God Gives So You Can Help Others
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Emor (Leviticus 21-24 )
This week’s Torah portion discusses many of the holidays including Passover, the Omer, Shavout, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. In the middle of relaying information about each respective holiday, the verse tells us, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not remove completely the corners of your field as you reap and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest; for the poor and the proselyte shall you leave them; I am the Lord Your God.” (23:22).
What is the connection of these seemingly disparate ideas: leaving the corners of the field for the poor and the holiest days of the year?
Lesson:
A famous Torah commentary, Rabbi Avdmi ben R’Yose answers this question with a remarkable response. He states that if someone leaves gifts for the poor, it was as if he built the Holy Temple and brought his offerings to God in it (Rashi; Sifra). How is this the case?
Farmers put in tremendous efforts in ensuring a thriving, good harvest. Thank God, today incredible machines are responsible for most farm labor, but in Biblical times, the owner of the field invested a tremendous amount of time and labor to ensure a thriving crop. He had to plant and reap and plow and sew and harvest and weed the field, including the corners, knowing full well that he would not be able to profit or partake in the corner’s produce.
It would be easy for one to turn a blind eye on the parts of the field that you could not partake in, but one who invested time and effort, ensuring the corners of the field are just as fruitful as the rest, is doing so because God commanded him to do so. They recognize that God sees and is responsible for creating a flourishing crop. They recognize that God gave them the crop to begin with and just as easily could have put them in the position of being the poor person, needing to collect from the corners of someone else’s field. They invest their own time, efforts, sweat for the sake of helping someone less fortunate than themselves. This noble act makes it worthy of being sandwiched between the holidays.
Often times we think that I have the field but now I have to share. But this is backwards thinking. God gave you the land so that you could perform this particular mitzvah and share with others. We think that we are sharing what we worked hard for and rightfully earned. However, the opposite is true: God only gave us what we have so that we can then use it in the service of Him and helping others. How great is it that God lovingly gives us what we have in order to provide for our needs and partake in the mitzvah of helping others as well.
Someone who was becoming more aware of Jewish law found out about giving charity. “I just got a new job that pays double what I used to make. Giving 10% to charity, which is what Jewish law recommends, is a lot of my paycheck!” She confided to her religious sister. “I like having all my money! I enjoy nice things and I work hard to afford them. Now you’re saying I have to give my hard-earned money away?” she asked.
“It’s the other way around,” explained her sister. “God gave you your new job that pays double your other job so that you could now partake in this mitzvah and still enjoy your nice things! Because you are now giving charity, God blessed you with double the paycheck!”
God lovingly gives us everything we need to provide for ourselves and family and perform mitzvot, help others, connect to God and achieve our highest, holiest potential. If we look at it as an opportunity from God then we are bringing our own sacrifice and offering to God, just as Rabbi Avdmi ben R’Yose says.
Exercise: Invest real time and effort in helping someone else. If making food for someone, make something special, instead of just thinking that something is better than nothing. If calling someone who needs, give them your undivided attention instead of trying to multitask. Have in mind that God gave you extra (time, resources, etc.) in order to partake in the mitzvah of helping others. In helping others, you are also giving a special offering to God.
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