MISHNAH: On the first of Adar one proclaims about sheqalim¹The yearly Temple tax of half a sheqel(Ex. 30:11–16). The expenses of the Temple service had to be paid from the tax collected for the year starting on Nisan 1. Since the tax could be enforced in the Land of Israel, it was sufficient to remind people of their duty and set up collection points one month in advance.
In talmudic times, and already in the LXX, the profane sheqel was identified with the Greek and Roman didrachma, or 2 denar piece, approximately equal to the Achemaenean sheqel (siglos). However, it is clear from the talmudic sources as well as the coinage of the first war against the Romans that as sacrificial sheqel the old Canaanite and Israelite sheqel was used, approximately a Roman tetradrachma (cf. Qiddušin 1:1, Note 122.), and therefore the biblical half-sheqel was a full profane sheqel. and about kilaim²Since it is the end of the rainy season, farmers are reminded to remove spontaneous kilaim growth from their fields, so they should not run the risk that their harvest be forbidden for all use., and on the fifteenth of that month one reads the Esther scroll in fortified places³Greek χάραξ, “palisades”. The expression is used to describe walled cities reputed to have been walled at Joshua’s time, cf. Mishnah Megillah1:1., and one repairs the roads,⁴Rural roads which might have been damaged during the rainy season, to prepare them for the pilgrims going to Jerusalem in the following month. and the streets⁵Municipal roads., and water pools⁶Since the term is not discussed in the Halakhah, it is difficult to know whether one refers to religious miqwaot or to water supply for the pilgrims. Both kinds of pools may contain dust deposited there by the rains of the winter months., and one looks after all public needs⁷Described in the Halakhah., and marks the graves⁸Graves not in a cemetery, which must be clearly marked so ritually pure pilgrims will not be contaminated accidentally and then prevented from completing their pilgrimage. The whitewash characterizing these graves may have been damaged during the rainy season., and also goes to inspect for kilaim⁹As described in Mishnah 2..

HALAKHAH: “On the first of Adar one proclaims,” etc. Why on the first of Adar? So that Israel should bring their sheqalim in time and it should be disbursed from the new contributions to the treasury¹⁰The technical term for the Temple tax. on time on the First of Nisan. And Rebbi Samuel ben Rav Isaac said, [the heave of the treasury]¹¹Corrector’s addition from the Babli. From here to the end of the paragraph there is a parallel in Roš Haššanah1:1 (56d line 4, ר). as at its start, as it is written¹²Ex. 40:17., it was in the First month of the Second year, on the first of the month, that the Sanctuary was erected. It was stated hereto, on the day the Sanctuary was erected, on the same day the contribution¹³The Temple tax required in Ex. 30:11–16. was collected. Rebbi Tabi, Rebbi Yoshia in the name of Cahana. It is said here months, and it is said there, months¹⁴As shown later, the reference is to Num. 28:14: this is the monthly elevation offering on its day of the New Moon, for the months of the year. This is compared to Ex. 12:2, this month shall be for you the start of months; it is the first of the months of the year. The latter verse designates the month of the spring equinox as start of the year in all matters of sacrificial ritual.. Since months mentioned there are only counted from Nisan, so also months mentioned here are only counted from Nisan. Rebbi Jonah said, Rebbi Tabi left out the start and only quoted the end; this is not done since it was stated¹⁵In the way the baraita was stated by R. Tabi, it is impossible to see what it refers to. One has to state the baraita in its entirety for it to make sense. Babli Roš Haššanah7a.: This is the elevation sacrifice for a month at its New Moon¹⁶Num. 28:14.. I could think that one should collect every month, the verse says at its New Moon for the months; at one New Moon one collects for all months of the year. I could think on any month of his choosing, it is said here months, and it is said there, months. Since months mentioned there are only counted from Nisan, so also months mentioned here are only counted from Nisan.

What means “one lets hear”? Rav Huna said, one proclaims¹⁷Since the Hebrew expression was no longer understood, it is substituted by the Semitic hif`il of the Greek verb κηρύσσω., as you are saying¹⁸2Chr. 24:9., they made a proclamation in Jehudah and Jerusalem.

