UPCOMING EVENTS

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THE TEMPLE AS AN ECONOMIC CENTER

In previous articles, we discussed the sources of income for the Beit HaMikdash. In this article, we will discuss expenditures -- for which purposes did the the treasury of the Temple spend the money it received.

In the Mishnah (Tractate Shekalim) and the Rambam (Maimonides) (Laws of Shekalim), the set revenues of the half shekel is described. This revenue would be used to finance the Temple's regular expenditures. Aside from this, other donations were sent to the Temple, and they were set aside for the upkeep of the Temple in the Temple Treasury. If the regular revenues were not sufficient for the regular expenditures, the Temple Treasury would be used for the regular expenditures. The half shekel, however, was never used for upkeep.

A. How did they take out the money and when?

The Temple's fiscal year started on the first of Nisan. Starting from this date, they would use the money collected in the new year in the Temple. They left over money from last year would be allocated for other purposes, mainly for the Temple Treasury and for other purposes to be discussed below. If on the first of Nisan there was not yet money in the treasury for the new year, they would continue to use the money left over from last year. If this did not suffice, they would use the Temple Treasury.

From the "Lishka", the place which the money for the current year's expenditures was placed, money was taken out at least three times a year.

The first time was on the first of Nisan, fifteen days before Pesach, to finance the anticipated costs for the coming Pesach. The next time was on the 23rd of Iyar, fifteen days before Shavuot -- for the costs of Shavuot. The third time was on the 29th of Elul -- for the costs of Sukkot. If the money taken out was insufficient until the next time, they would take out more money in the interim.

One can assume that the during the period between Pesach and Shavuot, which as relatively short -- less than two months, they did not need more money. It is, however, safe to assume that during the period between the 23 of Iyar and the 29th of Elul, a period of over four months, and especially between the 29th of Elul and the first of Nisan, a period of six or seven (in a leap year) months, they would often have to take out more money.

They money remaining after they took out money the next time would not be used but transferred for other purposes to be discussed below.

The procedure of taking money out of the treasury was very strict, in order to prevent suspicion of theft, as our Rabbis established that "One is obligated to satisfy people, just as one is obligated to satisfy G-d."

The procedure was as follows: One person would enter the store house, and he would bring three containers with him, each containing three "seah". A "seah" is about nine liters, so each container contained about 27 liters. This is about the size of a box containing twelve bottles of soda. The containers probably had wheels to make it easier to move it around. The treasurers probably knew exactly how much each container, just as there are today devices in banks which weigh money.

The guards stood outside. We can imagine that when the treasury was opened, the entire area was closed off with high security, just as a high commander is protected today. The collector would say, "Shall I collect?" And they would say, "Collect! Collect!" He would then fill all the containers. While he was inside, they would constantly talk with him from outside to prevent any suspicion that the collector would take something from the storehouse and put it in his mouth. The collector was also forbidden to enter with a garment that had a pocket, a covered sleeve, or a sewn hem, so that he could not put anything in them. He could not wear a tallis lest he hide something in it, nor with tefillin lest he bring empty tefillin and put money in it. He would enter barefoot, since he was prohibited from entering with shoes or a good luck charm. With all these precautions, they were still careful that a poor person should not take them money out.

Hence, the only garment that the collector could enter with was a long jellaba, which did not have any foldings. He was not allowed to enter wearing a kippa or undergarments.

On the containers, it was written, "A", "B", and "C". Those residing in Eretz Yisrael would fill the first container. Those living in neighboring countries would fill the second. The third was for those in distant places.

