Managing (Y)our Money - Haftarah Shekalim

II Kings 12:5-17

This week begins the five special weeks preceding Passover and as such, we have special additions to the Torah as well as special Haftarot that are assigned.

This week, the additional Torah reading describes making contributions to maintain communal institutions.[1] This Haftarah, therefore relates to this idea.

We have here a story about managing money in the Temple in Jerusalem. The King Jehoash says to the priests in the temple that they are to take the money that comes in, either as payment or as freewill offering, and use it to make repairs. The repairs are not made and a new system is devised, essentially creating a tzedakah box that collects all the money, followed by the king’s scribe and the High Priest coming together to count and dole out the money to the workers.

This speaks to a number of issues. One, commentators tell us that the priests didn’t order the repairs because they felt that the task of managing money and hiring labor was beneath their priestly role. Two, there is something nice here about how religious leaders and the lay leadership work together ultimately to make improvements in the institution. The work doesn’t get done when one orders the other to do it. It has to come from a combined effort of the priest and the court of the king to work properly.

Three – and I think most importantly – the message about fiscal responsibility in an institution rings clear here. Though the purpose of Shabbat Shekalim is to remind us of the ½ shekel tax that went to the Temple (therefore reminding us of the institution thereby preventing us from losing a connection to it) that idea speaks less to a current situation when the threat of forced conversion is minimal. What does resonate, particularly this year, is verses 12:14-15.

But, the money that was brought to the House of Adonai was not used to make silver cups, snuffers, basins, trumpets or any gold or silver vessels. It was given to the artisans, using it to repair the House of Adonai.

The term for artisan עושה המלאכה really is translated to the doers of the work. The workers, who must have been skilled artisans, are paid before the Temple gets its vessels. All the workers get paid. Rather than adorn the Temple with the finery that suits it, the “repair task force” makes sure to pay the workers and the artisans that complete the work. This is fiscal responsibility at its finest. Everyone pays to make sure that the Temple is up and running and in good shape. By focusing on what needs to be done, as well as making sure to pay the labor force a proper wage, the priests and the court of the king are doing a good job managing the people’s money. (This is in sharp contrast to the chapters that precede this story, which are replete with monarchs usurping property.) Though the Temple can use the precious vessels, they are a luxury. One might compare them to a private jet or a well-appointed executive suite.

What is even more intriguing is the last line. “No detailed accounting was made…because they dealt honorably.” Honorably: באמנות. This can also mean in good faith. The dealings between the priests and the king and the workers are done in a trustworthy manner and model what corporations could and should be doing.

We often see corporations, most recently banks, taking the money of their investors and not treating their workers fairly or taking unnecessary risks all for the sake of a potentially bigger profit. Do we really need to go back to the prophets to understand why profit is not the most important aspect of running a company? No one would want all companies to become 501(c)3 organizations. The free market is a good thing. However, recent events show us what happens when profit is the only consideration. The wage gap in this nation is growing. Poverty is on the rise. One wonders what might happen today’s corporations placed more emphasis on the security of their institutions and their labor force, rather than on the finery around them.

Perhaps corporations don’t need religion, but they could look to how the Temple in Jerusalem was run according to this narrative in order to balance their books and their responsibilities.

[1] Revised Plaut p. 1451