Why does G-d permit certain things that we should not do?
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Tag: Bechukosai
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Harry’s Video Blog – The Temple Mount – Parshat Behar-Bechukotai 5783
Why is the Temple Mount still holy?
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Harry’s Video Blog – G-d Time – Parshat Bechukotai 5782
G-d Time is all day. All the time.
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Harry’s Video Blog – Meron: The Aftermath – Behar/Bechukotai 5781
What should we do when the pain, grief, and questions threaten to overwhelm us?
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Rabbi Mordechai Becher’s VLog – Seeing Better Through Tears – Parshat Behar/Bechukotai 5780
Sometimes when we have temporary setbacks in life that cause tears we can see the good in our life with better clarify.
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Harry’s Video Blog – No Pain, No Gain – Parshat Bechukotai 5779
Harry Rothenberg shows us that toil has its rewards.
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Summer of Ethics
We are now in the period of time known as Sefiras Ha’omer – counting of the Omer, the time between Pesach and the following festival which is Shavuot. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Sinai, when the Jewish people received the Torah at Mount Sinai, which occurred the 50th day after the exodus of Egypt. And so, in between Passover, when we became a nation, we were born as a nation physically, and Shavuot, when we were born as a nation spiritually, those two festivals are linked by a time that we count every single day, days and weeks. The idea here is to link those two events, so that the physical creation of the Jewish people is linked to our spiritual creation. The only reason we are a nation physically is so that we can carry out our spiritual task, found in the Torah. The great Jewish philosopher Rav Sa’adya Gaon, wrote “Ein umateinu umah elo b’torata – our nation is only a nation by virtue of its Torah.” The essence of our national identity and the essence of our national task is the Torah, the fulfillment of its commandments, and being G-d’s “representatives” here on earth.
During this particular period of time it has been a common custom for at least 600 years, to study Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, which is the section of the Mishnah, discussing ethics, personality, character development, and in general, how to be a decent, good person. In Hebrew, middot, character traits, and derech eretz, basic decency. (In Yiddish mentchlichkeit).
Why is it studied during this time? My father OBM used to tell me that in Poland they explainded that because summer is approaching and that’s when the evil inclination is at its strongest, we need to learn Pirkei Avot.
Many commentaries point out another basis for this custom. In order to receive the Torah and fulfill its requirements we need to first be decent people. There is a statement of the Sages that kadmah derech eretz la’Torah chaf vav dorot – that derech eretz, basic decency, preceded the giving of the Torah by 26 generations. Because if you look through the Torah there are 10 generations from Adam to Noah, 10 generations from Noah to Abraham and 6 generations from Abraham to Moses. That means that there were 26 generations of humanity that were not yet given the Torah and the Torah was only given after 26 generations. What preceded the Torah? The Talmud says, derech eretz – the learning and the understanding and the absorbing of the ideas of human decency, how to be a good person, that we were taught by the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
Rabbi Chaim Vital, one of the great Kabbalists noted that the various personality traits and basic decency are not part of the formal system of the commandments. The reason for this is that they are prerequisites of the commandments. He maintains that cannot approach the higher levels of morality and spirituality, the ethical subtleties of the commandments without first being a basically, decent human being. If someone does not understand basic ideas suc as gratitude, commitment, promises, not doing damage, then they have no hope of fulfilling the formal commandments of the Torah.
So, in an attempt to reach the summit of Mount Sinai, we climb to the base camp by studying Pirkei Avos before Shavuot.
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Rabbi Mordechai Becher’s VLog – The Ohr HaChaim’s 42 Comments – Parshat Bechukotai 5779
Rabbi Mordechai Becher looks at the commentary of the Ohr HaChaim, who has 42 different explanations for the first verse of this week’s Parsha.
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The Mitzvah to Give
The Biblical sources related to the commandment of tzedakah (charity) are found in this week’s Parsha, BeHar, in the section discussing the laws of the Sabbatical Year. The Torah states that any personal loans still outstanding at the end of this year are automatically cancelled. Nevertheless, God orders the people not to withhold loans close to the Sabbatical Year, but to lend the poor what they need. The fundamental principles and detailed laws of tzedakah are found in these few verses:
If there shall be a destitute person among you, any of your brethren, in any of your cities, in your land that the Lord, your God, gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand against your destitute brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him; you shall lend him his requirement, whatever is lacking to him… You shall surely give him, and do not let your heart feel bad when you give to him, for as reward for this matter, the Lord, your God, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking. For the poor 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.”
