בְּאֶחָד בַּאֲדָר מַשְׁמִיעִין עַל הַשְּׁקָלִים וְעַל הַכִּלְאַיִם. בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ קוֹרִין אֶת הַמְּגִלָּה בַּכְּרַכִּין, וּמְתַקְּנִין אֶת הַדְּרָכִים וְאֶת הָרְחוֹבוֹת וְאֶת מִקְוְאוֹת הַמַּיִם, וְעוֹשִׂין כָּל צָרְכֵי הָרַבִּים, וּמְצַיְּנִין אֶת הַקְּבָרוֹת, וְיוֹצְאִין אַף עַל הַכִּלְאָיִם: On the first of Adar the court proclaims concerning the collection of shekels, i.e., the yearly half-shekel contribution to the Temple treasury made by each adult male for the purpose of buying communal offerings. And they also proclaim with regard to the obligation to uproot forbidden mixtures of diverse kinds of food crops in gardens and fields. And on the fifteenth day of the month of Adar, the Scroll [Megilla] of Esther is read in the cities [kerakim] surrounded by walls from the time of Joshua. And they also repair the roads that were damaged in the winter, and the streets, and the cisterns. And at that time they perform all that is necessary for public welfare. And they also mark the Jewish gravesites anew, so that people would know their location and avoid ritual impurity, as the previous markers may have eroded during the rainy season. And agents of the court also go out to inspect the fields for diverse kinds of food crops, to determine whether or not the farmers had in fact uprooted these seeds after the proclamation on the first of the month. If the agents of the court found that these diverse kinds had not been uprooted, they themselves would uproot them.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיוּ עוֹקְרִין וּמַשְׁלִיכִין לִפְנֵיהֶם. מִשֶּׁרַבּוּ עוֹבְרֵי עֲבֵרָה, הָיוּ עוֹקְרִין וּמַשְׁלִיכִין עַל הַדְּרָכִים, הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁיְּהוּ מַפְקִירִין כָּל הַשָּׂדֶה כֻּלָּהּ: At the end of the last mishna it was stated that the court sends out agents on the fifteenth of Adar to inspect whether the owners of fields had indeed uprooted any diverse kinds of crops as instructed. Rabbi Yehuda said: At first those agents would uproot the diverse kinds of crops and cast them in front of the owners of the fields. When the number of transgressors who would not uproot diverse kinds in their fields increased, and the Sages saw that this tactic was ineffective, they would cast the uprooted crops onto the roads. Ultimately, they instituted that the entire field should be declared ownerless.
בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ, שֻׁלְחָנוֹת הָיוּ יוֹשְׁבִין בַּמְּדִינָה. בְּעֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה, יָשְׁבוּ בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ. מִשֶּׁיָּשְׁבוּ בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ, הִתְחִילוּ לְמַשְׁכֵּן. אֶת מִי מְמַשְׁכְּנִין, לְוִיִּם וְיִשְׂרְאֵלִים, גֵּרִים וַעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִים, אֲבָל לֹא נָשִׁים וַעֲבָדִים וּקְטַנִּים. כָּל קָטָן שֶׁהִתְחִיל אָבִיו לִשְׁקוֹל עַל יָדוֹ, שׁוּב אֵינוֹ פּוֹסֵק. וְאֵין מְמַשְׁכְּנִין אֶת הַכֹּהֲנִים מִפְּנֵי דַּרְכֵּי שָׁלוֹם: On the fifteenth of Adar, money changers would sit at tables set up in the rest of the country, outside the Temple, to handle the collection of shekels. On the twenty-fifth of Adar, the money changers sat in the Temple. From the time when the money changers sat in the Temple, the court began to seize collateral from those who had yet to donate the half-shekel. From whom did they seize collateral? From Levites, Israelites, converts, and emancipated slaves. However, they did not seize collateral from women, slaves, or minors. And any minor whose father began one year to contribute a half-shekel on his behalf, despite the fact that he was not obligated to do so, he may not cease to do so in subsequent years. The court does not seize collateral from priests, although they are legally obligated to give a half-shekel like all other Jews, because of the ways of peace. The mishna goes on to explain the status of priests with regard to the contribution of the half-shekel.