Torah Weekly

For the week ending 25 Av 5760 / 25 & 26 August 2000

Parshat Re'eh

The Color of HeavenArtscroll






Wealth and poverty don't effect everyone in the same way. Wealth influences some for the good, and through the blessing of wealth they come to a greater appreciation of Hashem. Had they been poor, these people might have been so occupied trying to find food that they would have forgotten their Creator. (This was the case in Egypt, where Bnei Yisrael were so exhausted by the hard labor that they didn't listen to Moshe.) On the other hand, there are people whose wealth removes them from the path of righteousness, as we see so often in our history that the Jewish People become successful and self-satisfied and forget Who gave them what they have.

When a person is poor, however, and "broken," Hashem never ignores his supplications. Thus, the verse says: "I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse" -- and don't think that the blessing is wealth and the curse is poverty; rather everything depends on how a person deals with his riches or poverty. Whether he be rich or poor, if he turns his focus to the Torah and mitzvot he receives the blessing.

L'Torah U'Moadim


"You shall tithe the entire crop of your planting..." (14:22).

In the first, second, fourth and fifth years of the seven-year shmita cycle, Jews living in Israel were instructed to separate a tenth of their crops to bring to Jerusalem to eat. In the third and sixth years of the cycle, that tenth was given to the poor instead.

Why weren't the landowners required to share first with the poor and only then to enjoy their produce in Jerusalem?

The Rambam writes that one must give tzedaka, charity, with a joyous countenance. He writes that giving with a disgruntled demeanor negates the mitzvah. It is not enough to do chesed (kindness), one must love chesed. More than any other positive mitzvah, writes the Rambam, tzedaka is a sign of the essence of a Jew. By commanding us to bring a tenth of our crops to Jerusalem to rejoice there, Hashem taught us two vital lessons: That our material possessions are a present from Hashem and He can dictate how we use them, and that using material wealth in the way prescribed by Hashem generates feelings of joy and sanctity. Once we internalize these lessons in the first two years of the cycle, we can offer that bounty to the poor in the third year -- not perfunctorily, but with a true love of chesed.

Rabbi Zev Leff


Yeshaya 54:11-55:5


In this, the third of the "seven of consolation" haftaras, the Prophet Yeshaya (Isaiah) depicts a future time when it will be recognized that Hashem has glorified Israel, and the people will hasten to the scion of David who will lead Israel.


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