Vol. 7   No. 48

Ki Sovo

The Torah writes in Parshas Re'ei with regard to tzedokoh " ... therefore I am commanding you to say, open your hand to your poor brother ("posei'ach tiftach es yodcho ...")".

Commenting on the word "to say" (leimor), the Kli Yokor refers to the Gemoro in Bovo Basro (9b). The Gemoro gives precedence to encouraging to a poor man with a nice word, over and above the actual donation or loan, inasmuch as someone who gives a p'rutoh to a poor man receives six Divine blessings, whilst for a word of encouragement one receives eleven.

Alternatively, he explains, the mitzvah is not only to give tzedokoh oneself, but to get others to give, as indeed, the Gemoro there says 'The one who makes others give is greater than the one who gives'. This too, is hinted in the words "to say".

When writing about the mitzvah of tzedokoh, the Torah always seems to use a double expression: "Aser te'aser, noson titein, posei'ach tiftach", and 'Ha'avet ta'avitenu", the Kli Yokor observes. And so it is with the reward: "Ki borech yevorech'cho".

This is because tzedokoh, as we just explained, has a double connotation - giving the poor man monetary assistance, as well as the good word of encouragement that goes with it.

Alternatively (and perhaps the two explanations are one and the same), it is not sufficient to give with one's hands, but one should also give with a good heart. For so the Torah writes in Re'ei (15:10) "You shall surely give him, and your heart should not feel bad when you give him". Because, it goes perhaps without saying, that tzedokoh given with a smile has a different effect on a poor man than when it is given with a scowl. Indeed, in the same vein, Chazal have said that a man who possesses little will receive Olom ha'Bo for merely volunteering to stand in for his father, to work for the King, whilst a wealthy man, who feeds his father a fine meal, but does so with a scowl, will go to Gehinom for his pains.

Based on the Chazal in Bovo Basro (10a) who explain the posuk in Tehilim (17:15) "And I will see Your face with tzedek" to mean that one should give tzedokoh before davening, the Kli Yokor explains a Gemoro in B'rochos (8a). The Gemoro says there that before davening, one should wait the measure of two 'pesochim'. The two pesochim, he says, refer to "poso'ach tiftach" - a hint that before davening, one should open one's hand and one's heart to the poor.

And this double expression might also explain the Medrash Yalkut, which explains that Yisroel sinned double (and therefore their consolation was double too). They sinned double, says the Kli Yokor, means that all the sins that caused their downfall were 'double' sins: tzedokoh, where the Torah writes a double expression "Posei'ach tiftach", Shabbos, whose Korban, song and punishment etc. are all double, and the failure to release their Jewish servants (about whom the Torah writes "Because he worked double the years of a hired worker") after six years.

Another interpretation of the double expressions that the Torah uses in connection with tzedokoh, explains the Kli Yokor, is the Torah's assurance that someone who gives tzedokoh once, will merit to give again. This itself has two connotations: 1. That one mitzvah leads to another; 2. that when someone gives his dues, G-d blesses him ('Aser bi'shvil she'tis'asher') so that he will be able to give again.

The basic explanation of the double expressions, however, lies in the teaching of the Rambam - that giving more times is generaly considered a greater mitzvah that giving once, because the more times one gives, the more one becomes a giver. So what the Torah is saying is "Open your hand and open your hand again", rather than give it all in one go (notwithstanding the circumstances).

Tzedokoh leads to wealth, as Chazal derive from "Aser te'aser".

To explain this, the Oznayim la'Torah explains that G-d gives a man more than he really needs to live, on the express understanding that he distributes the excess to the poor. In effect, the wealthy man is a manager of a large estate that belongs to the poor. It is not his at all, but the poors', and when he gives tzedokoh he only gives the poor what is already theirs. "Aser te'aser" therefore, teaches us that a rich man who does his job faithfully, gets a rise. He is placed in charge of a larger estate, and of course, he receives a wage increase accordingly.

The posuk in Mal'achi (3:10) clearly permits, even encourages, testing G-d in the realm of tzedokoh, to give tzedokoh and see whether He does not pay back. Strange, comments the Oznayim la'Torah, considering that the Torah otherwise expressly forbids testing G-d (Devorim 6:16). Perhaps it is because, as opposed to other mitzvos, when one gives tzedokoh, there is the recipient who has benefitted from the mitzvah, irrespective of one's motivation for giving. In addition, so important is the mitzvah in the eyes of Hashem, that He says 'Just give, and see how much I appreciate your giving, by paying you back immediately'.

And besides, once a person sees how seriously G-d takes this mitzvah, he will begin to do likewise. Indeed, the commentaries point out, in the following posuk, the Torah writes "in order that you will learn to fear Hashem". As Chazal advise 'Always perform Torah and mitzvos even with the wrong motivation, because performing them with the wrong motivation will encourage one to perform them with the right motivation".

That is why Chazal said in Pesochim (8a) that someone who gives tzedokoh in order that his son should live or so that he will go to Olom ha'Bo, is a tzadik (or according to other texts, the tzedokoh that he gave is considered genuine tzedokoh).

