Rabbi’s message for May 15, 2020 - Shabbat Behar-Bekhukotai 5780

​A non-Jewish optimist says, “It can get better!” A Jewish optimist says, “It could be worse.”
In this week’s double parsha, Behar-Bekhukotai, we read of a hazard for our community today and in the near future:
“If your brother becomes destitute and his hand falters with you, you shall strengthen him, outsider and settler, that he may live with you.” (Vayikra/Leviticus 25:35)
וְכִֽי־יָמ֣וּךְ אָחִ֔יךָ וּמָ֥טָה יָד֖וֹ עִמָּ֑ךְ וְהֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתָּ בּ֔וֹ גֵּ֧ר וְתוֹשָׁ֛ב וָחַ֖י עִמָּֽךְ
The placement in this sentence of the words “outsider and settler” – in Hebrew, “ger v’toshav” – has an ambiguous meaning. The rabbinic interpretations of this, from order of my least to greatest preference, are that:
- you support someone needy so that they retain a status at least that of the outsider and settler in the community;
- you support your brother (or fellow community member) no less than you would an outsider or settler; or
- you support an outsider and settler no less than you would a brother.
A key word in understanding this requirement for compassion and tzedakah is the repeated word “imach” (עִמָּךְ) – with you. The verse could easily be complete without either mention of this word, i.e.: “If your brother becomes destitute and his hand falters… you shall strengthen him… that he may live.” One of the important tenets of Torah interpretation is that no word is superfluous. What does “with you” signify?
The wording of the passuk (verse) suggests that we collectively hold some accountability for the downturn of any fellow community member. If someone’s hand falters “with you”, you cannot readily neglect or feign ignorance of this distress. The Talmud states that “poverty in a person’s home is debilitating” (Baba Batra 116a). Commenting on this Talmud quotation, Rav Meir Leib Frye (via Yismach Yehudah and Rabbi Yissocher Frand) explains that unlike evident poverty, poverty “in a person’s home” describes someone who displays the trappings of wealth, but whose actual poverty is hidden. For example, a person living in a fine house in a well-off neighbourhood, with a seemingly comfortable lifestyle, may in fact be going through great financial distress – from debt, loss of income or employment, or other misfortune of business or economic downturn. And yet, such knowledge may be hidden within the four walls of that person’s home. In such case, only a few close individuals may be aware of this person’s distress.
In this instance, it is a mitzvah for those in the know – trusted confidants or others – to strengthen this person how they can, and prevent them from a potentially debilitating downfall, not only in income but status. There is a story in the Talmud (Ketubot 67b), where Hillel buys a poor member of an aristocratic family a horse to ride and a slave to run before him. Fairness in tzedakah does not preclude the exceptional provision of material help to prevent a person from undue distress. Elishai Ben Yitzchak of Bar-Ilan University notes that there is a distinction, however, in the dispersal of tzedakah from public/community funds vs. from one’s private assets. Funding must be equitably disbursed from the public purse (e.g., a Federation or Jewish Family Service) so that there is a fair standard shared by all those in the community. However, an individual (or small, close-knit group) may have the social responsibility to prevent the economic collapse of someone close.
The repeated term “with you” signifies the potential situation and its remedy. It may well happen that someone with you may experience economic distress. In such a situation, the Torah mitzvah is to “strengthen them”, preventatively if possible, to hold them up that they neither collapse nor arrive at more dire need. That way, you ensure that they may continue to “live with you”, to maintain their well-being until they can stand on their feet again.
The Warning
The double parsha also contains the dreadful warning of the “Tochecha” or rebuke. It is a series of increasing threats and dire admonitions by Hashem to the people, lest they defy the ways of G-d’s Torah. The extreme urgency of the Tochecha may be compared to the warnings a parent gives their child about dangerous situations: bad, harmful things may happen. The greater the danger, the harsher the warning. Such warnings, clearly, are intended as a deterrent.
The sudden impact of the current pandemic has driven home how critically we must avoid taking for granted our good fortunes. A careless communal and societal response can lead not only to illness and death, but also to psychological distress and financial ruin. At the same time, it may be unwise, or an unreasonable expectation, to simply return to the prior status quo – socially, economically or otherwise.
Given that we know, in our wisdom, that “it could be worse”, we are challenged to respond to the deterrents of our time. Let’s continue in our precautions with the ultimate intent of preserving life. We are challenged to hold together, as friends and community, to help one another in need.
With that in mind, I strongly encourage everyone to wear facemasks in any public indoor or crowded space. And let us do the mitzvot needed to prevent grief and to preserve one another’s well-being.
Shabbat Shalom!