We have now completed our second year; two complete cycles have been achieved. Seven lock-boxes full of Hekdesh are sitting in the safe of the Chief Rabbinate's Office in Jerusalem. Three boxes of Trumat HaLishka, three boxes of Motar Trumat HaLishka, and one box of Motar Shearith HaLishka.

Today's ceremony went without a hitch, with one interesting twist. When the Brinks' guards called in from the Chief Rabbinate's Office to confirm that the Hekdesh was deposited in the safe, the manager of the office, Mr. Yosef Biton, came on the line and told me that he had a problem; the safe was all filled up with lock-boxes, what should he do? Imagine that.

I suggested to Mr. Biton, that it is possible to combine the three boxes of Motar Trumat HaLishka into one box. For that he would need to request from Chief Rabbi Bakshi Doron the keys to the three lock-boxes. I offered that as soon as he was able to arrange it, he should call me and I would come and assist in the transfer to make sure it was done correctly. I suppose that by Erev Rosh Chodesh Nisan, when we come at him with two more boxes, he'll make that call.

As we noticed last year, this Trumat HaLishka was considerably larger than the two preceeding it. Once again, Bat Levi Michelle Kemp boarded a plane and hand carried the Hekdesh collected in the US to Jerusalem, and deposited it in the Chest for New Shekels, prior to the ceremony.

At this point I would like to make a tribute to a very special man. This one person has been responsible for the construction of the chests for New & Old Shekels, has provided every member of his congregation (numbering into the hundreds) with Half Shekels for two years, has sponsored the airfare and expenses for the Levite transporting the Hekdesh from the US to Jerusalem, and has worked ceaselessly to involve the Jewish instituions in his state to participate in giving the Half Shekel. All this accomplished by one humble man for the benefit of Klal Yisrael. Can you imagine if there were 10 more people, or 100 more people with this kind of enthusiasm?

Here is what we can expect if only 10 more of you take responsibility:

• Worldwide announcement on Rosh Chodesh Adar concerning the Half Shekel.

• The opening of Moked Hekdesh, a center in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City Jerusalem which will house the Chests for New & Old Shekels, and eventually all 13 Chests of the Temple. (Next one is the Chest for Frankincense if anyone out there wants dibs on it.)

• The reinstitution of Levitical Shmirat HaHekdesh, whereby Levites will stand guard at Moked Hekdesh to safeguard it. The establishment of a website roster that will allow Levites from all over the world to reserve their Shmirah for when they will be in Jerusalem.

• The restoration of giving Ma'aser (the Tithe) to afford the Levites a salary for their service. The more Tithe that is contributed, the more Levites will be free to serve as Levites. [As of today, we have only two individuals sending in Tithes on a regular basis. On the one hand that is Gevalt! That there are even two people who take their belief seriously. On the other hand, it's a sad indictment for this generation that has the freedom and ability but lacks the desire to "Restore the Crown to its former Glory".

Here is what we can expect if only 100 more of you take responsibility:

• The distribution of Half Shekels to the soldiers of Zahal, the Israel Defense Forces.

• The setting up of Levitical Stands (Levi'im L'Duchanam) in every city in Israel for the dissemination of information, the distribution of Half Shekels and their collection.

This year we struggled to maintain the enthusiasm generated last year by the restoration of the custom after a hiatus of 1928 years. The restored custom is now 2 years old. It is still miniscule in its development, and largly ignored by all sectors of the Jewish people. This will give way to greater and greater participation as the years go by. It is not that the idea is foreign to us, after all, we learn Mishnah Shekalim in grade school. What is foreign is the concept that we are free today to fulfil that which we learn about.

As soon as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak took office, we turned to him regarding distributing the Half Shekels to the soldiers of Zahal, as Agudat L'man HaChayal had begun avoiding returning our calls and letters. As expected, our letter and sample coins were fowarded to Rami Dotan, chairman of Agudat L'man HaChayal, together with a note from Barak. The Prime Minister sent us a letter acknowledging our request and informing us that it was being turned over to Rami Dotan for his response. Agudat L'man HaChayal could ignore us, but they couldn't ignore the Prime Minister, and we were granted a response within 11 days.

As I read Dotan's negative response I recalled a similar letter from the Bank of Israel about three years ago. I laughed to myself. Then the Bank told us 'no' and we're minting today our third coin. So Dotan says 'no'. Big deal. We will do it ourselves.

Here is where you can help. We begin by inundating the Prime Minister and Defense Minister's offices with the following message. Please feel free to print this out as a postcard and distribute it to your friends:

Last year we had almost a thousand postcards reach the offices of Agudat L'man Hachayal. This time let's see if we can send in 10's of thousands of postcards,faxes, and e-mails to the Prime Minister's Office. Those of you with e-mail lists, now is your chance to make a difference. Put the word out. The more noise we make, the quicker it will be decided to adopt the program, if for no other reason than to make us go away.

Click on the above banner to order your Holy Half Shekel coins

• Latest Update Shavuot, 5766
• Rosh Chodesh -- Nisan, 5762
• Rosh Chodesh -- Nisan, 5761
• Rosh Chodesh -- Nisan, 5760
• Rosh Chodesh Adar II, 5760
• Rosh HaShana, 5760
• Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5759
• Pesach -- Nissan, 5759
• Purim -- Adar, 5759
• Rosh Chodesh Adar, 5759
• Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, 5759
• Erev Rosh HaShanah, 5759
• Tu B'Av, 5758
• 4th Tammuz, 5758
• Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, 5758
• Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5758
• Rosh Chodesh Nisan, 5758
• Purim, 5758
• Rosh Chodesh Adar, 5758
• Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5758
• Rosh Chodesh Heshvan, 5758
• 19th Elul, 5757
• Tisha b'Av, 5757
• 2nd Tamuz, 5757
• 16th Sivan, 5757
• Purim, 5757
• 8th Shevat, 5757