Half Sheqels vs.10,000 Sheqels

Resh Lakish said: It was well known beforehand to Him at Whose word the world came into being that Haman would one day pay sheqels for the destruction of Israel. Therefore He preceded Haman’s sheqels with those of Israel. And so we have learnt: "On the first of Adar proclamation is made regarding the sheqalim.”                                                       Babylonian Talmud Megilla 13b

            Concerning the half-sheqel (Resh Lakish’s “sheqels of Israel”) the Torah commands [Exodus 30:15]: “The rich may not give more, and the poor may not give less than this half-sheqel,” a law which stresses the equal worth of every individual within Israel. Every individual Israelite is an equal part of the collective Israel. This approach is an expression of the unity of Israel, and thus, one of the lessons of the half-sheqel is the ultimate importance of Israel’s unity.

            The Purim story revolves around the concept of Israel’s unity. The trouble brought upon the nation by Haman began with his declaration [Esther 3:8] “There is one nation scattered and disunited..” It was Israel’s lack of unity which made it vulnerable to the Aggagite’s plot. The turning point and the commencement of Israel’s salvation came when Queen Esther ordered [4:16] “Gather all the Jews..” The national unity which Esther achieved facilitated God’s salvation of Israel.

            Thus, Resh Lakish’s comment can be understood to hint at the power of Israel’s unity. God preceded the lesson of the importance of Israel’s unity to the nefarious deeds of Haman in order to teach His people how to deal with its oppressors.