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, הֵעִיד בֶּן בּוּכְרִי בְּיַבְנֶה, כָּל כֹּהֵן שֶׁשּׁוֹקֵל אֵינוֹ חוֹטֵא. אָמַר לוֹ רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, לֹא כִּי, אֶלָּא כָּל כֹּהֵן שֶׁאֵינוֹ שׁוֹקֵל חוֹטֵא, אֶלָּא שֶׁהַכֹּהֲנִים דּוֹרְשִׁים מִקְרָא זֶה לְעַצְמָן, (ויקרא ו) וְכָל מִנְחַת כֹּהֵן כָּלִיל תִּהְיֶה לֹא תֵאָכֵל, הוֹאִיל וְעֹמֶר וּשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם וְלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים שֶׁלָּנוּ, הֵיאָךְ נֶאֱכָלִים: Rabbi Yehuda said that ben Bukhri testified in Yavne: Any priest who contributes the half-shekel is not considered a sinner, despite the fact that he is not obligated to do so. Rabbi Yehuda added that Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to ben Bukhri: Not so; rather, any priest who does not contribute the half-shekel is considered a sinner, as they are obligated like all other Jews. However, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai continued, the priests who do not contribute interpret this verse to their own advantage: “And every meal-offering of the priest shall be wholly made to smoke; it shall not be eaten” (Leviticus 6:16). Those priests claim as follows: Since the omer offering and the two loaves, i.e., the public offering of two loaves from the new wheat brought on the festival of Shavuot, and the shewbread placed on the sacred table in the Sanctuary each Shabbat, which are all meal-offerings, are ours, then if we contribute shekels we will have partial ownership of these communal offerings, as they are purchased with the shekels. How, then, can they be eaten? They ought to be regarded as priests’ meal-offerings, which must be wholly burnt. But since these offerings are eaten, the priests concluded that they are not obligated to contribute the half-shekel. This argument does not, however, take into account the fact that communal offerings belong to the public, which is understood as its own entity, and are not regarded as shared offerings of all who contribute to the public purse.
אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאָמְרוּ, אֵין מְמַשְׁכְּנִין נָשִׁים וַעֲבָדִים וּקְטַנִּים, אִם שָׁקְלוּ מְקַבְּלִין מִיָּדָן. הַנָּכְרִי וְהַכּוּתִי שֶׁשָּׁקְלוּ, אֵין מְקַבְּלִין מִיָּדָן. וְאֵין מְקַבְּלִין מִיָּדָן קִנֵּי זָבִין וְקִנֵּי זָבוֹת וְקִנֵּי יוֹלְדוֹת, וְחַטָאוֹת וַאֲשָׁמוֹת. (אֲבָל) נְדָרִים וּנְדָבוֹת, מְקַבְּלִין מִיָּדָן. זֶה הַכְּלָל, כָּל שֶׁנִּדָּר וְנִדָּב, מְקַבְּלִין מִיָּדָן. כָּל שֶׁאֵין נִדָּר וְנִדָּב אֵין מְקַבְּלִין מִיָּדָן. וְכֵן הוּא מְפֹרָשׁ עַל יְדֵי עֶזְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (עזרא ד) לֹא לָכֶם וְלָנוּ לִבְנוֹת בַּיִת לֵאלֹהֵינוּ: Although the Sages said, as stated in the previous mishna, that the court does not seize collateral from women, slaves, and minors, as they are not obligated to contribute, however, if they contributed a shekel of their own accord, the Temple treasurers accept from them. Conversely, in the case of a gentile or a Samaritan [Kuti] who contributed a shekel to participate in the communal offerings, they do not accept it from them. And likewise, they do not accept from a gentile or a Samaritan pairs of birds sacrificed in the purification ritual of a zav, pairs of birds of a zava, or pairs of birds of a woman who gave birth, all of which are brought for ritual purification, or sin-offerings or guilt-offerings. This is the principle: With regard to anything that can be brought to the altar as a vow or as a free-will offering, the priests accept it from gentiles and Samaritans, and with regard to anything that cannot be brought as a vow or as a free-will offering, they may not accept it from them. And this principle was similarly articulated by Ezra, when he recorded the Jewish leadership’s rejection of the Samaritans’ request to assist the Jews in the construction of the Second Temple, as it is stated: “But Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, said unto them: You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us” (Ezra 4:3).