¹⁹An almost exact parallel is in Megillah 1:7, 71a line 21, מ. There, we have stated²⁰Mishnah Megillah1:7.: “The only difference between a First Adar and a Second Adar²¹In an intercalary year, where a thirteenth month is added preceding the next Nisan, this “Second Adar” is the month where dates scheduled for Adar should be observed. is the reading of the Esther scroll and gifts to the poor²²Both in observance of the Purim festivities.”. Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi, also proclamations regarding sheqalim and kilaim are between them²³Mishnah Sheqalim1:1 in an intercalary year refers to the first day of Second Adar.. Rebbi Ḥelbo and Rav Ḥuna, Rav in the name of the Great Rabbi Ḥiyya: Everybody may fulfill his obligation on the Fourteenth, which is the time of its reading²⁴This has nothing to do with the topic under discussion. Mishnah Megillah 1:1 gives different dates for the reading of the megillah for different places. It is stated that the dates other than the 14^th of Adar are not absolute; the 14^th is valid at all places.. Rebbi Yose said, this²⁵This refers to the statement of R. Simon. is correct. Did they not say,. one proclaims about sheqalim, so that Israel should bring their sheqalim in time? If you would say on the First Adar, there still would be sixty days {left} in the year. Did they not say, also one goes to inspect for kilaim, not that the plants should be recognizable? If you would say in the First Adar, they still would be small.

Rebbi Ḥisqiah asked: But then the people in Babylonia proclaim about sheqalim on the start of the month²⁶In the version of the ms., Ḥizqiah points out that the Mishnah applied to countries outside the Holy Land leads to nonsensical results. In the version printed in the Babli, his is a declarative sentence, that in Babylonia one proclaims at the start of winter (about November), so the money may be delivered to Jerusalem in time.. Was it not so that Israel should bring their sheqalim in time and it should be disbursed from the new contributions to the treasury on time on the First of Nisan? Rebbi Ulla asked before Rebbi Mana: Did we not state²⁷Mishnah 3:1., “three times a year one disburses from the treasury, half a month before²⁸In contrast to the Babli and the text of B, one reads פרס as (Latin) pars, “one half”, meaning half a month before the holiday indicated (Halakhah 3:1, Tosephta 2:1). Passover, before Pentecost, before Tabernacles.” He told him, we may say, before Passover, from those near; before Pentecost, from those farther away, before Tabernacles, from those still farther away. He answered him, it was collected all at one time. And why did they say, “three times a year”? To make a procession²⁹Greek πομπή, Latin pompa. of the occasion.

Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazi in the name of Rebbi: May one read this and not be ashamed³⁰In B: afraid. In the biblical narrative, all good actions are ascribed to individuals, the bad to the entire people.? In a good sense, every one of goodwill³¹Ex. 35:5.; in a bad sense, all the people took off the gold rings in their ears³²Ex. 32:3.. In a good sense, Moses led the people out³³Ex. 19:1.; in a bad sense, all of you ganged up against me³⁴Deut. 1:22.. In a good sense, then Moses and the Children of Israel sang³⁵Ex. 15:1.; in a bad sense, the entire congregation started wailing³⁶Num. 14:1.. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, indeed they got up early to destroy³⁷Zeph. 3:7.. Any destructive action they made early in the morning. Rebbi Abba bar Aḥa said, one cannot understand the character of this people; they are asked for the {golden} calf and are giving, for the Sanctuary and are giving. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina stated this baraita:³⁸To answer R. Ḥiyya bar Abba’s question. You shall make a cover of pure gold³⁹Ex. 25:17., may the gold of the cover come and atone for the gold of the calf.

Rebbi Ḥaggai in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman. Three contributions are mentioned in the paragraph⁴⁰Ex. 25:2–3, as explained in the text., the contribution for the bases⁴¹As noted in Ex. 38:27–28, the silver contributed by half-sheqalim contributed by a head tax according to Ex. 30:11–16 was used to cast the bases, hooks, and covers, for the poles for the posts securing the sanctuary and its gobelins., the contribution for sheqalim⁴²Since the receipt of the first tax was used for construction purposes, there must have been a second tax (in the amount of the first but collected only in the following years, not the year of construction) to provide for the communal sacrifices., and the contribution for the Sanctuary⁴³². Speak to the Children of Israel, they shall take for me a contribution, that is the contribution for the bases. From any man of goodwill take my contribution, this refers to the contribution for sheqalim. This is the contribution which you shall take from them, that is the contribution for the Sanctuary. The contribution for the Sanctuary is for the Sanctuary, they may use it in any way they want. The contribution for sheqalim is for sacrifices, they may use it in any way they want, so that everybody’s part of it be the same. The contribution for the bases [is for the bases]⁴⁴Addition by the corrector following B but probably incorrect; the fact that it is equal for everybody distinguishes it from the contributions to the Sanctuary., the rich may not increase and the poor may not decrease⁴⁵Ex. 30:15.. Rebbi Abun said, also in this paragraph⁴⁶In Ex. 30:11–16. The expression תְּרוּמָה לַיי or תְּרומַת יי appears in vv.. 13,14,15 Babli Megillah29b. are three contributions mentioned.

