Parshas Ki Sisa (Parah) 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- 18 hours ago
- 2 min read
העשיר לא ירבה והדל לא ימעיט ממחצית השקל ... (ל-טו)
MASHAL: During R’ Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz’s zt”l leadership at Torah Vodaath, tuition was never a barrier to a student’s desire to learn. One afternoon, while walking through the hall, he heard the muffled sobbing of a woman coming from the financial office. Stepping inside to investigate, R’ Shraga Feivel found a mother of three boys enrolled in the yeshivah, tearfully begging for a tuition reduction. Without a word, he signaled for one of the office administrators to follow him outside. “Let us see for ourselves how she lives,” he said.
The walk from the Mesivta to the woman’s apartment was only a few blocks, but the reality inside was a world away. They were admitted into a cramped, meager dwelling where the very walls seemed to cry out with the weight of poverty. R’ Shraga Feivel stayed only long enough to quietly leave a few dollars on the table as a courtesy.
Upon returning to the office, he turned to the staff who had refused the woman’s request. His voice was firm: “You are dealing here with dinei nefashos, matters of life and death. In the time you spent arguing over whether to reduce her tuition from five dollars to three, you could have gone out and collected far larger sums elsewhere.” From that day forward, he instructed the staff that every request for a tuition reduction must be met with compassion and a favorable eye.
NIMSHAL: The Half-Shekel teaches us that every neshama holds an equal stake in the Mishkan Hashem. Neither the affluent nor those who struggle to afford the “admission” are viewed differently; rather, the gates are open to anyone who sincerely desires to be part of Hashem’s holy presence. By requiring a uniform contribution, the Torah reminds us that while our bank accounts may differ, our spiritual worth is identical.