On Sunday night, March 8th 1998, a meeting of Levites was held in the Old City of Jerusalem, to lay the groundwork for the return of Levitical Shmmirat HaHekdesh (Guardianship of Sanctified Property) and to set guidlines for the Custodianship of Hekdesh.

On Wednesday night, March 11th 1998, at a ceremony attended by more than 150 people held at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, the Exile was brought to an end with the drop of the first Holy Half-Shekel into the golden chest for New Shekels. At the moment of the first Coin of Fire's descent into the chest, the sound of the Shofar blasted to the highest realm, leaving people goose-bumped and crying, tears of joy for a change.

The keys to the chest for New Shekels are held by:

Yitzchak ben Menachem HaLevy
Shneur Zalman ben Wolff HaLevy

Custodianship of Hekdesh is held by:

Micah ben Yitzchak HaLevy

Hekdesh may be sent directly to Jerusalem to:

HEKDESH
Custodian of Hekdesh
c/o House of Harrari
7 Maalot Street
P.O.Box 1577
Jerusalem, Israel

The full page ad that appeared on the first of Adar was an alarm that woke up many thousands of people worldwide. Folks woke up, said Oh wow! and hit the snooze button. One week later, when the second ad apeared in Jerusalem calling Levites to Active Duty, the alarm rang again. Three days later it rang again. And this time it was hard to fall back asleep.

And it gets better. As a result of the tumult, the Haredi (for lack of a better point of reference - ultra Orthodox) press woke up and sent a reporter. The following Friday a full page article appeared, on Purim itself. Another paper, Your Jerusalem, was quick on their heels and will be presenting a full expose on the restoration of the Half-Shekel. Within a short time this will snowball into the biggest story of the year.

And it gets better. This might be hard to follow, and it might require that you go back to the Mishna and Gemorrah for fuller understanding. Here goes;

In a discussion regarding the sending of Hekdesh by messenger to Jerusalem, the case is discussed where the messenger, through no fault of his own, loses the community's shipment. The question arises as to who the messenger must testify before, the community who gave the Shekels or Hekdesh (The Temple Treasury is also referred to as Hekdesh). The distinction is made as follows; Prior to the Trumat HaLishka ceremony (Seperation of the Office) the Shekels are considered to be the property of the community, once however, the Trumat HaLishka ceremony is performed, the Shekels become the property of Hekdesh regardless of where they are in the world, enroute to Jerusalem.

We are delaying the shipment of Shekels from Atlanta until after the Trumat HaLishka ceremony in Jerusalem on March 26th, so that they will already be B'Rashut Hekdesh (considered as being in the possesion of Hekdesh) before they cross the border into Israel.

There is currently a law that states that anything that crosses the border into Israel is subject to 17% Value Added Tax (VAT). The problem arises concerning Hekdesh, to whom will the VAT authorities present the bill. To G-d?

No way, no how. There is absolutely zero possibility that the Rabbanim can sit still and allow anyone to take 17% out of Hekdesh. By waiting till after the Trumat HaLishka ceremony we will in affect be tying the hands of the Rabbanim, forcing them into action. Hekdesh can not be ignored, and it will not go away.

The VAT authorities will have to amend the law to recognize Hekdesh as being exempt from VAT. And quickly too.

If you are familiar with what happens here every time a chicken bone is dug up by an archaelogist, imagine what is going to happen if VAT tries to take 17% out of Hekdesh.

Current Needs

Hekdesh requires a permanent address in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Levites from around the world will be able to take turns according to roster, guarding the Hekdesh. A minimum of three Levites will be on Duty 24 hours a day. As many Levites as wish to join any Shmirah (Watch - in a military sense) may do so. The roster will appear on the Internet, and those Levites planning a trip to Jerusalem will be able to e-mail in their request to be added to the roster for the dates and times they will be here. Special dates will be booked months and years in advance, as it is an honor to be one of the three listed on the roster. We would like to reserve Rosh Chodesh for Shmirah by Banot Levi, the Daughters of Levi, so that the women may have a time to congregate and give their Half-Shekels and share the joy and honor of guarding Hekdesh freely.

And lest anyone think that the Levites will be sitting around staring at the walls, the Moked Hekdesh (Hekdesh Center) will operate 24 hours a day translating Torahs on the Half-Shekel, Hekdesh, Meilah (Misappropriation of Sanctified Property) and related subjects, as well as preparing teaching modules, info tapes and various teaching tools for worldwide distribution.

And where is the support going to come from, to pay for all these Levitial services? From your Ma'aser (Tithe), the 10% of your income that you are required to give to Levi. The Tithe that so many usurpers have reassigned to themselves in the last two millenia. The budget of Levi. The salary of Levi. The dues that Am Yisrael pays to the tribe of Levi, so that Levi can serve in our Duty, to provide the Holy Service for the House of Israel.

