בס"ד
Rav Shmishon Raphael Hirsch points out that at the end of Parshas Shekalim, the Torah issues a profound commentary on human accomplishment.
The commonly understood message of the half shekel is that we should never view ourselves as being a law onto ourselves – we are always one of the greater community and anything that we may accomplish is but a half, a fraction of the work of the greater whole. However, the Torah concludes the reading with the mention that the shekel was one of twenty pieces. Simple mathematics tell us that the half shekel was then the equivalent of ten pieces.
Why would the Torah tell us to contribute such a round and complete number of pieces for the donation famous for being a fraction? To teach us that our efforts must be complete. While we need to realize that we are never the bottom line and, at most, our efforts constitute the half of the greater whole. We should concurrently keep in mind that we have to put in all ten pieces. Our effort should be a complete representation of what we have to offer. No holding back, and no leaving a little for the next guy to do. Only when we perform our contribution to it's fullest, and place in all ten pieces, do we reach the fifty percent mark of the shekel.
To paraphrase : "Be the greatest and fullest half you can be"
Hatzlacha !!
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