The collections for all these places was not only a matter of principle but a legal matter. As I explained in the first article, the money that was taken for the new year, and was already on its way to the Temple Treasury when the first collection, was made was considered as if it had already arrived. The practical implication is that if the money were stolen or lost, the couriers bringing the money would take an oath to the Temple Treasury that they were not negligent and be thus exempt, and the donators would not have to give another half shekel, since they money was considered as if it had already reached the Temple Treasury. If, however, the money were stolen before the first of Nisan, the couriers would take an oath to the donators that they were not negligent, and the donators would have to give another half shekel. This would also be the case if the new year's money was collected after the first of Nisan. If the money were to be lost before the 23rd of Iyar, the responsibility would fall on the donators, and they would need to give another half shekel. Only if the money were to be lost after the 23rd of Iyar, when they had already collected in the Temple, the donators would be exempt from giving again.

The implication is that the best time to give the half shekel to the Temple was as close to the collection as possible, so that the period the donator would be held responsible would be at a minimum.

In any case, if the couriers were negligent, they would have to pay for the damage they caused.

B. What would they spend the money on?

As we said, the money that was collected was spent on the communal expenses -- the set sacrifices that were always being offered. Every day, including Shabbat and holidays, we are obligated to bring two sheep in their first year -- one in the morning, and one at night. On Shabbat and holidays, special sacrifices are offered. The sacrifices are called "Musaf" (additional), since they were in addition to the daily sacrifices.

Altogether, the Beit HaMikdash required 113 bulls, 37 ram, 31 goats, and 1103 sheep over the course of a year. These sacrifices would also require 3393 liters flour, which is about 2.2 ton, and 1290 liters of oil and wine -- about 1500 of today's bottles.

Money was also spent on salt -- as all sacrifices were salted.

In Ezra 6:9, it is told that Darius commanded Pachat across the river to give every day to the Temple bulls, ram, and sheep as burnt offerings, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the Kohanim in Jerusalem requested.

It is interesting to note that the goats, which were sin offerings, are not mentioned -- only burnt offerings. Perhaps it was not significant enough to mention, or the Babylonian Olim, despite their difficult financial situation, were able to purchase the goats by themselves. Or perhaps, the king did not what to send a sin offering, so that the people should not think he is a sinner.

The king established that the measurement taxes of Achashdarpanut Across the River would be the budgetary source of the necessities of the Temple. This was a field tax, which was generally a percentage of the crops. Sometimes, the tax would be according to the size of the field.

Artachshaasta (Ezra 7:22) allocated a different budget for Ezra - 100 silver kikars, 100 kor of wheat, 100 batim of wine and oil, and an unlimited supply of salt. According to historians' estimations, the money collected for the Temple was a third of the annual income of Pachat Across the River. (See Da'at Mikra, introduction to Ezra and Nehemia.)

By modern measurements, 100 silver kikars equals three tons of silver, valued today at NIS 3 million, 100 kor of wheat equals 27 thousand liters of wheat, and 100 "bat" is 2,700 liter of wine and oil.

The price of a bull as then twenty five shekels, which was about a half a kilogram of silver, valued today at NIS 500. The price of a ram was then five shekels, valued today at NIS 100.

Assuming that sheep and goats cost the same as rams, the sacrifices only required 174,00 shekels. The king also allocated ten times the required amount of wheat, wine, and oil for Ezra the Scribe.

Possibly the allocation was an arbitrary amount, and it may have also include the cost of delivering it to Jerusalem.

Aside from the Daily and Additional Sacrifices, the trumat halishka was spend on other things:

• When gentile that sent a voluntary burnt offering and did not send its libations, the money was taken from the trumat halishka. (If a Jew did not send the libations, it would be collected from him.)
• If dead convert had sent a sacrifice and did not leave money for the required libations, the libations would be brought from the trumat halishka.
• The incense sacrificed every morning and evening came from the trumat halishka.
• The wood for the fire on the Altar could come from the trumat halishka. However, certain families by custom would donate wood at set occasions. These families would celebrate these days as a family holiday, called "Chag Ha'etzim" (Wood Holiday).
• The salt sprinkled on the sacrifices would come from the trumat halishka.

The trumat halishka (withdrawals as described above) also paid for certain things which were not in and of themselves sacrifices: the show bread, the red heifer, the scape goat, and the scarlet thread that would be tied to the scape goat. Even though none of these things were offered on the Altar, they would come from the trumat halishka.

