B"H

Wednesday, Menachem Av 22, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / August 9, 2023

As mentioned yesterday, one of the mitzvot in this week’s Parsha, Re’ay, is about Tzedakah (charity).  “You shall surely give him.  And your heart shall not grieve when you give him; because for this the L-rd your G-d shall bless you in all your works and in all that you put your hand to.”

The Talmud tells the following story: A Roman general asked Rabbi Akiva, "If your G-d loves poor people, why doesn't He feed them Himself?  Why does he leave their care in the hands of others?"

Rabbi Akiva replied, "Because G-d wants to give us the opportunity to perform the mitzvah of Tzedakah-charity, for this mitzvah will save us from punishment in the World-to-Come."

"Just the opposite!” exclaimed the general. “Helping the poor will bring you punishment in the World-to-Come. I will explain this with the following parable, When the king is angry at his servants, he throws them in jail.  Surely anyone who is kind to them will be punished by the king. The same goes for G-d. If He punished someone to be poor, for sure one who shows them kindness will be punished."

"Your analogy is wrong," replied Rabbi Akiva. "I will give you a different example.  The king's son sinned against his father.  In punishment, his father, the king, threw him in jail.  Then a person had pity on him and was kind to him. Do you think that the king will be angry? Surely the king is happy that someone took pity on his son. The same is with helping the poor,” said Rabbi Akiva. “When we help them, we are helping G-d's children, and this invokes G-d's love and mercy upon us.”

Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Pshischa said it is not enough to give only because you pity the poor person.  You should also give because it is a mitzvah to give – because we are commanded to give.

When a poor person came to him for alms, Rabbi Bunim would give him twice. When he was once asked by a poor man why he gave him twice, he replied, “When you approached me for a donation, I gave you out of pity.  I felt terrible for you and gave it so that I would feel better. It was selfish. The second time I gave was to fulfill G-d’s mitzvah of giving charity!”

The Parsha continues, “For the poor shall never cease from the land, therefore I command you, saying: You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and to your needy, in your land.”

Q.    Why does the Torah preface helping the poor, with, “The poor shall never cease from the land.”

A.   Trying to impress upon the wealthy people of the town to be generous and help the poor, a rabbi said, “It is for your own benefit that you should support the poor.  For if you don’t feed the poor; or if you refuse to give them clothing and heating in the winter, and, if G-d forbid, they starve or freeze to death, some of you will have to become poor and take their place, because the Torah says, “For the poor shall never cease from the land...”

The mitzvah of Tzedakah hastens the coming of Moshiach. May it be speedily in our days, Amen.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY