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What's the value of the biblical half shekel?


By Eliezer Posner

In terms of today's money, what would be the value of the biblical half shekel?

Maimonides writes (Laws of Shekalim 1:5) that the half shekel mentioned in the Torah – the annual tithe every Jew was required to give to the Temple coffers – is equal to 160 grains of barley, which, in modern measurements, would be approximately eight grams of silver.

It is impossible to know silver's value in biblical times. At today's rate of approximately 17 US dollars per ounce, 8 grams of silver is around five dollars.1

Rabbi Eliezer Posner
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FOOTNOTES
1.

There is a custom to give a half shekel to charity on the Fast of Esther (click here for more info on this tradition). This is symbolic, a commemoration of the biblical mitzvah, and therefore it is only necessary to give one half (or some give three halves) of the local currency—e.g. a half a dollar.

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Eliezer Posner is a former member of the chabad.org Ask the Rabbi team.
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Reader Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: Nov 15, 2011
tithe not monetary
The tithe had nothing to do with (monetary) income. It was a tenth of the herd, and a tithe of the harvest and products of the harvest. For the feast tithe, if one lived too far from Jerusalem, one could exchange your goods for money - but you had to buy produce/wine/oxen, whatever you wished once there and use them for the feast and to give to the levites- it wasn't the money itself you gave to the temple. The shekel set fee was the only monetary contribution, used for the services in the temple such as the showbread - wood was also supplied by the people by lots.
The priests and Levites survived themselves, I believe, by raising herds on borrowed land, and by their alloted portions of the firstfruits and sacrifices.
Posted By Anonymous, Bellevue, WA

Posted: Sep 22, 2010
RE: Atonement
It is always good to give charity, especially before the holidays. Give as much as you can with a giving and open heart. If $5.00 is an amount that you can give at the moment, then it is a good amount to give.
Posted By Menachem Posner for Chabad.org

Posted: Sep 19, 2010
Atonement
Rabbi Eli is it safe to give $5.00 as an offering for the above feast
Posted By Anonymous, Nassau, Bahamas

Posted: Sep 19, 2010
RE: the half shekel
In the absence of the holy temple, there is no way to perform this mitzvah. However, as you may have noticed in the footnote, there is a custom to give one (or three) half dollar(s) to charity just before the holiday of Purim. This is a symbolic commemoration of what once and what will, G-d willing, be again.
Posted By Menachem Posner for Chabad.org

Posted: Sep 15, 2010
the half shekel
where would one go to give this half shekel to G-D today?
Posted By Josephine, Cullman, al

Posted: Mar 11, 2010
Shekels in the Desert
Could it not be that they gave Egyptian coins? After all, shekels were pretty universal ("over lasokher").
Posted By Michoel HaKohein

Posted: Mar 7, 2010
Where did the Jews get a half shekel if they were c
Did they mint them from the gold they borrowed from the Egyptians?
Posted By Anonymous, Berkeley, CA

Posted: Feb 28, 2010
RE: THe half shekel
Bear in mind that these half shekels were pouring in from all over Israel and the Diaspora. While one or two half shekel is not much, millions of half shekels equal quite a bundle.

Also, the half shekels were not used for the maintenance of the building. Rather they were used to purchase the animals and other supplies for the public sacrifices.
Posted By Menachem Posner for Chabad.org

Posted: Feb 27, 2010
the half shekal
How could $5 or $10 a year meet the expenses of the temple, or any building for that matter?
Posted By Anonymous, Sherwood, AR/USA

Posted: Jan 23, 2010
shekel todays value
That was the asnwer I needed
Thank you
Posted By Pastor Poole



 


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