“Poor” and “rich” mean poor in knowledge or to the contrary. Shekel means “scales,” which is stones with which to weigh. In other words, a person must reflect on the way that he is in. He must know that he is always in a state of half and half, as our sages said, “One should always see oneself as half guilty” (Kidushin 40b).

One should not think that there is someone who is rich, who has more Torah and good deeds, so he is no longer in a state of “half.” Rather, it is as in “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him” (Sukkah 52b).

It therefore follows that between rich and poor, we can weigh for ourselves the good path or the bad one. To weigh means to decide to give the contribution to the Lord. This is like the allegory about a person who walks into a grocery store and the merchant weighs the goods. If there are many customers in the shop, each one thinks that the merchant is weighing for him.

It is likewise here: The Sitra Achra [other side] wants him to weigh for her and the Kedusha [holiness], for her. It is about this that the verse says, “to give the contribution to the Lord,” meaning he is weighing for the Creator. Also, “half” means a lack, which is the Kli [vessel], for you have no light without a Kli. Hence, the Kli and the light are regarded as one discernment. The light is one half, and the Kli is one half, and the two of them make the discernment of truth—from the lack and the revelation.

This is the meaning of his saying “half a Shekel,” meaning that one should see that he has half, meaning a lack, and also that he is fit to receive the filling, namely that he should also be fit to receive the lack.