The trumat halishka was also used to maintain certain parts of the Temple Service, while other parts came from the Temple Treasury. The trumat halishka was used to pay for the Priestly Garments, the Service Vessels, and the vale on the gates of the Temple. The vales on the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, however, were bought from the Temple Treasury.

C. Salaried Workers

Aside from the expenses mentioned above the Temple supported salaried workers. It is important to note that not all salaried workers dealt directly with the Temple Service.

The trumat halishka was used to pay the makers of the incense, the bakers of the Show Bread, the blemish checkers -- the experts who checked that all sacrifices were fit to offer in the Beit HaMikdash. It was also used to pay the sages who taught the Kohanim the laws of animal slaughter and "kemitza" (extracting three fingers full of a meal offering to be sacrificed on the Altar).

Women who raised their sons to be pure for the red heifer would receive their salaries from the trumat halishka.

The guards who made sure there would be wheat and barley on the sabbatical year for the Omer and Two Breads, which must from that current year, received a salary from the trumat halishka.

The Temple Treasury also paid salaries to people who did things not connected to the Temple Service. Scribes who corrected Torah Scrolls in Jerusalem were paid from the trumat halishka, as were judges of thieves in Jerusalem -- this was not necessarily Torah Law judgement, but for social justice.

It should also be noted that these people received a high salary, so that they would be dignified. Their salaries were automatically adjusted for inflation, unlike the other salaries. Other people would apparently have difficult dealings with for with the Temple Treasury for their salaries. The judges high salaries was probably high, so that the judges would be viewed as valuable people, and not just as dangerous exercisers of power.

Did the people who were permanently working for the Temple receive a salary. Surprisingly, I have found not source to say they received anything. The permanent people of the Temple were called "memunim" (appointed), and they were the senior clerks of the Temple, numbering 13, as well as the "gizbarim" (treasurers), guards of the treasury, and possibly the heads of the divisions of Kohanim and Levites, as well as the Kohen Gadol and his deputy. It is not clear where their salary came from. It is possible that their salaries came from the budget they were responsible for -- e.g. the "memune" for the garments may have received money from the budget for garments, and salary of the "memune" for water would be included in the budget for water.

D. What did they do with the leftover money?

In the Temple, there were two types of leftovers -- leftover "lishka", and leftover "trumat halishka".

How was leftover trumat halishka created?

As stated previously, the a collection was taken from the lishka at least three times a year, and if that did not suffice, an additional collection would be taken. When a new collection would be taken, the money remaining from the previous collection would be considered leftover "trumat halishka". When the date of the new collection would come, this would be used to purchase burnt offerings not brought as the set obligatory offerings, but as communal voluntary offerings, and this was called "kayitz hamizbeach". These sacrifices would be brought when other individual or communal sacrifices were not being offered. These sacrifices were called "kayitz" (summer), which is the dry season. This is what was offered when the Altar was "dry" -- without sacrifices -- summer on the Altar.

And what was the leftover "lishka"?

Once the first of Nisan arrived, sacrifices can only be brought from the new donation. The old donation became "leftover lishka", and it would be spent on other things. For example the ramp that the red heifer would be brought on from the Temple Mount to the Mountain of Olives and the ramp that the scape goat would be sent off on. This money had the status of Temple treasury money, so it would be used to build the Altar, the Sanctuary, and the Courtyards.

Nevertheless, the Temple did not spend money only for its needs, but it was responsible for the general upkeep of Jerusalem. Therefore, the Temple treasury paid for the water supply to Jerusalem, the walls and towers of Jerusalem, roads to and it Jerusalem.

