As
part of our 12 year old daughter’s bat mitzvah, she chose to study the laws of
charity as well as volunteering her time in food kitchen during the upcoming
school year. Besides the pleasure I derived from watching her mind work as she
read through parts of the Shulchan Aruch were some of the questions that she
asked and the ensuing discussion. Perhaps the most intriguing moment occurred
when after reading a piece of text, and explaining it, she came to the
realization that that there will always be the need to give Tzedakah (charity),
because there will always be those who are in need, and there is an obligation
to care for those who are less fortunate. I decided to push her a bit and to
watch her think herself through a problem. I played devil’s advocate and
wondered if giving to a school, or a shul, or some cause is different than
giving to the poor. After all there always seems to be poor people and giving Tzedakah
(if we define it as giving charity to the poor) has not eliminated poor people
after thousands of years of giving to poor people. She thought for a minute and agreed that it
seems that there will always be poverty, and there will always be poor people.
However by giving Tzedakah, we are elevating our souls, we are connecting to
the Godliness within our souls since we know that we have a Chiyuv, a Torah
obligation to care for the needy.
This
week's Parsha is Re'eh. Moshe continues his discourse. He has already explained
the Mitzvot, and he continues to do that. Moshe has alluded to the blessings of
life if B'nai Yisroel follows God's commandments. He has and continues to
allude to the curses that will befall B'nai Yisroel if they violate the
most important commandment-idolatry. "See I present before you today a
blessing and a curse" (Deut.11:26). V'haklalah
Im Lo Tishm'u el Mitzvot Adonai Eloheichem V'sartem Min Ha'Derech Asher Anochi
M'taveh Etchem ha'yom La'lechet Acharei Elohim Acheirim Asher Lo Y'Datem-"And the curse: if you do not hearken to the
commandments of the Lord your God, and you stray from the path that I command
you today, to follow gods of others, that you did know." (Deut. 11:28)
Moshe presents B'nai Yisroel with two pictures, a world when B'nai Yisroel
lives up to it covenant with God and one in which they don't. He reminds Bnai Yisroel of the sanctity of
Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel), the consumption of foods that are
consecrated to the Kohanim and he warns Bnai Yisroel to avoid imitating the
Rituals and Rites of the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Moshe reminds Bnai
Yisroel to be careful of false prophets, avoiding non-kosher foods, not living
in wayward cities, forgiving loans after seven years, caring for the less
fortunate and celebrating the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot,
and Sukkot.
During
the course of his warning Bnai Yisroel of the dangers of not following the
Torah and exhorting them to observe the Torah, Moshe makes a simple if not
stunning admission regarding the reality of our physical existence. Ki Lo Yechdal Evyon Mikerev Ha'Aretz -For destitute people will not cease to exist within the Land,
therefore I command you saying, 'You shall surely open your hand to your
brother, to your poor, and to your destitute in your land" (Deut
15:11). The Torah may be many things,
but spiritually unrealistic is not one of them. Judaism recognizes human reality
and weakness. There will always be those less fortunate. Whether "less fortunate" is a
physical, emotional, spiritual, economic, or intellectual not everyone is as
fortunate as the next person. We learn that tzuris is part of life and it
transcends gender, age, and color and nationality. Moshe recognizes that in our
zeal to make the world better, in our zeal to do Tikkun Olam (fix the world) we
may grow dismayed and even beaten down because there is so much suffering. Moshe reminds us that we are not obligated to
do the impossible and eliminate the condition of poverty. Instead, our job is
to contribute to the solution, by extending oneself to one who is less
fortunate. Perhaps that is why the verse begins commanding us to help those who
are closest to us and then working outward.
We begin by helping our brother, then those in our community who are in
need, and then we begin helping the nation. If the order were reversed we would
become absolutely overwhelmed and paralyzed by the sheer number of those in
poverty.
When
our daughter learned that first we focus upon poverty in the immediate neighborhood,
then the larger community then the state and then Israel; her eyes lit up. She
realized that by focusing first upon the local neighborhood, the mitzvah of Tzedakah
remains always in the realm of the possible. She said that by focusing upon the
neighborhood, she can see that she makes a difference and that would encourage
her to continue giving. If she focused upon only Israel or some national
campaign, she understood that there is less of a perceived difference. If there is a sense that giving Tzedakah makes
no difference, they will grow discouraged and they will lose out on the
opportunity to tap into the godliness in their souls. Smiling at me she
explained that the whole point of any mitzvah, including Tzedakah, is to
emulate Hashem by tapping into the holiest aspect of our own souls. Hopefully
she will remember just how insightful she was when she gets older.
Peace
Rav Yitz
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