All you take with you is that which you’ve given away.
This is written on the wall of George Bailey’s Building and Loan office in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. It’s a beautiful sentiment, and one that rings true to all that the Creator has so graciously granted us in this life. The beauty of a blessing is not that we have it, but that we are able to share it with others, enriching the lives of those we care for and making the world a better place for it.
In this week’s portion of Ki Tisa, God tells Moses that when counting the Israelites, he is to instruct each of them to give half a shekel. Moses is then instructed to use the money for the Tent of Meeting, making it a memorial for the Israelites unto the Lord. In doing so, God tells Moses that this half shekel is holy.
We don’t always associate money with holiness. Yet, here Moses is told from the Creator himself that the shekel is indeed holy when we use it as a vehicle towards the betterment of the people. Of course we are not talking here about the coin or the paper, or the dollar versus the shekel. What is being said is that money is energy, an aspect of Light, and that we can direct its usage according to our free will.