Rabbi Benjamin Yudin Discusses Parshas Re'eh (5786)

Good morning. Shabas everybody. Tomorrow we have the privilege of reading paras according to the this para contains 65 mitzvos positive and 38 prohibitions. I'd like to focus on one of these mitzvos. Now, interestingly, last week was Para's Akev and Rashi interpreted the first verse to mean those mitzvos that people forgive me step on. I hope I'm wrong, but this might be one of them as well. I'd like to speak about the mitzvah of sodaka, what we commonly call charity. To begin with, you must understand that there is a fundamental difference between charity as understood in ordinary society and saddaka as defined by the Torah. Charity in the conventional sense is voluntary. You may choose to give, you may choose not to give. But in the Torah, saddula is a mitzvah. And the term mitzvah does not merely mean a good deed. A mitzvah is a commandment from heaven. Just as there is a commandment to observe shabas and a commandment to keep kosha there's also a commandment to support those in need. In the 15th chapter of Dvarim in our para of a the Torah says kilo for destitute people whom not cease to exist within the land. Therefore, I command you, you shall surely open your hand to your brother. Notice the language. I command you. Sedo is not merely an expression of generosity. It is an obligation. But the safe adds something remarkable in discussing the mitzvah. He begins and writes that it's a mitzvah to act charitably toward the person who needs assistance with gladness and a good heart. Lev who it's not enough simply to give I might have thought that this was entirely a result oriented mitzvah. As long as the needy person or institution receives the money perhaps the mitzvah has been fulfilled completely. The sino however teaches us otherwise. An essential part of the mitzvah is how we give with happiness, graciousness and goodness of heart. Now where does this perspective come from? I'd like to suggest that in Paras Mishim, the Torah discusses lending money to another Jew without interest. The Torah says, "When you lend money to my people to the per to the poor person who is with you, Kadosh asks, "Why does the Torah add the words the poor person who is with you?" Naturally, if you lend money to someone, that individual is somehow present before you. What are these words teaching us? Explains a profound idea on Roshes. It is determined who will be wealthy, who will be poor. mi. Why does Hashem not simply give everyone the same amount or at least give everyone exactly what they need? The answer is contained in the words that which rightfully belongs to the poor may may presently be with you. Why were you given more than you need while another person has been given less than he needs? The answer is so that he can come to you and you can fill the gap in his life. In other words, some of what we possess has been entrusted to us by God for use for the purpose of giving it to someone else. This completely changes the experience of stucker. Most people find it hard to exercise. And what's the most difficult exercise? to take your hand and put it in your pocket and take out your money and give it to someone who is completely uninvolved in the process of your getting your money. Why should I give it to him? So the Gammoran Babasra 10b relates I'm sorry 10A that a Roman philosopher asked Rebea if Hashem loves the poor why does he Hashem not support them answered that Hashem gives us the mitzvah of in order to save those who have means from the punishment of gehennam h e l and another l. This is an astonishing answer. The recipient is not merely being helped by the donor. The recipient is giving the donor an opportunity to become a better person. and to earn enormous spiritual merit. Picture a familial scene. It's an inconvenient time. It's always inconvenient. Perhaps you're eating dinner, working, helping a child with homework. The doorbell rings and you send your child to see who is there. The child returns and says, "It's a misha collecting money." The immediate temptation may be to say, "Tell him I'm at home." Oh, first you have just instructed and taught your child to lie. But there's another issue as well. Throughout the day, each of us may have encountered many business opportunities and made many important decisions. How do you know that this opportunity with the needy individual being at your door or one collecting for a worthy institution is not the greatest opportunity you have had all day? Whoa. It's an entirely question of perspective. A baby enters this world, the rabbis teach us, with clenched fists as though saying, I I will acquire, I will conquer, I will possess. However, a person leaves this world with open hands. We take nothing material with us. What remains are our Torah, our mitzvah, and the good that we have done. The truth is that through giving stucker, we may be helping ourselves even more than we are helping the recipient. We find this idea in Medilas Rus. Rus and Naomi return to Erit Israel impoverished. Rus goes to gather grain in the field of Boaz. When she returns in chapter 2, Naomi asks her in whose field did she gather? Remember Bruce came into the field with two empty shopping bags. She leaves the field with two full bags. So Russ answers the name of the man for whom I acted today is Boaz. Now shish aerosis imo the name of the man that I did for him today. What do you mean who did for whom? At first glance it is Boaz who did for Russ. However, our teach us Yoser more than what the wealthy man does for the poor man, more than that does the poor man do for the donor. What does that mean? Meaning that the poor man has transformed the home owner into a giver, a no. He provides the donor with the opportunity to perform a mitzvah and to become a more generous and compassionate human being. This is the Torah's perspective on Sedaka. The Torah says, "You shall not harden your heart." Don't harden your heart. Don't close your hand against your ne your destitute brother. Notice the two expressions. Do not harden your heart. Do not close your hand. The Torah is concerned with both the heart and the hand. It is possible for a person to open his hand while keeping his heart tightly closed. He may give the money but does so coldly, reluctantly or in a manner that humiliates the recipient. The Torah therefore continues, "You shall surely open your hand to him." Opening the hand is not enough. We must also open the heart. The Torah tells us to provide what the person is lacking. We are not necessarily required to make him wealthy, but we must try to the best of our ability to restore his dignity. Sometimes the highest form of saka is not simply giving a donation. It may be helping someone find employment, offering them work or enabling him to support himself. The Rambam writes in Ho's Matonas anam that if a person gives daka with an unpleasant expression and in a begrudging manner even if he gives a significant amount he loses the full merit of the mitzvah. Wow. The check may be generous, but if the recipient is made to feel ashamed or unwanted, something essential has been lost. The Rambam therefore says that one must give with a pleasant countenance, with joy and a good heart. Years ago, people would say, "It's difficult to be a Jew." Today, many of the external difficulties have changed. There's no shortage of kosher food and other conveniences. But in another sense, it remains demanding to be a Jew. Why? Because the Torah does not merely ask one to give. It asks one to give happily. It asks me to recognize that the person standing before me is not an inconvenience. He is giving me an extraordinary opportunity. It asks me not only to open my wallet but to open my heart. I will close with the verse with which we began. For destitute people will not cease to exist within the land. At first, this seems like a troubling promise. Why is it telling why is the Torah telling us that there will always be people in need? Perhaps the answer is that as long as there are people in need, there will continue to be opportunities for kindness, generosity, human connection and spiritual growth. What a privilege we have through giving stucka and giving it with happiness and dignity and a good heart. We help another person. We tr transform ourselves and we earn our portion both in this world and in the world to come. Thank you so much. Shabbat shalom to