Says that Moshe Rabbeinu did not understand what G-d meant when He said that everyone should give half a shekel (coin). So Hashem told him, “Zeh yitnu, this they should give,” and G-d pointed at this coin and told him, “This is what they should give.” Classically, there are other things that Moshe Rabbeinu does not understand. Moshe Rabbeinu does not understand the menorah (lampstand); it’s very complicated. Moshe Rabbeinu does not understand the levana (moon), kiddush hachodesh, the sanctification of the new moon. The halachot (laws) are very complicated. Rambam has chapter and chapter and chapter on the laws of kiddush hachodesh. So for those, G-d said, “A moon like this.” For those, G-d said, “A menorah like this.”
But what was hard for Moshe Rabbeinu to understand when G-d said, “Let them give,” right, a half a shekel? I mean, that’s pretty straightforward: every person, half a shekel. What did Moshe need to be shown? The Midrash says that Hashem showed him an image of fire. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe used to explain that what it means is that Moshe could not understand. The Pasuk (verse) says, “Every person should take...” He should take something that will redeem his soul, something which will be a kapara (atonement), something that will be a tremendous zechut (merit). Moshe Rabbeinu said, “Okay, what’s this huge zechut?” Hashem says, “A half a shekel.” Moshe says, “How could a coin be a half of a shekel? How could a coin—excuse me, a half of a shekel—be a kapara, be such a zechut? It’s money. If you don’t spend it on this, you’re going to spend it on a T-shirt. You don’t spend it on this; you’re going to spend it on going out to eat at a restaurant. That’s something so spiritual.” And G-d showed it to him in an image of fire. He says, “You’re focusing on the physical aspect of it, and I’m focusing on the energy generated... by it.”
The Pasuk says, “The staffs, the sticks of the Aron (Ark), they never are apart from the Torah that they supported.” A person gives money to an organization like Bonei Olam, A TIME, or Giving Hand, all organizations involved in helping couples on their journey with fertility. You think you gave it tzedakah (donation), and that’s it? And what’s the reward? The reward is for me taking this money and putting it into this. And you know what? It was hard for me not to keep that money for myself, or I’m greedy. Look, the reward is for that action. Rubbish.
When that couple has a child, that child is not only theirs. Every mitzvah (commandment) that that kid does, from the day he’s born until the day he dies, and the mitzvot and Torah that are done by his children, from the day they are born until the day that they die, are all... attributable to that little donation. So suddenly the coin comes alive. That coin is inseparable from the impact that it makes. I think sometimes people are not aware of their connection, of lo yasuru mimenu, what they are attached to and what they are connected to.