כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה֩ בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן
מֵאַחַ֤ד אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ בְּאַ֨רְצְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָ֥ה
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֗ וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹּץ֙ אֶת־יָ֣דְךָ֔
מֵאָחִ֖יךָ הָאֶבְיֽוֹן׃
If, however, there is a needy person among you, one
of your kinsmen in any of your settlements in the land that the LORD your
God is giving you, do not harden your
heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman.
כִּֽי־פָתֹ֧חַ תִּפְתַּ֛ח
אֶת־יָדְךָ֖ ל֑וֹ וְהַעֲבֵט֙ תַּעֲבִיטֶ֔נּוּ דֵּ֚י מַחְסֹר֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֶחְסַ֖ר
לֽוֹ׃
Rather, you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs.
הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֡ פֶּן־יִהְיֶ֣ה
דָבָר֩ עִם־לְבָבְךָ֨ בְלִיַּ֜עַל לֵאמֹ֗ר קָֽרְבָ֣ה שְׁנַֽת־הַשֶּׁבַע֮ שְׁנַ֣ת
הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ וְרָעָ֣ה עֵֽינְךָ֗ בְּאָחִ֙יךָ֙ הָֽאֶבְי֔וֹן וְלֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן ל֑וֹ
וְקָרָ֤א עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ אֶל־יְהוָ֔ה וְהָיָ֥ה בְךָ֖ חֵֽטְא׃
Beware lest you harbor the base thought, “The seventh
year, the year of remission, is approaching,” so that you are mean to your
needy kinsman and give him nothing.
He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will incur guilt.
נָת֤וֹן תִּתֵּן֙ ל֔וֹ
וְלֹא־יֵרַ֥ע לְבָבְךָ֖ בְּתִתְּךָ֣ ל֑וֹ כִּ֞י בִּגְלַ֣ל ׀ הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה
יְבָרֶכְךָ֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכָֽל־מַעֲשֶׂ֔ךָ וּבְכֹ֖ל מִשְׁלַ֥ח יָדֶֽךָ׃
Give to him
readily and have no regrets when you do so, for in return the LORD your God
will bless you in all your efforts and in all your undertakings.
כִּ֛י לֹא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן
מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹחַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח
אֶת־יָדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃ (ס)
For there will never cease to be needy ones in your
land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman
in your land. (Deuteronomy 15: 7-11)
Tzedakah cannot be translated because it joins together two
concepts that in other languages are opposites, namely charity and justice.
Suppose, for example, that I give someone £100. Either he is entitled to it, or
he is not. If he is, then my act is a form of justice. If he is not, it is an
act of charity. Tzedakah is therefore an unusual term, because it means both. (Covenant and Conversation, 5767- Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks)
You are obligated to give the poor person what he lacks. If
he does not have clothing, clothe him. If he does not have furniture, buy him
furniture. If he is single, marry him/her off. Even if the poor person used to
be extremely rich and ride a horse everywhere and had a slave to run before
him, provide that as well as it says "whatever he lacks." You are
commanded to make up what he lacks, but not to enrich him. (Laws of Gifts to the Poor 7:3- /Rambam)
The first provision (‘sufficient for his need’) refers to an
absolute subsistence level. In Jewish law this was taken to include food,
housing, basic furniture and if necessary, funds to pay for a wedding. The
second (‘that which he lacks’) means relative poverty – relative, however, not
to others but to the individual’s own previous standard of living. This is an
indication of something which plays an important role in the rabbinic
understanding of poverty. Beyond sheer physical needs is a psychological
dimension. Poverty humiliates, and a good society will not allow humiliation. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)
Rabbi Alex Israel: What should welfare services provide for the
poor? Should a poor person live in a shared room or a private room? Should he
or she be fed a one-course meal, or a three-course meal? Should we pay their
bus fare or can they walk?
What if this person-in-need was your brother
or sister? I would hope that then, we would do anything and everything to
assist! The Torah repeatedly uses the term “brother” to depict the recipient of
welfare. If we viewed a needy person as a sibling, would we not be more
thoughtful, more generous? Obviously, the community has limited funds,
frequently a poor person will be supported at a basic level, but might that
attitude, the understanding that charity is as much about dignity as about
money, might that attitude be able to permeate our thinking?
Now to some other thoughts about this section: How many times have you gone by an individual
who is begging on a corner and thought to yourself, “yeah, if I give to him
/her, the money will be spent on booze or drugs. I’m not going to give it because I don’t know
how it will be spent. I remember years
ago, Danny Siegal the guru of tzedakah taught us when we see someone who is
poor asking for money, we are not to judge them. We are not to try to figure out
how they will spend their money, nor are we to feel badly after providing money
for their use.
Here’s a simple story that will illustrate this point:
Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, z”l
was the Brisker Rav, beloved and revered throughout Europe. His family would come to America and become
the founders of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and, with it
Yeshiva University. Perhaps his best
known quality, far beyond his wisdom and his learning, was the attribute of
humility.
Once, in the middle of a
particularly nasty, freezing night, he stopped at an inn and asked for lodging
for the night. What he was doing out
there alone in such weather, we will likely never know – but he had no entourage
with him, no trappings of authority, nothing!
He probably looked tired and disheveled from the road. The innkeeper started haranguing him and
abusing him. Rabbi Soloveitchik did not
reveal his identity, and after pleading with the innkeeper, he let him sleep on
the floor near the stove! The innkeeper,
thinking him a worthless bum, offered him no food, and even refused him just
some bread and water, even though Rabbi Soloveitchik offered to pay for it.
The next morning, some officials
from the town council came by the inn and asked the innkeeper “We understand
the Brisker Rav, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, is going to pass through out
town. He likely stopped at your
inn. Have you seen him?”
At first, the innkeeper denied
it. Just then the Rav rolled away from
his place on the floor by the stove, stood up, and the group welcomed him
warmly. In a few moments, all the town
dignitaries descended on the inn, with Yeshiva students, and children standing
in line to shake the hand of the great Sage and to hear his words.
Needless to say, the innkeeper was
terribly embarrassed, once he realized that he had berated and humiliated such
a great person, and he begged the Rav’s forgiveness. He said “Rabbi, I am terribly sorry. I had no idea that you were The Brisker Rav! Please forgive me for what I’ve done~
Rabbi Soloveitchik looked kindly at
the man and said: “I’d love to forgive you, but you see, that isn’t within my
purview to do.”
Open-mouthed, the innkeeper replied
“But why?”
“You see” said the Rav, “you are
asking the Brisker Rav for forgiveness.
But that is not whom you insulted and abused. You debased a simple Jew who came for lodging
on a terrible night, and it would seem that he is no longer here to forgive
you.”
Questions for us to discuss:
I.
Does the statement from Deuteronomy indicate
giving money as charity or as justice?
II.
What words in the passage from
Deuteronomy indicate it is charity? What
words in the passage indicate that it is justice?
III.
Why do you think the Torah uses
the image of an open hand and a shut hand ?
IV.
What action precedes a shut hand? Why
do you think we harden our hearts when we see someone in need? Have you ever seen an individual asking for
food or money on a street corner and gone past them without responding? Would you say your heart was hardened?
V.
What if that person standing on the street corner was one of your
family members? In what direction would you be moved to act?
VI.
What language does the Torah use
to indicate the needy person’s relationship to the one being commanded?
VII.
Do these lines promote giving or
lending? Why? Why is a loan preferable
to a hand-out?
I.
How far should we support the poor?
What do you think sufficient for what he lacks mean?
Has your attitude
toward the poor changed as a result of seeing the effects of unemployment and
failing businesses during this pandemic? If so, how?
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