הכיתות ומחצית השקל

The Pharisee sages had a great interest in the turning of the half-sheqel from a onetime census tax into a fixed annual levy. In this way they gave the general public a share in the regular daily sacrifices offered up in the Temple, as well as in the show-bread, "additional" sacrifices on festivals etc. (Sheqalim iv, 1). Secondly, the Pharisees who instructed the priests and supervised their service in the Temple received their wages from the revenues of the half-sheqel (Ketubot 106a). They were therefore naturally interested in increasing the revenue from this tax. Both the Sadducees-Boethusians and the Dead sea sects opposed these tendencies, each one of them according to its practical or ideological attitude to the Temple and cult as a whole. This matter throws some light on the struggle of the sects for supremacy over the Temple.