This Shabbat is a very special Shabbat. We will Bezrat Hashem bring out 3 Sifrei Torah, one for Parashat Shavua, one for Rosh Chodesh, and one for Parashat shekalim.
Parashat Mishpatim in the Zohar is the main source for our understanding in the Kabbalah on the subject of Reincarnation. It is said that the Bal Shem Tov asked why is it that specifically in this parashah of Mishpatim is where Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochi chooses to reveal the secrets of reincarnation. His answer is that sometimes one goes to biet din,
and he knows that he is right and the other side owes him, but the Dayanim (judges) say that the other side is right. He is sad that he lost the money that is rightfully his. for this reason Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says that "Ele Mishpatim" is the secret of reincarnation, to say that the reason the dayanim made this judgment is that in his previous reincarnation something happened that he left owing money to that soul. By losing this court case he is actually getting the
tikkun for his soul from the previous lifetime.
Rosh Chodesh that falls in Shabbat brings a specially high level of kedusha! This allows revelation at very high levels! there is a story in the book of "Shivchay Ha Marchu" about Rabbi Chaim Vital the student oft he Ariza"l. that had a revelation of a certain Neshama of an ancient righteous person. This was in Rosh Chodesh that happens to be in
Shabbat. This soul that revealed himself to Rabbi Chaim Vital told him that he wanted to come to tell him those secrets for a long time, but needed to wait for permission from above. The permission only came because of the high level of kedusha of this day.
Bezrat Hashem Hashem will bless us all to have good and truthful revelations to help us all to grow with our faith hope love and awe to Hashem!
The Gemarah explains the reason we add another reading and read Parashat Shekalim, is to remind everyone, the obligations of "Mechatzit Hashekel". Many years ago, I heard from Rabbi Itamar Pearlman, a secret of the word "מחצית" if we look closely in the middle of the word there is
a צ and the 2 letters closest to the צ are ח and י, and the ones that are further away are, מ and ת, so the letters close to the צ spell out Chai, Alive חית and the one that is far from the צ spell out Met, Dead מת. this comes to teach us that when one is close
to a Tzadik he is alive and when one is distancing himself from the Tzadik he is spiritually dead.
When the Beis Hamikdash existed, the money that was raised from the mechatzit hashekel was used to fix the roads and the water cisterns, and also for the maintenance of the Beit Hamikdash itself. The custom today is to use this money for the maintenance of the Biet Kenset and Beit Midrash witch is called Mikdash Mee'at.
The spiritual meaning behind this is related to the surrounding light. The Zohar says on this light "Kulhu Kame Kelo Chashivin"
'In front of Hashem, no one has a special meaning, everyone is equal.' if you think this is depressing i can comfort you that this is only one aspect of the relation of the Creator and the creation, and in this specific aspect of the surrounding light everyone is equal.
There is a parable for this; If someone is standing on a skyscraper and looks down to the street one will not be able to recognize who is higher and who is lower. from this high point of view, everyone looks equal.
The aspect of the Inner Light on the other hand that is very different. Those who worked on fixing their character traits 'Tikkun Hamiddot', have the merit to experience much higher levels of intimacy in their relationship with Hashem. Here we see the difference of the spiritual levels between the righteous and wicked people. this
goes back to the secret of the word 'mechatzit' that we explained before that those who have worked on correction of their character and are close to the Tzadik are alive and those who distance themselves from the Tzadik and more important Hashem are dead.