Thanks to an annonymous donor, we fulfilled that Halachah for the first time in 1928 years, with a full page ad in the Jerusalem Post International Edition, and a like sized ad in the national edition, appearing on the first of Adar in Israel, and on the following Monday abroad. Yashar Koach to the donor! In the merit of your contribution the Holy Service begins.

We returned from a 43 day tour of the U.S. and left little Half-Shekel fires burning coast-to-coast. The third minting of 2,000 coins did not last the trip, and delivery has begun of the fourth minting (4,000 coins) just in time for Purim.

We are days away from completing the gold guilding of the chest that has been built for New Shekels, which will make its debut on Wednesday night, March 11th, Purim night, at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.

On Friday, March 6th, an ad appears in In Jerusalem, the Jerusalem supplement of the Jerusalem Post, calling the Levites of Jerusalem to Active Duty.

On Wednesday night, March 11th, Purim night, when the first Half-Shekel hits the bottom of the chest for New Shekels, the Exile ends!

From that moment there will be 24 hour a day Levitical Shmirat HaHekdesh (Guarding of the Sanctified property) and the Service begins.

Levites in Jerusalem, in Israel, and visiting from abroad, will take turns, according to roster, in standing guard over the Hekdesh.

On Thursday night, March 26th, the first Terumath HaLishkah (Seperation for the Office) ceremony in 1928 years will take place and the Half-Shekels will be stored away and guarded.

As events are unfolding with such dramatic implications, and the vast quantity of Halachot that are being reactivated, i.e. all the laws of Hekdesh (Sanctified property) and Meilah (Misappropriation of Sanctified property), are so poorly understood today, there is sure to be much confusion at first, and as the reality sets in, the best Torah minds will come together to lead the people in teaching the proper way to fulfil this Commandment. Even the most basic questions arising today are left answerless:

• What Blessing do we say?
• Until when can you give the Half-Shekel to New Shekels
  (Next year there will be a second chest for 'Old Shekels')?
• Is there any restriction on how many 'make-up' Half-Shekels one can give into 'Old Shekels'?
• How may the Levites stand guard on Shabbat and Holidays?
• The restoration of Biblical Ma'aser (Tithe) to feed the Levites on duty?
• With the availability of Shearith HaLishkah (The Remainder of the Office) next year, what constitutes 'preparations for the Pilgrimage Festivals'?
• etc.

Just like major airports run 24 hours a day, L'Havdil (forgive the comparison), so too the Temple operated 24 hours a day. That Service begins with the drop of that first coin. So be it.

We have learned over the years that the resistance to Redemption is passive. Those who cherish their Galuth (Exile) will simply not participate. There is no Titus, Vespasian, or Hadrian to tell us NO! Let us see who will rise to take their place. There will even be those among us will say it is not Hekdesh. Let them try to get past the House of Levi to put hands upon it!

There is no magic in this. As of this Purim, 7,200 Half-Shekels were minted. Assuming that many coins will be held by collectors, perhaps a few thousand will make their way to Hekdesh. Next year it will be tens of thousands, followed by hundreds of thousands, until we reach our goal of 100% participation of Am Yisrael. And it will happen. Just as sure as it begins now.

As we enter the month of Kislev we think of Chanukah and the devotion of the Heroic Jews of the small village of Modi'in who rose up and threw off the yoke of oppression, and rededicated the House of G-d in Jerusalem. Hidden amongst the deepest teachings of these courageous Jews' actions is the Torah of the Eighth Day, the Torah of Meshiach. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, on the very first occaision I had to sit at his feet and receive the Torah, spoke of the Seven Days of Halachah and the Torah of the Eighth Day, The Torah of the Messianic Era. It was this very teaching that proppelled me to reach into the Eighth Day and bring forth the Holy Half-Shekel. The question now is; 'Now that we have reached into the Eighth Day and brought forth the Holy Half-Shekel, does it descend into the Seven Days of Halachah, or does the Halachah ascend to greet it?'

Turning to Rabbi Mordecai Gafni with this question the Rav continues the teaching with "before Meshiach the Torah of the Eighth Day descends to meet the Seven Days of Halachah, and after Meshiach comes, the Halachah ascends to greet the Torah of the Eighth Day. That's the Pshat (one level of understanding)."

The oil of One day burned for Eight!

In a 72 hour period last week, First Strike Proof Specimen Holy Half-Shekels were hand delivered by a Levite to the offices of every Government Minister, to the Prime Minister, the President, the two Chief Rabbis, and the Mayor of Jerusalem. This week regular issue Half-Shekels will be delivered to all the Knesset members sitting in the 14th Knesset. Proof Specimens are going out this week to the Israel Museum, Bank of Israel Museum, The Israel Antiquities Authority Coin Collection, The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, and The Kadmon Pavillion of the Eretz Yisrael Museum.

