This Sedra contains numerous rules regulating our monetary dealings with each other. Parshat Shekalim, read from the second Sefer Torah, details the fixed half-shekel contribution that was paid towards the purchase of communal sacrifices during the month of Adar every year.

The Jerusalem Talmud relates in the name of Rabbi Meir that Moses had difficulty understanding this mitzvah of the half-shekel, so G-d showed him the likeness of a fiery coin and said: “…like this shall they give…”.

What is the significance of this ‘fiery coin’? To paraphrase the Noam Elimelech (1717-1787): Just like fire, money properly used can
bring warmth, light and joy – but money misused has the power to destroy life, limb and property.

A popular car sticker reads: ‘Money talks – Mine’s always saying “Goodbye!”’ If we correctly use the money with which we have been blessed, then we can be confident that after 120 years all the money to which we said “goodbye” will return and speak up for us
with the same fiery enthusiasm that we exhibited when distributing it.

At the end of the service the more than 100 children present gathered in front of the steps to the Aron HaKodesh from where Rabbi Ginsbury addressed them and also presented each of them with a Shabbat ‘treat’. The special service was the brainchild of main Shul regular Nigel Nelkon who put in countless hours of preparation ahead of the Shabbat together with children’s services co-ordinator, David Masters, who also served as Ba’al Shacharit. Paul Neville, of the Shul’s RCAM Minyan led Mussaf, with his young son, Daniel, standing at his side. The children gathered together in front of the Aron HaKodesh and joined in beautifully for the singing of pieces such as ‘Chadesh yameinu k’kedem’ and on the Bimah for ‘Anim z’mirot’ and ‘Adon Olam’,

The Divine Charter of Life heralded by the Ten Commandments forms the Sedra’s main narrative. Though our ancestors voiced their acceptance of, and commitment to, its teachings in exclaiming Na’ase V’nishma (“we will do and we will hear”), even before being taught its contents, the Midrash tells us that G-d refused to hand it over to them without an unqualified assurance that they
would bequeath it to their children and children’s children to the end of time.

Without the loyalty and devotion of the rising generations to the knowledge and observance of this Charter, it could well remain, as other items of the past, another antiquated fossil to be brought out every so often for literary, historical and archaeological investigations. Being G-d’s ordained Law, which – like G-d Himself – is eternal and unchangeable, it could be given only to someone eternal and immutable – a people. As Moses said, hayom hazeh nih’yesah l’am (“today you have become a people”), an am s’gulah (“unique nation”), mamlechet Kohanim (“kingdom of priests”), goy kadosh (“holy nation”).

Further implied evidence of the Torah being given to a people – and not just an individual – may be hidden in a groom’s declaration of to his bride (“You are consecrated to me according to the Law of Moses and [the people of] Israel”). The Torah has been expounded in different ages by different scholars and in different ways. It was Rambam who declaimed kabale ha’emet mimi sh’omrah (“accept
the truth from whichever source it emanates”). Nevertheless, insofar as putting the teachings of the Torah into daily practice, behaviour, action and interpretation, how, where and when, is concerned, there is only One truth, that of the people’s authentic Rabbinic tradition.

It has happened countless times. The lights are off, the candles are lit, the cake is ready, the children are ecstatic…and then something flops. A toddler falls, a balloon pops, a child singes her finger. Why can’t we ever create the perfect celebration?

In this week’s Sedra, the same thing occurs. A nation oppressed for centuries is finally, miraculously, saved. At their most transcendent moment, as the Sea of Reeds splits, the Jews cry out: ‘Who is like You among the lords, O Hashem?’ (Shemot 15:11)
The Sages (Medrash Mechilta D’Rabbi Yishmael) say that the word eilim (‘lords’) is an allusion to the word eilleim, meaning ‘one who cannot speak’, referring to the future destruction of the Second Temple in which murder and destruction were wrought while G-d seemingly stood by in silence. The question is, why are the Jews alluding to future disasters while they are at the height of their joy?
When the sea split, the Jews not only recognised G-d’s hand at that moment; they also realised that He had been with them throughout their harsh persecution as well. Even though it seemed like G-d had forgotten them, their pain and suffering in Egypt was part of the Divine plan and it was this that they realised with hindsight as G-d split the sea.

There is a more difficult level of gratitude, which is remembering to thank G-d even when times are hard. This was the message the Torah wanted us to remember for the future so that, even during impending dark times, we would never despair. And this is the message to remember when your baby throws your phone in the bath. Thank G-d you have a child.

This week is ‘family Shabbat’. We are all in different positions of good and not so good times. It is a great opportunity to come together to thank G-d for what we have.

Bo contains one of the simplest of the so-called hidden Bible codes. At the end of Shemot 11:9 we find the words ‘Rabot Moftai B’eretz Mitzrayim’ (‘My marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt’). Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (Nachmanides), The Ramban (1195-1270), pointed out that this is the only place in the whole Torah where we see the series of initial letters RMBM, the acronym for Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam (1135- 1204), who – amongst his many other achievements – was a doctor to the sultan of Egypt and performed many marvels there. This has been known for centuries, but about 40 years ago Rabbi Michael Weismandel made an additional discovery: starting at the letter mem of Moshe at the beginning of the verse, every 50th letter spells out the word Mishne. Skipping 613 letters from the mem, one finds the word Torah at the same 50-letter interval. Thus, coded into the Torah at precisely the only place where there is a hidden reference to the Rambam, we find a second hidden reference – to his famous work, the Mishneh Torah. Of course, this could happen purely by chance; but the renowned mathematician Dr Eli Rips has calculated that the odds against such a coincidence are 186,000,000 to 1.

The first Torah code was referenced in the year 1255 by Rabbi Bachya ben Asher. In the 16th century Rabbi Cordovero in his introduction to Pardes Rimonim, a commentary to the Zohar, observed that there is much hidden information encoded in the Torah. Today, with the help of computers we are enabled to discover many thousands more hidden codes. ‘Vay’daber Hashem el Moshe laimor…’ (‘The L-rd spoke to Moses saying…’) is one of the most common phrases in the Torah, but if we look carefully — and with the assistance of the medium of computers — we can become ever more aware of Divine design and the way in which Hashem has encoded
His direct speech to us in every letter, word and phrase of the Torah.