It's that time of year for giving the traditional charity reminiscent of the half-shekel donation to the Temple. Here's a little calculation of how serious that seemingly simple donation actually was! And some ideas for how to make your own half-shekel donation meaningful.For many posts on the valuable work of the project, run "Temple Mount Sifting Project" through the PaleoJudaica search engine. And for background on the project, see, for example, here and here.
For more on the half-shekel Temple tax, see here and links.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.