Parshat Behar-Bechukosai
by Rabbi Avi Billet
The Torah describes the concept of leasing land, which will be returned at the Yovel year. How people use that land during their lease is very much dependent on their own skills and talents. Will they farm the land? Build a manufacturing plant? Hire workers and pay a living wage? Create opportunities for employees to bring out their own talents?
The Torah goes on to describe the needy Jew, and our responsibility to him.
25:35: If he becomes destitute, וְהֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתָּ בּ֔וֹ גֵּ֧ר וְתוֹשָׁ֛ב וָחַ֖י עִמָּֽךְ (you shall support him, whether stranger or resident, and he shall live with you). The first point is that it doesn’t matter who the person is. Whether GER or a TOSHAV – YOU have to give him CHIZUK. Encourage him. A kind word. Don’t turn him away or turn him off. וחי עמך means that you, the Jewish people, can never become guilty of losing someone to other influences or paths.
Even this instruction begs us to ask: Is anything foolproof? Will there be 100% retention rate? Is it possible to prevent EVERYONE from falling through the cracks?
The Torah continues in 25:36: You can’t charge interest on a loan, because וחי אחיך עמך. Charging interest gets in the way of brotherhood
25:39: If you have to take a servant from the Jewish people, don’t sell the Jew as a slave. You also can’t enslave him (working as a servant is a different story), because you have to remember וְיָרֵ֖אתָ מֵאֱלֹהֶֽיךָ:
R Chaim Paltiel notes on the words וחי אחיך עמך that the implication is that if you charge interest, you are killing a person. You are biting into the person’s income, savings, etc
The messaging is that we have to see the person for who he is. Every person has struggles. But every person also has something to bring to the table. That needs to be tapped into! Just because a person is not good at earning a living does not mean the person is incapable of doing great, or even amazing things, and it certainly does not mean that a person is, Chas V’Shalom, useless.
On the two sides of charitable giving, here is a classis Jewish tale:
The rabbi spent the better part of the morning in fervent prayer. One of his congregants came over to him and with a hint of sarcasm said, “Well, I hope you prayed for something specific.”“I did,” the rabbi said. “I prayed that the rich should give more to the poor.”“Let’s hope God heard your prayers.”“I’m sure He did – at least half of it. The poor have agreed to accept the increase!” Alshikh writes on charitable giving:
Why should the poor person be denied bread? The wealthy are no better than them. [He emphasizes the word עמך which appears over and over – as the Torah saying his plight is your plight.] Our Rabbis taught that the plight of the poor is to give merit to the wealthy, who are given the mitzvah of Tzedakah. When the wealthy gives, both giver and receiver are fulfilling this mitzvah. So what does God do? He gives the portion the poor person SHOULD HAVE received as an increase to the wealthy. In this way, the wealthy is meant to give to the poor, lifting him up, but in truth, he is simply giving the poor man back the poor man’s money.
This is why the rich lender should be very careful about not lending with interest. He is, in fact, lending the poor man using the poor man’s own money! His existence, his living, is עמך. It is God trying to give you merits that caused the poor man’s money to end up in your possession. You therefore have no right whatsoever to take interest from him.
This is less a lesson in Tzedakah as we traditionally understand the word – though obviously charitable giving is important – and more the concept of seeing Tzedek and promoting Tzedek – righteousness – in our ranks.
It is no coincidence that the word Tzedek and Tzaddik are related. When we think of the word Tzaddik or Tzadekes, we imagine a holy and pious person who is so removed from the concerns of this world that we can’t even relate to them as humans in the same way we are. They are just above us.
And we’re OK with that. Because when we observe them and see what they value AND what they DON’T value, we see our own inadequacies, we notice the things we think are important, and then we realize we have a long way to go.&&&&&&&
The line has been made famous of late by Douglas Murray, but it was originated by Vassily Grossman, “Tell me what you accuse the Jews of and I will tell you what you are guilty of.”
But the same logic can apply to other arenas of accusation made by anyone. The pot calls the kettle black. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The lady doth protest too much. Those who scream the loudest often have the most to hide.
What all of this speaks to is a human ability to be critical of others while ignoring our own imperfections. And in some cases, hypocritically castigating others for that which we ourselves are guilty of. Abraham Lincoln purportedly said something along the lines of “Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it.”
Our attitude toward the destitute says a lot about who we are. So let us consider a different approach.
Most people want to live a life of meaning. We struggle in finding that meaning. Mostly, though, we struggle, because we don’t KNOW OURSELVES, and therefore don’t know what we need to do in order for us to find the most meaning in our lives.
As the Lincoln quote above says, when we look to find the bad in others, we can easily find it. But when that which we see in others we can truly see as the flaw in ourselves, we are on a much better trajectory of understanding ourselves better.
Parents have a relatively easy time seeing their children’s imperfections. But, in many ways, children are often mirrors of their parents. V’dai Lachakima…
The Torah reminds us to see the best in others, even if they don’t seem talented, or gifted, or even if they can’t seem to rub two sticks together to produce a dollar.
Our purpose in life is to help the less fortunate, to not be judgmental, to try to see the best in others, and to recognize that our own journey towards a meaningful life is raised when we are working on ourselves, first and foremost.
The insight is attributed to R Yisrael Salanter and to others as well. I wanted to change the world. But that was too much of an undertaking, so I thought I’ll change my town. Even that seemed insurmountable. So I figured I’d change my neighbors. When that task was too daunting I figured I can change all the people in my family. But I couldn’t. And then I realized that the one who needs to change is me.
It is very hard. It is super hard. But it boils down to what a person wants in life. Rabbi Daniel Cohen wrote a book “What Will They Say About You When You’re Gone?” Even without reading the book, it’s a good question to ask oneself, and to make the adjustments we need to fit into what we want people to say about us when that time comes, after 120.
Living with Tzedek doesn’t only mean giving to the poor. It means accepting people for who they are, trying to understand them, if and when possible, giving them the time of day – sometimes people need to talk, or just need to be heard – and working on ourselves to see the good in others, because if indeed they are a reflection of ourselves, seeing that good means we are finding either the good in ourselves, or even the potential for greatness that each of us possesses.
May we be zocheh to always be growing, to always be improving, and to live the most meaningful life we hope for.
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