spirit
torah portion
Remembering Those In Need
T
zedakah, the act of giving
to those in need, can be a
struggle.
When we have a lot, we say, “It’s
mine. I worked hard for it and I want
to keep it.” When we don’t have a
lot or are worried we won’t, we say,
“It’s mine. I need it, so I can’t give it
away.”
The instinct to hoard is
for “love,” while tzedekah
common, and the Torah
comes from the root “jus-
goes out of its way to urge
tice.” As Jews, we do not give
against it. In the middle of
as an expression of love,
a discussion about the festi-
kindness or graciousness,
vals, this week’s Torah read-
but out of a commitment to
ing repeats the mitzvah we
seeking a just distribution of
learned last week. A farmer
resources.
should not reap the edges
The obligation to leave
Rabbi Alana
of her field — the poor are
the corners curbs our pro-
Alpert
invited to come and glean.
prietary reaction to acquir-
Why would these verses
ing wealth. Yet, the inverse
reappear in the midst of laws
is perhaps even more
about the festivals? Nehama
important: How do we pri-
Leibowitz explains that the festivals
oritize tzedakah during times of lim-
are a particularly joyous time, and
ited resources? How can we respond
in joy we might forget the poor. The
when the needs of the poor are great
jubilation and pride we feel at a suc- but the resources of the owner of the
cessful planting season may lend
field are few? We think, “I need it, so
itself to a sense of entitlement. Just
I can’t give it away.”
like our response to tzedakah in a
The law states, “You shall not
reap all the way to the edges of your
time of plenty: “I worked hard for
field.” It does not clarify whether
this harvest and I want to keep it.”
the farmer had a good or a bad crop
Rabbi Moshe Alshich, a 16th-
yield. Thus, whether I have earned
century commentator from Safed,
a lot or a little this year, I am still
offers a radical reading of this com-
required to give to those who have
mandment. He dispels the myth
less. We are reminded of this in the
of ownership that underlies this
instinct to hoard. He points out that laws of the Mishneh Torah, which
teach that even a poor person is
“your land” is plural.
expected to give tzedakah.
“The Torah uses the plural to des-
Our challenge is to remember our
ignate the common ownership of
obligation to those suffering from
the field by the owner, the poor and
the stranger; for, in truth, they share economic injustice always — in
times of plenty and times of scar-
in it. Do not think that you are giv-
city. The corners of our field do not
ing to the poor from your own pos-
belong to us; they never did. We
session or that I despised the poor
cannot glean all the way to the edges
person by not giving him as I gave
even if the produce yield is low.
you. For he is my child, as you are,
Let us struggle to rise above the
and his share is in your grain; it is
instinct to hoard out of pride or fear.
to your benefit to give him his share
Let us sanctify our harvests through
from your property.”
the redistribution of wealth and the
I may have a deed to the land.
pursuit of justice. •
I may have sown the seeds and
plowed the field. But the harvest
Alana Alpert is the director of Detroit Jews
does not belong to me.
for Justice (detroitjewsforjustice.org) and the
The Christian concept of “char-
rabbi of Congregation T’chiyah in Oak Park.
ity” comes from the Latin word
Parshat Emor:
Leviticus 21:1-24:23;
Ezekiel 44:15-31.
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May 11 • 2017
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