B"H
Tuesday, 28 Adar 1, 5776 / March 8, 2016 – HAKHEL YEAR
This week's Parsha, Pekudei, is the last Parsha in the book of Shmot.
In Pekudei, Moshe accounts for the gold, silver and copper that the Jewish people donated for building the Mishkan. Moshe made sure to give a public accounting for everything donated.
According to the Talmud, one who collects for charity funds must be very careful, both in the way he handles public funds and in the way he handles his own money, so that people won't think he is using charity funds for personal use.
For example, if he finds money in the street, which he may rightfully keep for himself, or if someone pays him back a personal loan in public, he may not put it into his own wallet. For people might not realize that it is his personal money and think he is taking charity funds for himself. Instead, he must put the money he found or the loan payment into the charity wallet. Only when he gets home, may he take out the money for himself. When counting charity money, one must count each coin individually and not two at a time because people might think that he is only counting one while taking one for himself. Our sages teach us that, "A person must be very careful in all their acts to come clean in the eyes of people."
The Talmud tells the following story about Rabbi Eliezer of Bartusa. Rabbi Eliezer was very generous. Once, he went out to shop for his daughter's wedding. When the charity collectors saw him, they said to each other, "Let's leave before Rabbi Eliezer sees us! He will give away his last coin for charity." When Rabbi Eliezer noticed that the collectors were turning away from him, he ran after them and insisted that they tell him about their cause. "A boy and girl who are orphans want to get married. We are collecting for their wedding." When Rabbi Eliezer heard this, he said, "The orphans who have no one to care for them are more important now than my daughter who has parents to care for her." He immediately took all he had, except for one small coin, and gave it to them.
With his last coin, he bought some wheat. He put the wheat in the shed outside his house and went to the synagogue to pray. When his wife came home, she asked the daughter, "Where are the things your father bought?" The daughter answered, "In the shed." Rabbi Eliezer's wife went to the shed but she couldn't open the door. After much effort, she managed to push the door slightly. The shed was full of wheat from floor to ceiling.
His daughter ran to tell Rabbi Eliezer about the miracle that just occurred. "Now we will have more than enough to make the wedding," she said. Rabbi Eliezer replied, "This is a miracle from G-d and we don't deserve to enjoy it more than others who are in need." Rabbi Eliezer called the poor people of the town and told them that the wheat belonged to them as much as to him.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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In memory of Maragret Schwartz Zoldan, Mother and Grandmother. A warm friend to all who knew her. Dearly missed by her family, even now, 9 years later. May her soul rest in Gan Eden.
Andre, Esther, Zachary, Benjamin, Jonah