וְאֵלּוּ שֶׁחַיָּבִין בַּקָּלְבּוֹן, לְוִיִּם וְיִשְׂרְאֵלִים וְגֵרִים וַעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִים, אֲבָל לֹא כֹּהֲנִים וְנָשִׁים וַעֲבָדִים וּקְטַנִּים. הַשּׁוֹקֵל עַל יְדֵי כֹּהֵן, עַל יְדֵי אִשָּׁה, עַל יְדֵי עֶבֶד, עַל יְדֵי קָטָן, פָּטוּר. וְאִם שָׁקַל עַל יָדוֹ וְעַל יַד חֲבֵרוֹ, חַיָּב בְּקָלְבּוֹן אֶחָד. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, שְׁנֵי קָלְבּוֹנוֹת. הַנּוֹתֵן סֶלַע וְנוֹטֵל שֶׁקֶל, חַיָּב שְׁנֵי קָלְבּוֹנוֹת: [4a] The mishna states another halakha: And these are the people who are obligated in the premium [kalbon], a small sum added to the half-shekel collected: Levites, Israelites, converts, and emancipated Canaanite slaves, but not priests, women, Canaanite slaves, or minors. One who contributes a half-shekel on behalf of a priest, on behalf of a woman, on behalf of a slave, or on behalf of a child, is exempt from the premium, as they are exempt. But if he contributed on his own behalf and on behalf of another, i.e., he contributed one whole shekel to discharge both his own obligation and that of someone else, he is obligated in one premium. Rabbi Meir says: He must pay two premiums. The mishna further states: One who gives the collection agent a sela, i.e., a whole shekel, and takes a shekel, i.e., a half-shekel, as change is obligated in two premiums.
הַשּׁוֹקֵל עַל יְדֵי עָנִי, וְעַל יְדֵי שְׁכֵנוֹ, וְעַל יְדֵי בֶּן עִירוֹ, פָטוּר. וְאִם הִלְוָם חַיָּב. הָאַחִין וְהַשֻּׁתָּפִין שֶׁחַיָּבִין בַּקָּלְבּוֹן, פְּטוּרִין מִמַּעֲשֵׂר בְּהֵמָה. וּכְשֶׁחַיָּבִין בְּמַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה, פְּטוּרִין מִן הַקָּלְבּוֹן. וְכַמָּה הוּא קָלְבּוֹן, מָעָה כֶּסֶף, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, חֵצִי: One who contributes a half-shekel on behalf of a poor person, on behalf of his neighbor, or on behalf of a resident of his city is exempt from the premium. The Sages did not obligate in the premium those who use their own money to fulfill the obligation of another. But if one loaned them a half-shekel, rather than paying it on their behalf, he is obligated to pay the premium. Since the recipients of the loan must repay the money, it is as though the half-shekel were paid from their property rather than the lender’s. Partnered brothers, who have fully divided among themselves their late father’s assets, and who, if they jointly pay a whole shekel from those assets to discharge both of their obligations, are obligated in the premium like any other two private individuals, are exempt from the animal tithe for the livestock they inherited. Since they have completely divided between them all inherited assets, they are considered purchasers of the livestock, and a purchaser is exempt from the animal tithe. But when they have not completely divided the assets, and they are therefore obligated in the animal tithe, as the livestock is considered in their father’s possession, they are exempt from the premium for their joint payment, as in the case of one who pays on behalf of another. And how much is a premium? A silver ma’a. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir. And the Rabbis say: It is only half a ma’a.