AUGUST 29 • 2024 | 53
sympathize with
him in his plight,
as it is said, ‘Have
I not wept for
those in trouble?
Has not my soul
grieved for the
poor?’” (Job 30:25)
Laws of Gifts to
the Poor, 10:4
TWO LAWS
This is the logic behind two laws
that are otherwise inexplicable.
The first is: “Even a poor person
who is dependent on tzedakah is
obliged to give tzedakah.” Laws of
Gifts to the Poor, 7:5
The law seems absurd. Why
should we give money to the
poor so that they may give to
the poor? It makes sense only
on this assumption, that giving
is essential to human dignity
and tzedakah is the obligation
to ensure that everyone has that
dignity.
The second is this famous
ruling of Maimonides: “The
highest degree of charity,
exceeded by none, is when a
person assists a poor Jew by
providing him with a gift or a
loan or by accepting him into
a business partnership or by
helping him find employment
— in a word by putting him in a
situation where he can dispense
with other people’s aid.” Laws of
Gifts to the Poor, 10:7
Giving someone a job or
making him your partner would
not normally be considered
charity at all. It costs you
nothing. But this further serves
to show that tzedakah does not
mean charity. It means giving
people the means to live a
dignified life, and within the
Jewish value system, any form of
employment is more dignified
than dependence.
We have in this ruling of
Maimonides in the 12th century
the principle
that Muhammad
Yunus
rediscovered in
our time, and
for which he
was awarded the
Nobel Prize: the
idea of micro-
loans enabling
poor people
to start small
businesses. It is a very powerful
idea.
In contradistinction to
many other religious systems,
Judaism refused to romanticize
poverty or anesthetize its pain.
Faith is not what Karl Marx
called “the opium of the people.”
The rabbis refused to see poverty
as a blessed state, an affliction
to be born with acceptance and
grace. Instead, the rabbis called it
“a kind of death” and “worse than
fifty plagues.”
They said, “Nothing is harder
to bear than poverty, because he
who is crushed by poverty is like
one to whom all the troubles of
the world cling and upon whom
all the curses of Deuteronomy
have descended. If all other
troubles were placed one side
and poverty on the other, poverty
would outweigh them all.”
Maimonides went to the heart
of the matter when he said: “The
well-being of the soul can only
be obtained after that of the body
has been secured.” The Guide for
the Perplexed, 3:27
Poverty is not a noble state. You
cannot reach spiritual heights if
you have no food to eat, no roof
over your head, if you lack access
to medical attention or if you are
beset by financial worries. I know
of no saner approach to poverty,
welfare and social justice than
that of Judaism. Unsurpassed
in its time, it remains the
benchmark of a decent society to
this day.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
• What are the key differences
between charity and social justice
in Judaism?
• If you are short on funds
yourself, what are some other
ways you can give tzedakah?
• Why do you think there is such
an emphasis on preserving
individual dignity when giving
tzedakah?
From Manna to Meat
T
he parshah discusses the
availability to eat meat. The
subject is introduced in a
unique manner. “When Hashem
will broaden your borders (after
you have conquered the Land of
Israel and driven out the seven
Canaanite nations) and you will
desire to eat meat ...”
Rashi, the classic biblical
commentator, writes, “In
the desert it was forbidden
to eat meat. Only after the
Jews entered the land was it
permissible to eat meat.”
Aside from the
relevance of allowing us
to eat meat provided it is
slaughtered and prepared
in accordance with the
laws of kosher, there is a
deeper interpretation of
these verses. The Jews in
the desert had all of their needs
provided. They ate manna from
heaven, drank from the well of
Miriam, were sheltered by the
clouds of glory, etc. They spent
their days immersed in Torah
and serving the Almighty. At
that time, their energies were
geared toward the pursuit and
acquisition of the holy and the
spiritual. Physical desires were
out of place.
The Jews who entered Israel,
on the other hand, were faced
with derech eretz, working for a
living. Upon their entering the
land, they were to conquer the
seven nations. Each nation in
the Bible is an allegorical
representation of a specific
character trait. Good
nations represent good
traits, etc. The seven
Canaanite nations represent
our seven animalistic
emotions. Faced with the
challenges of making a
living and being involved
with the world, the Torah
teaches us that it is OK to
desire meat, meaning to
have desires for physical
pleasure.
The Torah continues with a
warning, “Only do not eat the
blood.” Do not put all of your
excitement into the pleasures
but use the pleasure to serve the
Almighty.
Rabbi Herschel Finman is co-director (with
his wife Chana) of Jewish Ferndale, www.
rabbifinman.com.
SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi
Hershel
Finman
Parshat
Re’eh:
Deuteronomy
11:26-16:17;
Isaiah 54:11-
55:5.