My Personal Shopper

“This, they should give, everyone who goes through the counting, half a shekel of the shekel hakodesh. Twenty gerahs equals one shekel….” (Shemos 30:13)

It’s interesting that there was a specific weight (around seven grams) issued for the half a shekel of silver each Jew was required to contribute.  This connects to a profound comment made by Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch, renowned leader, commentator, and activist on behalf of German Jewry.

In 1830, he was appointed to a respected rabbinic position as the chief rabbi of Oldenburg. He served there for 11 years, after which he became the chief rabbi of the illustrious community of Moravia.

Yet in 1851, when he was asked by a handful of Torah observant families in Frankfurt, Germany, to assist them in combating the strong opposition they were facing from the new, radical reform movement that had its headquarters in Germany, Rav Hirsch heeded their call and left his eminent position to take up the new post (Rabbi YY Jacobson, TheYeshiva.net).

I’d never met her and had no idea what she looked like, but I knew her voice so well. We chatted and schmoozed, discussed my daughters’ engagements and wedding plans, and of course, hashed out which washing machine I’d buy them.

Her name was Etty, and she was my go-to appliance guru. When I moved into my own home close to two decades ago, I no longer had to deal with rent or a landlord, but I also had no appliances. I sought help to navigate the tricky process of becoming an appliance owner; it seemed more complicated than becoming a homeowner. Then I found Etty.