Shekalim, Chapter 6, Mishnah 5. In the first mishnah of this chapter we learned that there were thirteen shofaros in the Temple - thirteen charity boxes shaped like a shofar. Our mishnah details what was written on each one of them, and for what purpose the funds deposited inside were designated.
The inscriptions on the shofaros:
"Tiklin Chadtin" - new shekels.
"Tiklin Atikin" - old shekels. Later in the mishnah we will see what this refers to.
"Kinin" - bird nests, funds designated for bird offerings.
"Gozlei Olah" - for birds brought as an olah offering.
"Etzim" - for someone who came to donate money toward the wood that was burned on the altar.
"Levonah" - for a donation of frankincense, to be burned on the altar.
"Zahav LaKapores" - and there are two opinions as to the meaning of kapores: according to one view, this money was used for the gold plating in the Holy of Holies, and according to the second view, it was used for the service vessels made of gold, since the word "kapores" can also refer to a service vessel.
"Shishah LiNedavah" - six shofaros that bore this general inscription.
"Shishah LiNedavah":
The funds deposited in these six shofaros were used to bring olah offerings on the altar at a time when there was nothing else there - what is called "kayitz hamizbeach," a sort of dessert for the altar when there are no other offerings. The reason there were six is that each one represented a different category of surplus funds, since money left over from an offering must be used for an olah:
Surplus of a chatas - money that was collected for a chatas offering and was left over.
Surplus of an asham - leftover money from an asham offering.
Surplus from the bird offerings of zavim, zavos and women after childbirth - the leftover money that had been set aside for the offerings that a zav, a zavah or a woman after childbirth was required to bring.
The leftover money from a nazir's offering.
The leftover money from the asham of a metzora, who is obligated to bring an asham offering.
A general donation - someone who said that he wanted his money to go toward a donation would place his coins there.
The meaning of "Tiklin Chadtin" and "Tiklin Atikin":
"Tiklin Chadtin" - "of each and every year." There they placed the annual half shekel that was collected from all of Israel, and from it the terumas halishkah was taken.
"Tiklin Atikin" - "whoever did not give his shekel last year gives his shekel for the coming year." Someone who for whatever reason had not given his half shekel the previous year would go ahead and give his shekel for the coming year. In practice, however, this money was not used for the half shekel of the coming year; rather, it was placed with the "remainder of the chamber" - the leftover half shekels that remained in the chamber after the terumas halishkah had been taken from it, and his money was added to that sum.
"Kinin" and "Gozlei Olah" - the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages:
Before the explanation, an introduction is needed: a person obligated to bring a bird offering brings two birds, one as a chatas and one as an olah. There were two types of birds fit for a bird offering - turtledoves and young pigeons.
The opinion of Rabbi Yehudah: "Kinin" - these are turtledoves; "Gozlei Olah" - these are young pigeons. "And all of them are olos" - both shofaros alike were designated for olos, and these are voluntary offerings. According to this approach, the two shofaros represent two different types of birds, and we have here only two categories of voluntary olah offerings.
The opinion of the Sages: "Kinin" - from these funds one bird was taken as a chatas and one as an olah, and they were designated for someone who became obligated in a bird offering. "Gozlei Olah" - all of them are olos, for someone who wished to bring an olah as a voluntary offering. According to this opinion the division does not depend at all on the type of bird, unlike Rabbi Yehudah, who made the matter depend specifically on the type of bird.
In summary: This mishnah listed the thirteen shofaros in the Temple and the inscriptions on them: tiklin chadtin and tiklin atikin, kinin and gozlei olah, wood and frankincense, gold for the kapores, and six for donations. We examined the two opinions in explaining "kapores," the six categories of surplus funds designated for kayitz hamizbeach, the difference between the half shekel of the current year and the shekel of someone who had not given last year, which goes to the remainder of the chamber, and finally the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages in explaining "kinin" and "gozlei olah" - whether the division is between types of birds or between a chatas and an olah.