מחצית השקל. לכפר על חצי היום שחטאו כמו שאז"ל במסכת שבת פרק ר' עקיבא בושש בא שש והשקל כ' גרה הרי חציו עשר לכפר על עשרת הדברות שעברו ואיתא בזבחים פרק רבי ישמעאל אומר חמשה אצבעות של ימינו של הקב"ה כלן ליחוד הגאולה באצבע קטנה כזה הראה לנח לעשות את התיבה שנאמר וזה אשר תעשה אותה שנייה לה כשהכה את מצרים שנאמר אצבע אלהים הוא בשלשית דהיינו אמה בה כתיב והלוחות כתובים באצבע אלהים ברביעית שהיא סמוכה לבהן הראה למשה הלבנה בגודל הראהו מחצית השקל שנאמר זה יתנו ובכל היד עתיד הקב"ה להכרית ולהשמיד בני ישמעאל ובני ארם שנאמר תרום ידך על צריך וכל אויביך יכרתו: מחצית השקל, “a coin worth half a shekel.” This was to atone for the half day they had been guilty of not doing something to destroy the golden calf, as explained in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 89. According to Rabbi Akiva there the word boshesh in Exodus 32,1 usually translated as “tarried,” can be read as בשש, “at six hours,” i.e. at midday Moses came down from the mountain. The coin known as shekel (a silver coin) is valued as twenty geyrah, (copper coins). They had been guilty of transgressing all of the Ten Commandments, as transgressing the prohibition of idolatry is equivalent to transgressing all of the commandments of the Torah. The Talmud in tractate Z’vachim, quotes the oldest kabbalistic text, Pirke de rabbi Eliezer, chapter 48, where Rabbi Yishmael describes the five “fingers” on G–d’s right hand, as all involved in the process of redemption. His smallest finger was used for that purpose when He said to Noach (Genesis 6,15) וזה אשר תעשה אותה, “and this is how you are to construct it” (the ark), which would save him and his family from the deluge. The second smallest finger was used by G–d at the redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt (Exodus 8,15) as the sorcerers of Pharaoh recognised when they described the third plague, the vermin, as אצבע אלוהים, “a finger of G–d.” G–d’s middle finger, known as amah, אמה, was used when G–d inscribed the text of the Ten Commandments on the Tablets (Exodus 31,1) i.e. והלוחות כתובים באצבע אלוהים, “and the Tablets had been inscribed by the finger of Gd.” G–d’s fourth finger, known as bohen, בהן, next to the thumb, was used when He showed Moses the new moon (Exodus 12,2) also using the word: זה, “this”; and the fifth finger of G–d’s right hand, known as gudal, גודל, was used by Him when showing Moses the half shekel coin of which our portion speaks here. Finally, G–d will use His entire hand when in the future He will wipe out the descendants of Ishmael and Edom, as prophesied by the prophet Micah 5,8: תרום ידך על צריך וכל אויביך יכרתו, “Your hand will prevail over all Your foes, and all Your enemies will be cut down.”