Censuses go back as far as antiquity. Numbers that represent the nation’s population are vital for planning for the nation’s defense, allocating its resources and charting its future. Moses is commanded to count the people in a highly unconventional manner. Rather than counting heads, the children of Israel are to be counted by having every individual contribute half a shekel. These funds would be used for the upkeep of the tabernacle and for the purchasing of communal sacrifices. Our Torah portion describes what was one of the earliest flat taxes in history.

Two particular aspects of this practice raise questions for us. First, why was the amount of this flat tax determined to be a half-shekel? Secondly, what is the rationale for a flat tax in the first place?

The Jerusalem Talmud offers several explanations for specifically requiring a half-shekel. One of the Talmudic rabbis states that the half-shekel corresponded to the sin of the golden calf which was initiated half-way (noon) through the day. There, all the valuable items of the community were used for idolatry, while here they are to be used for the service of God. Another explanation is that the half-shekel corresponded to the amount each of Joseph’s brothers received from the Ishmaelites for having sold him into slavery. There, each brother was compensated as an individual, enhancing his own wealth, while here the wealth and resources of the entire nation is strengthened.

Why establish a flat tax? It hardly seems fair that the burden placed on the poor should be the same as that placed upon the wealthy. In addition, what could be wrong with allowing the wealthy to contribute more if they desire? Yet, the Torah determined that it would be better to have every person participate in the contribution of a small amount rather than have the generosity of a few carry the entire community. The half-shekel campaign was an opportunity for every Israelite to participate equally in the nation’s relationship with God. It represented a kind of religious democracy, where each person was equal to his or her fellow. The responsibilities of being part of the nation are required equally of everyone, regardless of status.

These two issues -- the specific amount of a half-shekel and the “flat tax” manner in which it was implemented -- are very much interrelated. Individually, we are each incomplete. We have an inherent need to join our lives in bonds of relationship and responsibility with others. We find fulfillment in sharing our own lives with others. In our relationship with the other, we experience greater self-fulfillment. The half-shekel is a reminder of our inherent lack of wholeness for which we need another, and a community, to feel complete. In family life, in the synagogue, in our batei midrash (study communities) and in the larger community, each of our individual contributions and self-sacrifice create a whole from which we, in turn, benefit individually. The flat tax nature of the Torah’s injunction reinforces the idea that other who contributes along with us is our equal, is as valuable as I am, and as necessary to my own sense of wholeness and holiness.