In leap years (years with 13 months), there are two months of Adar: Adar I and Adar II. The festival of Purim is celebrated in Adar II. As a result, the 15th of Adar I is called Purim Qaṭan, since the festival is not observed in that month. The Sages of Yisrael established Torah readings that are linked to the events of our people, generation after generation. The perashah of this week is called Ki Tisā’. This perashah contains details that are out of chronological order, as we have also seen in Perashath Yithro. Perashath Yithro describes the giving of the Torah to the people of Yisrael. In Perashath Ki Tisā’, we see what happens while Moshe Rabbenu is on Sinai receiving the Tablets of the Law.
We must ask ourselves: Why did Moshe write the account of the golden calf after all the details of the Mishkan (Tabernacle)? Why does the perashah begin with the subject of atonement? It is evident that the Eternal, blessed be He, intended to teach us something with this juxtaposition. Our Sages say that Aḏonay, blessed be He, prepares the remedy before the plague. If we take the word kippurim (atonements) in Hebrew and remove the vowels, it could be read as ke-Purim (like Purim). That is, through derash (exegetical search), we can connect the Purim of Queen Esther with the atonement of the half-sheqel (silver coin) mentioned in this perashah. Just as the Creator, blessed be He, placed Hadassah (Ester) in the palace of Persia for the confrontation with Haman, so too did He instruct Bene Yisrael in this perashah to offer a half-sheqel for the Mishkan, to prevent a plague.
Another question we must ask is: Is it possible to atone for sin with money? Evidently, the answer is yes. Even more so, our Sages teach that giving ṣedaqah (charity) can save us from calamities. This is a concept found in various places in the Talmud. In Sanhedrin 98a, the Hakhamim discuss the days preceding the coming of the Son of Dawid. One of them expresses that he does not wish to be there to suffer in those days. Another asks: What can a person do to escape the suffering of anguish? One of the solutions given for that calamity is the merit of practicing ṣedaqah.
In our days, we no longer have the Temple in Yerushalayim. The synagogue is considered “a small Temple.” Although we can no longer give the half-sheqel without a Temple in Yerushalayim, we can practice ṣedaqah and perpetuate the study of the Torah, cleaving to the Sages of Yisrael.
May it be the will of the Eternal, blessed be He, that we be spared from all illness, plague, or destructive harm through the upholding of these “small Temples.”