As the first minting sold out in two days, and we were approaching Sukkoth with no Half-Shekels in stock, we minted an experimental run of 200 ceremonial coins from locally produced blanks.

The third minting of 2000 coins arrived today. They will be ready for shipping by Wednesday the 3rd of December. The long awaited Collector's Edition are finally making their debut. In the course of designing the Collector's Edition we decided to upgrade the final product and we are adding a hand-crafted olive wood base to perfect it. To all of you who ordered the Collector's Edition, we thank you for your patience, it will be generously rewarded by the product you receive. The new price of $24.95 per will go into affect in 30 days. All who ordered it at the pre-production prices will receive their reward for acting early, and with only one single exception, trusting us to deliver the best possible product as soon as we could. We will post this week the date for shipment of the Collecter's Edition.

The fourth minting of 4000 coins should be available around first week of February 1998.

Work has begun on making a special chest for collection of the Half-Shekels in Jerusalem. The Mishnah teaches that thirteen such chests existed in the Temple compound. Two were for Half-Shekels. One was marked Shekelim Chadashim (New Shekels) and one Shekelim Yeshanim (Old Shekels). And here's how it worked. If you were coming to give this year's Shekel you placed it in the chest marked Shekelim Chadashim. If you did not give the Shekel last year, then when you come to give this year's into the New Shekel chest, you would put one also in the Old Shekel chest to make up for last year. We are taught that Old Shekels go directly to Shearith Halishkah (the Remainder of the Office), ie. the Municipality of Jerusalem for the preparations for the Pilgrimage Festivals and for the Walls of Jerusalem. Now the question arises, for how many years retroactively may one give the Half-Shekel? For example, in the time of the Temple someone becomes Ba'al Teshuvah (renews their religious observance) and is giving the Half-Shekel for the first time, and let's say they're 39 years old. Now we know that one must give the Half-Shekel from age 20, so the 39 year old hasn't given Shekels from age 20-38, or 18 coins, plus this year's. May that person give a Shekel retroactively to make Tikkun (Fixing) for all the years missed, or may one only make up for the previous year? This question was posed to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz on Thursday night (27th November) at 1:45 am (I was summoned to the Rav at midnight. We were promised an answer within 14 days, and we will post it immediately).

Since it was not possible to give Shekels until now, we are only putting out this year the one chest marked New Shekels. Next year, however, we will put out two chests, one for New Shekels and one for Old Shekels. The chest for New Shekels is being patterened after the dimensions of the Golden Altar (the Incense Atlar) of the Temple (our next project) and will be placed on the platform towards the bottom of the stairs that lead from the Jewish Quarter down towards the Temple Mount. By choosing this location we are making it self-evident that there is no intent to provocation, nor sleighting of sensibilities, and at the same time, there is no better place to photograph the two Levite guards and the chest with the Temple Mount as a perfect backdrop.

In tractate Shekelim we are taught that Announcement was made concerning the Shekels on the first of Adar (Look for full page public service announcements in the press on Friday, February 27th 1998.) On the 15th of Adar (Purim) Shofars were placed throughout the country (Israel) and on the 25th of Adar the chests were brought out in the Temple compound. Many made a special trip to Jerusalem specifically to give their Shekels at the Temple. Whereas for New Shekels, one could give it from anywhere, regarding the Old Shekels, you could only give that in Jerusalem, and only into the chest marked Old Shekels.

As we are coming into this Purim woefully unprepared to accomplish everything as it could/should be, we will suffice it to place the chest on the stairs opposite the Temple Mount from the 15th of Adar, and next year, G-d willing, we will have collection points in every city in Israel.

As we get closer to Purim, we will post instructions for sending in your Half-Shekels from abroad. We would like to make it clear to all, that whereas Beged Ivri has taken responsibility to provide the Shekels and set up the infrastructure for the restoration of the custom, we will have no hand in receiving the Hekdesh once the coins are given over to the Temple. We will make sure that it is safeguarded and handled according to Halachah, by others. There will be no opening for a conflict of interests. Which leads us to an interesting tale.

