Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Tzedakah box (Pushke), Charleston, 1820, silver, National Museum of American Jewish History

Shekalim 18: Tzedaka Boxes

jyungar April 8, 2021

For the source text click/tap here: Shekalim 18

To download, click/tap here: PDF

There were thirteen containers in the Beis Hamikdosh, each resembling a shofar – narrow at the top and wide at the bottom – in order that people shouldn't stick their hands inside to steal some money. Each shofar was marked with the purpose of its money, so that no mistakes would be made. The Mishnah (see Shekalim 2:1, 4:3, 6:5, and 6:6 with Tiferes Yisrael ad loc.) records that there were 13 collection boxes, called shofaros on account of their long, curved necks which resembled a shofar, which were placed within the Courtyard. This leads us to examine the ways rabbinic Judaism valorized giving in secret and its parallels in NT attitudes to charity.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​