“On the fifteenth of this month one reads the Esther scroll in fortified places.” But did not Rebbi Ḥelbo, Rav Ḥuna, Rav in the name of the Elder Rabbi Ḥiyya, say²⁴⁶: Everybody may fulfill his obligation on the Fourteenth, which is the time of its reading? It only comes to teach you that (the obligations apply to the Second Adar) [all obligations which apply to the Second Adar apply to the First Adar.]⁴⁷The text in parentheses is the scribe’s, the one in brackets the corrector’s adapted to the text of B. The scribe’s text is clear; since only one 14^th and one 15^th are mentioned, the reading of the scroll happens only once and this is the Second Adar of an intercalary year. In this version, in such a year Purim is not noticed at all in the First Adar. The corrector’s text and B take the opposite opinion, difficult to understand at this moment. Rebbi Yose and Rebbi Aḥa were sitting together. Rebbi Yose said to Rebbi Aḥa, it only is reasonable for the past, not for the future⁴⁸The rule of R. Ḥiyya may only be applied to unforeseen circumstances. If people read on the 14^th when according to the rules they should have read on the 15th, one does not tell them to read a second time. But if people from such a place come to ask before the 14^th whether they may read on the 14t^h, one tells them no, they have to read on the 15^th.; as it was stated, at a place where one is used to read it both days⁴⁹In a city where there is a doubt whether one should read on the 14^th or the 15th. one reads it both days. He said to him, I also am of this opinion. Rebbi Mana said, this is correct. If one read it on the Fourteenth and then wants to read it⁴⁹In a city where there is a doubt whether one should read on the 14^th or the 15th. on the Fifteenth, would one not listen to him? If you are saying otherwise, you would eliminate the time of the fortified places with your hands⁵⁰Which is practice to be followed, being stated in two Mishnaiot..

⁵¹A parallel (original) text for this and the following paragraph is in Megillah1:7, 71a line 14 (מ). It was stated: Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel says, Obligations which apply to the Second Adar do not apply to the First Adar except for eulogy and for fasting which are equal for both⁵²Tosephta Megillah1:6, Babli Megillah 6b.. Rebbi Abba, Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rav, Rebbi Simeon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Practice follows Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel. Rebbi Ḥuna, the rabbi of Sepphoris said, Rebbi Ḥanina made it a custom in Sepphoris following Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel. He only said custom, therefore not as practice⁵³It is obligatory only in places which adopted the ruling..

But in matters of documents one writes the First Adar, the Second Adar. only that for the Second Adar one writes תִינייָן. Rebbi Jehudah says, the Second Adar one writes, and it is enough⁵⁴This paragraph is thoroughly garbled, and the text of B is worse. The intelligible text is the original in Megillah(and Tosephta Megillah1:6). In the anonymous opinion (ascribed in B to R. Meïr), for both months one writes Adar, but the second one is qualified by “second” (in Aramaic, the language of contracts in both Talmudim.) R. Jehudah agrees that “Adar” alone means the First Adar in an intercalary year, but the Second may be indicated by a single letter ת֗, first letter of the Aramaic word “second”..

“One repairs the roads,⁴Rural roads which might have been damaged during the rainy season, to prepare them for the pilgrims going to Jerusalem in the following month. and the streets⁵Municipal roads., and water pools⁶Since the term is not discussed in the Halakhah, it is difficult to know whether one refers to religious miqwaot or to water supply for the pilgrims. Both kinds of pools may contain dust deposited there by the rains of the winter months., and one looks after all public needs⁷Described in the Halakhah..” “⁵⁵Tosephta Mo`ed Qaṭan2:11. From here to the end of the Halakhah the text is from Mo`ed Qaṭan1:1 (80b 66), with no or little relevance here. The Mo`ed Qaṭan text of the ms. is indicated by ק; in addition there exist an Ashkenazic text of the Yerushalmi (A) edited by J. Sussman in Kobez al Yad12 (1994), pp. 62–63.
Most of the activities permitted in the baraita are for the benefit of individuals, not the public, most clearly delivering a new pair of shoes on the semi-holiday, mentioned last in the baraita. The only reason for its inclusion here is the identity of the expression “public needs”, applied both to public works in preparation for the holiday and permitted activities during the intermediate days of an extended holiday. The following are the public needs: One judges civil suits, and capital crimes, and cases of flogging, and one redeems valuations⁵⁶Fixed amounts dedicated to the Temple, Lev. 27:2–6., and bans⁵⁷Dedications reserved for the Cohanim, Num. 18:14., and dedications⁵⁸Dedications for the upkeep of the Temple, other than currency., one lets the suspected adulteress drink⁵⁹Num. 5:11–31., and burns the Cow⁶⁰Num. 19., and one breaks the neck of the calf whose neck was to be broken⁶¹For an unsolved murder case, Deut. 21:1–9., and one pierces the ear of a Hebrew slave⁶², and one purifies the sufferer from skin disease⁶³, and removes the shoe from the block but one may not return it.”