It happened on the way to the Temple, as we were presenting the Chief Rabbis with their First Strike Proof Specimens. Coming to the office of Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, I brought with me an extra regular issue Half-Shekel, figuring that I would find "our" Rabbi Frank, who you all remember from our correspondence with the Chief Rabbis Office. Sure enough, as I scan the wall plaques in the outer office, there it was! Rabbi Frank. Director of the Chief Rabbi's Office. A quick scan of the folks walking around found one single male, and I headed right for him. Before he knew what hit him I was shaking his hand asking him if by chance he was Rabbi Frank. He nodded affirmative, and still clasping his hand introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Reuven from Beged Ivri." His initial reaction was to retrieve his hand as quick as he could, although I still held on and with the other hand presented him with a Half-Shekel saying, "This is for you. Your letters so pushed my buttons that they resulted in bringing about the Half-Shekel to reality. This is the fruit of our correspondence. And this is for you. You earned it." His response was, "You see, even from my letters came good!" We were instant best friends. He invited me into his office and I began to unravel my "reel" showing him the ancient coins I carry with me and the new "item" Heaven has bestowed on us - a five Gera weight from the seventh century BCE, from the First Temple period. Before I had gotten started he stopped me, called everyone in the office to come and see and hear, and he introduced me as "Here is OUR Beged Ivri" to which everyone turned to me with looks of long-suffering appreciation sizing me up. Boy what we must have put that office through with our letters. Bottom line, we have access to the Chief Rabbinate now, and we're going to convince them to take responsibility on behalf of the State, for the donated Shekels. I hope.

It took fourteen years to make them, and only two days to sell them.

The first minting is history (pun intended). We ordered 2,000 more today. They will be ready for delivery about November 23rd. If the last two days are an indication, these 2,000 will all be sold before we receive delivery of the blanks. We will go right into a third minting of 4,000 as soon as the second batch is sold, even if we haven't yet received them. If you want to be assured of delivery before December, get your orders in immediately. They are reserved on a first come first served basis.

Until two days ago, we weren't sure that you were listening. Today we have no doubts. You're out there! Boy is this going to be a different Purim!

Walking around Jerusalem today, I thought; If I had feathers and a lighter bone-structure, I'd be flying. I'm walking on hydro-foil feet. Just contemplating what we have brought into existance, the ramifications, what it will lead to. And done without provocation, without opposition, building without destroying, a foward movement that will last, without taking two steps backwords, as is usually the case in this Holy City. A chance to enhance our faith, to return the Crown to its Former Glory! Mamash.

Shanah Tovah to each and every one of you. We're in for a different kind of year in 5758. We invite all of you to be a part of it.

Please note we have corrected a mistake on the order form. Due to a programming error, the order form stated that there is only 1 proof coin for sale. In fact, we minted 180 proof coins, of which 149 are still available for purchase.

Today we shipped all regular coin orders received up till now. The collector's issue is still under production (we're making something really special) and will be available for delivery shortly. The numbered Proofs are also ready for immediate delivery.

Of the first minting only a few hundred coins remain and we will be starting the second minting shortly.

On Rosh HaShanah new prices will go into affect that represent the actual cost of production. When we came up with the $6.13 price for the regular issue, we were still in the dream stage and chose the price we wanted it to reach the public at, tying it in cutely with the 613 Commandments, so yet another Torah teaching could be derived from the coins. Since we have reached actual delivery, we have found that there were costs involved that we had not anticipated, and therefore need to readjust prices accordingly. We will honor any paid order at the currently listed prices until Rosh Hashanah 5758 (October 1, 1997). The new prices will be $9.95 for the regular issues and $16.95 for the collector's issue. The numbered Proofs remain at their current price. These prices will remain in affect until Erev Rosh Chodesh Adar 5758 (February 26, 1998), when the year 50 coin will be taken off the market, and the year 51 coin becomes available for the following year. The minting will be closed, the mintage figures announced, and the remaining coins of the previous year will then be available only at premium collector's market value. The current year coin will reflect the inexpensive price of today's regular issue.

We once again wish to convey that all proceeds from the sale of the coins go into expanding the project.

For those who are contemplating purchasing a Proof coin, and as of today only 149 pieces remain, besides providing the means to make another 400 coins, consider this; Ten years from now, the group of serious collectors of these coins will number between 300-500 people. As we are changing the motif and date of each year's coin it is not inconceivable that the number of collectors might even reach higher. For someone who starts collecting somewhere down the road, how much do you think you would have to pay to convince someone to let go of their first year Proof? Maybe $10,000? It's just a thought.

I wish to once again thank G-d for preparing His servants so well to meet the challenge set before us. We will restore this precious Commandment with Glory before G-d, and anticipate that Heaven, in seeing our actions, will receive these Coins of Fire and respond in kind. For all of you who have shared this vision and helped to make this a reality, G-d Bless you, and may you receive comfort in the knowledge that you did something about it!

Parah Adumah (Red Heifer) move over, there's a new SIGN in town!

Tisha B'Av 5757. What a different Tisha B'Av it is, holding the Holy Half-Shekel in my hand, knowing that we have taken one large step foward, by making available a proper, pure silver Half-Shekel to give this coming Purim.

We are told that when we reach the Redemption, Tisha B'Av will become one of the highest celebrations of the year. This year, with the restoration of the Holy Half-Shekel, we are starting to feel it!