Halakha 1 · MISHNA On the first of Adar the court proclaims concerning the collection of shekels, i.e., the yearly half-shekel contribution to the Temple treasury made by each adult male for the purpose of buying communal offerings. And they also proclaim with regard to the obligation to uproot forbidden mixtures of diverse kinds of food crops in gardens and fields. And on the fifteenth day of the month of Adar, the Scroll [Megilla] of Esther is read in the cities [kerakim] surrounded by walls from the time of Joshua. And they also repair the roads that were damaged in the winter, and the streets, and the cisterns. And at that time they perform all that is necessary for public welfare. And they also mark the Jewish gravesites anew, so that people would know their location and avoid ritual impurity, as the previous markers may have eroded during the rainy season. And agents of the court also go out to inspect the fields for diverse kinds of food crops, to determine whether or not the farmers had in fact uprooted these seeds after the proclamation on the first of the month. If the agents of the court found that these diverse kinds had not been uprooted, they themselves would uproot them.

GEMARA: The mishna taught that the court would issue a proclamation concerning the new shekels on the first of Adar. The Gemara asks: And why specifically on the first of Adar? The Gemara answers: This was done in order that Jews would bring their shekels to the designated Temple chamber in the proper time, as the shekels had to be collected before the beginning of Nisan each year. And this would ensure that the collection of the Temple treasury chamber would be collected from the new shekels at its proper time, which is on the first of the month of Nisan, i.e., the beginning of the Temple year. After that date all communal offerings must be purchased from the new shekels. And Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak said: The collection of the Temple treasury chamber was performed each year on the same date as its first time, as it is written: "And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the Tabernacle was reared up" (Exodus 40:17). And a baraita was taught about this verse: On the day that the Tabernacle was erected, on that very day the funds were collected. The first of Nisan was thereafter permanently established as the date for the collection of the chamber. Rabbi Tavi said that Rabbi Yoshiya said in the name of Rabbi Kahana: It is stated here, with regard to the additional offerings of the New Moon: "This is the burnt-offering of every New Moon throughout the months of the year" (Numbers 28:14), and it is stated there, concerning the months of the year: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first of the months of the year to you" (Exodus 12:2). Just as "the months of" stated there are counted only from Nisan, the first month of the year, so too, "the months of" that is stated here, with regard to the new shekels, are counted only from Nisan. Rabbi Yona said: Rabbi Tavi left aside the first clause of this baraita, and read only its latter clause, in which it is stated that the months of the year are counted from Nisan. However, this does not prove that the first of Nisan is the date after which communal offerings must be purchased with the new shekels. This is not as it was taught, as this is the full text of the baraita: The verse states: "This is the burnt-offering of a new month on its month, throughout the months of the year" (Numbers 28:14). One might have thought that a person should contribute a half-shekel each and every month. Therefore the verse states: "of a new month on its month, throughout the months," from which it is inferred: In one particular month a person contributes his half-shekel for all the months of the year. The baraita continues: One might have thought that a person can contribute his half-shekel in any month he wants. Therefore, it is stated here, with regard to the additional offerings of the New Moon: "The months of" (Numbers 28:14), and it is stated there, with regard to the months of the year: "The months of" (Exodus 12:2). Just as the phrase "the months of," which is stated there, is counted only from Nisan, the first month of the year, so too, the phrase "the months of," which is stated here, with regard to the offerings, is counted only from Nisan.

§ The mishna taught that on the first of Adar the court would issue a proclamation concerning the new shekels. The Gemara asks: What does it mean that they proclaim? Rav Huna said: They announce publicly that everyone is obligated to donate the half-shekel. As you say in quoting the verse: "And they made a proclamation throughout Judea and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses, the servant of God, laid upon Israel in the wilderness" (II Chronicles 24:9). The tax of Moses is the half-shekel that the Israelites were commanded to donate.

We learned in a mishna there (Megilla 1:4): The only halakhic difference between First Adar and Second Adar is the recitation of the Megilla and the gifts to the poor, which are mitzvot of Purim, which is celebrated only in Second Adar. The Gemara comments: Rabbi Simon says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: The proclamations about the new shekels and about diverse kinds are also between them, i.e., are performed in Second Adar and not First Adar. The Gemara comments further: Rabbi Ḥelbo and Rav Huna said that Rav said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great as follows: All fulfill the obligation to read the Megilla on the fourteenth of Adar, which is the fixed time of its reading for most people, although there are other times in which particular groups can read the Megilla. Rabbi Yosei said: And that is so; the proclamations about the shekels and about diverse kinds were certainly issued in Second Adar. Rabbi Yosei explains: Didn't they say that the court would proclaim about the new shekels on the first of Adar in order that Jews would bring their shekels in the proper time, by the first of Nisan? And if you say that in a leap year the court issues this declaration in First Adar, until then there are still sixty days of the year before the first of Nisan. With so much time remaining, people might be lax and neglect to donate their half-shekels. Rabbi Yosei continues: Furthermore, didn't they say that on the fifteenth of Adar the agents of the court would also go out to examine the fields for diverse kinds of food crops, to determine whether the farmers had in fact uprooted these plants, and to do so themselves if those farmers had neglected their duty. Was this not performed on this date in order that the plants would be perceptible at that time? The court agents must have gone out near springtime, as otherwise they would have been unable to detect the presence of diverse kinds. And if you say that this task is performed in First Adar, until then the new crops are too small to be seen. Consequently, they must have waited until Second Adar, when the crops were visible.

The Gemara comments: In light of the statement that the proclamation concerning the new shekels was to ensure that the coins would arrive in the Temple at the proper time, Rabbi Ḥizkiya asked the following rhetorical question: If that is so, then with regard to the residents of Babylonia, who live at a distance of several months' travel from Jerusalem, the court should proclaim about the new shekels at the beginning of winter. Didn't the court make the proclamation in order that the Jews would bring their shekels in the proper time, and thus the collection of the Temple treasury chamber will be collected from the new shekels at its appropriate time, on the first of Nisan? It therefore would be necessary to issue the proclamation earlier for distant locations. Rabbi Ulla raised a difficulty in the presence of Rabbi Mana: Rabbi Ḥizkiya's statement indicates that in each place the proclamation should be issued in accordance with the time it takes for the shekels to reach Jerusalem from there. But we learned in a mishna (Shekalim 3:1): On three occasions in the year the shekels were collected from the chamber, for the purchase of offerings: Half a month before [biferos] the festival of Passover, half a month before the festival of Shavuot, and half a month before the festival of Sukkot. Rabbi Ulla continued and said to Rabbi Mana in explanation: In light of this mishna, shouldn't we say that the proclamation for shekels was issued in all places on the same date, the first of Adar, whereas the ceremony of the collection of the Temple treasury chamber was performed at three different times, in accordance with the arrival of the shekels to the Temple from different locations: With regard to those who are near Jerusalem, whose shekels arrived before the first of Nisan, the collection ceremony for their coins is half a month before Passover, while the ceremony for those who are farther away is half a month before Shavuot; and the ceremony for those who are even farther away than they are is half a month before Sukkot.