This being the case, it was forbidden to take money from a foreign body for the upkeep of Jerusalem, lest they be able to have influence. Therefore, none of these expenditures could be paid for by gentiles, even a resident alien ("ger toshav"), as it is stated, (Ezra 4:3) "You have nothing to do with us building a house to our G-d" and (Nehemiah 2:20) "but you have no right or portion or memorial in building Jerusalem." (Rambam, Hilchot Shekalim 4:8)

According this ruling from the period of the Babylonian return, it is difficult to understand how those returning from Babylon accepted such a great financial support from the kings of Persia. It is conceivable that they took money only from the Persian king and not from their gentile neighbors, since the king of Persia ruled over Judea and Jerusalem, in any case, so accepting his support did not change the situation, but they refrained from accepting other foreign donations. It is also conceivable that it was not possible to refuse a donation from the Persian king, unlike their gentile neighbors. It is also conceivable that without the Persian governmental support, it would be impossible to function, but it was possible to oppose intervention from the local gentiles.

As previously mentioned, the senior clerks of the temple were called "memunim" (appointed), and there were thirteen of them (which will be discussed in another article). The positions were named after a distinguished clerk of that duty. The clerk in charge of clothing was called "Pinchas the dresser", not that these clerks changed their name to Pinchas, but that there was a special personality who coined this position, so all clerks following him are called by his name.

The clerk for the water system was called "Nehunia the cave digger", named after a clerk who was distinguished in that field, and he was responsible to provide water to all the pilgrims.

According the the Rambam, this clerk had a more general position, equivalent to a water commissioner today. According to his words, this clerk was responsible for all the water in Eretz Yisrael.

It is conceivable that the Temple's handling of the water system came from practical considerations. It would be ineffective to split the responsibility for water in Eretz Yisrael between two authorities, one for Jerusalem and one for the rest of Eretz Yisrael. It is also conceivable that Herod and the Romans were not concerned about the water supply for Jews, so the Temple was harnessed for this task. Perhaps, the economic situation after the Hasmonian period was such that the task was place upon the Temple, which did have extra money, so it was possible to use it without imposing hardship on the national economy.

The other leftovers were not leftover money, but leftover incense which had not yet been offered and animals that did not yet get to be sacrificed.

The remaining incense would be resold to the artisans, and the money would be used for "kayitz hamizbeach". The incense itself would be bought back from the artisans from the new donations.

Sacrifices that had not been offered became burnt offerings for "kayitz hamizbeach", and the obligatory sacrifices were brought from the new donations.

As stated, if the new donations did not arrive, they would continue to use the old donations, and if the old donations were used up, they would take from the Temple Treasury.

Next Article

IN THE NEWS

Haaretz Internet Thursday, May 14, 1998

OLMERT ORDERED TO LEAVE TEMPLE MOUNT

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert was asked by Waqf guards to leave the Temple Mount yesterday after he gave a television interview on the holy site.

Al Aqsa Sheikh Muhammad Hussein said Olmert entered the mosque with a television crew and gave an interview without the permission of the Waqf (the supreme Muslim religious council). "He made declarations on television without authorization , and this is improper behavior inside the Al Aqsa mosque," the sheikh said. He said that as a result, two members of the Waqf asked Olmert to leave and the mayor obliged.

"He is allowed to visit the mosque like any other tourist but he did not respect the place and so his visit was canceled and he left." The sheikh emphasized that there was nothing preventing Olmert from visiting the mosque during regular visiting hours, but all visitors are asked to respect the rules of the place. (Sami Sockol)

ARSONIST TARGETS JERUSALEM TEMPLE MOUNT

By JOSHUA BRILLIANT

TEL AVIV, May 14 (UPI) - An arsonist set fire to one of the heavy wooden gates surrounding the ... [Temple Mount] ... as tension mounts between Jews and Moslems in Jerusalem's Old City.

Internal Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani said a firebomb was hurled at the door. Several stones surrounding the gate were also damaged.

PA PROUD OF RIOTS

Following today's Moslem prayer service on the Temple Mount, Arabs threw stones at Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall. No injuries were reported, and the police did not enter the Temple Mount, leaving the Waqf officials to restore order. 1600 Israeli police officers were deployed in eastern Jerusalem today.

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