“One marks the graves.” Were they not already marked in Adar? Explain it if there was a flood caused by rain which rinsed it off⁶⁴This also is copied from Mo`ed Qaṭan. The question is why one should hire people to mark graves (or in the next paragraph to check for kilaim) on the semi-holidays approximately on the spring and fall equinoxes (Mishnah Mo`ed Qaṭan1:2) when they already had been checked in late winter. The reason that one tries to have all public works done on semi-holidays is that at that time most journeymen are without work and ready to work for lower wages. One provides work for the poor and saves taxpayer’s money at the same time. Cf. Babli Mo`ed Qaṭan6a..

“And also one goes to inspect for kilaim⁸Graves not in a cemetery, which must be clearly marked so ritually pure pilgrims will not be contaminated accidentally and then prevented from completing their pilgrimage. The whitewash characterizing these graves may have been damaged during the rainy season..” Did they not already go in Adar? Explain it if the year was late and the plants not recognizable.

⁶⁵This text in addition is in Ma`aser Šeni5:1, :Notes 17–25, ש) and Sotah9:1 (Notes 29–31, ס). Babli Mo`ed Qatan6a. The biblical roots for the duty of the authorities to mark the places of graves with taxpayers’ money. From where about marks? Rebbi Berekhiah, Rebbi Jacob the son of the daughter of Jacob, in the name of Rebbi Onias from Hauran. Rebbi Yose said it, Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa in the name of Rebbi Onias from Hauran. Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Uziel the son of Rebbi Onias from Hauran in the name of Rebbi Onias from Hauran: impure, impure, he shall call out⁶⁷Lev. 13:46. An inappropriate reference since the verse refers to the impurity of the sufferers from skin disease, not of corpses.; the impurity itself has to call out and say to you: go away! Rebbi Hila in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman: The emissaries shall crisscross the land; if one sees a bone of a human he builds a sign near it.⁶⁸Ez. 39:15. {A bone}⁶⁹Quoted from the parallels; in parallel to the following statements the source in the verse should be stated, except for the version of B which quotes the verse only up to a bone., from here that one makes signs for bones. A human, from here that one makes signs for spine and skull. He builds, from here that one makes signs on fixed stones. If you say on loose ones, it would move and make other places impure. Near it, on a place of purity. A sign, from here the marks.

⁷⁰Tosephta Šeqalim1:5. If one found a single marked stone, even though one should not keep it so, if somebody forms a tent over it he is impure; I say a marked corpse⁷¹This expression has no explanation; B simply has “a corpse”, probably since the printer did not understand the word to be inserted. . Most parallels have קמצוץ “compressed”, a corpse buried with its head between the legs, so it fitted under the stone. This is not a Jewish burial custom. Since the majority of sources reads “impure”, they imply that Gentile corpses cause “tent impurity” (Num. 19, Babli Yebamot61a); only the texts in Ma`aser Šeni and the Tosephta follow R. Simeon who restricts tent (and any kind of biblical) impurity to Jewish bodies. was under it. If there were two, he who forms a tent over any one of them is pure; between them he is impure. If between them was a ploughed strip they are single stones, between them the area is pure and around them⁶² impure.

It was stated⁷³Tosephta Šeqalim1:5.: One does not mark flesh, for perhaps it will decompose⁷⁴Then it is no longer impure.. Rebbi Justus bar Shunem asked before Rebbi Mana: Will that not cause pure food to be retroactively made impure⁷⁵If the carrier of pure food learns that he has crossed a place where human flesh (without enough bone to cause tent impurity) was buried.? He said to him, it is better that these should become unusable for a limited time than that {the earth} become unusable forever.