moses and said “Like this shall you give.”                                   Midrash Tanḥuma

My father suggested that the following is the intention of the Midrash: Perhaps Moses had difficulty with the concept of money being connected to sanctity, in light of its corrupting effects, and he therefore wondered how money can purify and cleanse a person. In answer to Moses’ dilemma, God showed him a coin of fire. Fire can be a most destructive force, but it can also be most constructive, providing light and heat, melting and shaping things for man’s benefit. What determines whether fire will be constructive or destructive is how it is used. So too is money. When used to help others, indeed money can bring sanctity to our lives.

Indeed, many times the Torah teaches the lesson that things, in and of themselves, are neither good nor bad, rather it is the use to which we put them that determines their value.