As always, careful consideration of the details of the laws reveals their underlying philosophical outlook. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the Torah’s perspective on tzedakah, we will present the verses and the laws derived from them along with the philosophical insights of the great Biblical commentators.
- If there shall be a destitute person among you, any of your brethren — Your family comes before anyone else. A person’s first priority in charity must be his or her own family. If a parent is out working on a committee for abandoned children while his own child is suffering or neglected, this verse directs him to re-examine his priorities.
- in any of your cities —- The poor of your own city come before the poor in other cities. Holding a benefit concert for the poor in a distant continent, when the slums and poverty of your own city stand in sight of the concert hall, is immoral.
- in your land that the Lord, your God, gives you — The poor of the land of Israel take precedence over those outside of Israel. The Jewish people’s national destiny is in the Land of Israel, therefore the Jews in Israel, who are working, defending and preserving our national heritage deserve our support before any other community.
- you shall not harden your heart — Sometimes a person may give, but does so begrudgingly, with a heavy, hard heart. When we give, it must be with a joyful, generous feeling as well. It is difficult enough for someone to have to take charity: to increase the pain and humiliation of the recipient by giving in a bad-tempered, brusque manner adds insult to injury.
- nor close your hand against your destitute brother — Do not decide to give and then close your hand. Follow through with your commitment to tzedakah. Do not treat your obligations to charity any less seriously than your obligation to the phone company, the government or a business associate. Your word, your pledge and your commitment should be firm and reliable.
- Rather, you shall open your hand to him — Translated literally, the verse reads, you shall open, open your hand — The repetition of the verb, “open” denotes repetition of the action which teaches us that the obligation to give is not a one time requirement but is an ongoing obligation. Therefore a person should not say, “I have already given once, I have performed the mitzvah,” rather, he should be prepared to give again and again.
- you shall lend him his requirement — You are not obligated to make another person rich, but you must give him what he requires.
- whatever is lacking to him — We must be aware that what is lacking is a subjective judgment. What is luxury for one person may well be a necessity that is lacking for another. Is an air-conditioner a luxury? If a family lives in a hot, humid climate and before they hit hard times, they owned an air-conditioner, the verse “whatever is lacking to him,” teaches us that it is legitimate tzedakah to purchase an air-conditioner for this family.
- You shall surely give — The word “give” is repeated, teaching us that we must give even a hundred times.
- him — Let it be between you and him. Do not publicize the charity and cause him embarrassment. Tzedakah should ideally be given as anonymously as possible.
- and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for in return for this word (Hebrew: davar, also translated as “matter”) the Lord, your God, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking — You will even be rewarded for your word to give if, through circumstances beyond your control, you were not able to follow through. You will also be rewarded if your word makes others give, as it is a great mitzvah to encourage others to give tzedakah.16 (It is for this reason that publicizing donations is permitted. When people see an influential person, or many people of their financial status, giving to a charitable institution, they are more likely to follow suit and support it also.) In addition, if you cannot afford to give money, you will even be rewarded if you offer the poor at least words of encouragement and hope.
- You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your destitute — You shall give to each of the poor according to his needs and dignity. To one you may have to give only money, for another, you may also have to help him purchase what he needs or prepare his food; some you may have to actually feed with your own hands.
To people whose experience of giving has been solely through donations to large organizations, the notion of personally giving money to a beggar may sound foreign, even disturbing. (Imagine, you actually must see the face of the recipient!) Yet, in Orthodox communities, it is quite common for the Jewish poor to go door-to-door asking for aid. In many cases, the person’s financial needs will have been investigated by the local rabbi and the beggar will carry a discreet letter from him certifying that he or she is truly needy. With or without such credentials, however, the poor can usually rely on their fellow Jews to help them, even with a small amount. The fact that this practice is still alive and well is testimony to the inbred mechanism of tzedakah in these communities. The laws regarding one’s demeanor when giving are therefore as relevant today as in the past.