The P'sikta, darshens on the posuk "Aser te'aser" - 'Aser she'lo tischaser' (give Ma'aser in order not to lose out). And the Medrash Tanchuma quotes the story of a man who, on his deathbed, instructed his son to give one hundred kur out of the thousand that it yielded, for ma'aser k'sofim (tzedokoh).

The first year the son followed his father's instructions. But the following year, he gave only ninety kur; the year after that it produced only nine hundred kur. From that he gave only eighty kur. And so, year after year, he deducted ten kur from his ma'aser, and year after year, the field responded by producing one hundred kur less, until eventually, it produced only one hundred kur.

The Medrash also tells the story of a man who meticulously gave ma'aser, year in, year out, from the one field that he owned. One day, G-d put it into his head to sow one half of the field, and the other half, to transform into a water-pool. The following year was a year of drought. One so'oh of wheat went for a sela, and a so'oh of water for three. The man made a fortune on the sale of water.

The Rambam writes that no-one ever became poor through giving tzedokoh. But there are many who became rich!

"And you shall raise your voice and say before Hashem your G-d 'The Aramite (Lovon) (wanted to) destroy my father ... " (26:5)

'Go out and learn what Lovon ho'Arami wanted to do to Ya'akov our father', the Ba'al Hagodoh tells us.

The Ba'al Hagodoh is teaching us an important lesson, explains the Gro. We do not really know what Lovon planned to do to Ya'akov. Only the Torah informs us that he wanted to destroy him, males and females, even to a greater extent than Par'oh did, as the Ba'al Hagodoh continues. And it was only due to Hashem's chesed that his plans came to nought.

So it is in our daily lives; on many occasions, our enemies plan to kill us or to do us harm, and it is only through Hashem's direct intervention that we are saved - often, without our being aware of the miracle that took place.

Perhaps that is what we mean when we say in the Amidah 'We thank You ... and for Your miracles that occur each day, and for Your wonders and for the good things that You do with us at all times, evening, morning and afternoon.' Because were it not for Hashem's constant miracles, we would not manage to survive for even a part of the day.

"Cursed be the one who strikes his friend in secret" (27:23)

It is written in Pirkei de'Rebbi Eliezer that someone who sneaks on his friend in secret has no cure (i.e. he is subject to terrible punishment which teshuvah cannot reverse). It derives this from this posuk in conjunction with a posuk in Tehilim "Someone who sneaks on his friend in secret, him I will cut off" (101:5).

The Kabbalists write that a person who is guilty of this will have to make amends by being reincarnated in the form of a barking dog.

They tell the story of the Gro who, in his youth, undertook to go into exile. During one of his travels, he hired a wagon together with its Jewish wagon-driver. Whilst they were travelling, the horse turned off the path, and began trampling on the rows of vegetables that were growing in a nearby field. The gentile owner of the field, who witnessed the incident, came running over to hit the Gro who was sitting inside the wagon. The Gro was about to inform the gentile that it was not he who was guilty, but the driver, who did not look after his horse properly. But he checked himself.

He later explained that, had he indeed carried out his original intention of pointing out the real culprit to the gentile, he would have been guilty of sneaking. True, the wagon-driver was the guilty party. However, he was due to pay, not to receive lashes. And for sneaking on him and causing him to receive a punishment that he did not deserve, the Gro concluded, he would have had to return to this world in the form of a barking dog, no matter how much Torah and mitzvos he had accumulated during his lifetime.

"And the nations of the world will see that the Name of Hashem is 'called' upon you, and they will be afraid of you" (28:10.

The story is told of the Gro who once stayed overnight at an inn. Early in the morning, the inn-keeper arose, put on his Tefilin and was about to daven, when a scoundrel entered the inn, approached the inn-keeper and began beating him viciously with a stick. At the man's screams, the Gro, who had also put on Tefilin in an adjoining room, opened the door where the incident was taking place. The moment the scoundrel saw the Gro, he was overcome by a deep fear. He fell to the ground and fainted.

When the puzzled inn-keeper, not understanding what had happened, asked the Gro for an explanation, the Gro explained that it was the Tefilin that he was wearing that was responsible for the scoundrel's predicament.

'But I too, am wearing Tefilin?" asked the innkeeper.

'Ah', replied the Gro, 'You are wearing Tefilin on your head, and Chazal, commenting on the above posuk, explain that it refers to Tefilin in the head (Tefilin she'be'rosh), not Tefilin she'al ho'Rosh (Tefilin on the head).

It is not the physical boxes that lie on one's head that have the power to create fear, but Tefilin that are in the head. It is the thoughts that accompany the laying of Tefilin, when one renders oneself subservient to the will of Hashem, and undertakes to serve Him faithfdully, that sanctify the wearer and cast his fear into the hearts of the nations of the world.

98. Not to eat worms that one finds inside fruit or any kind of seeds- as the Torah writes in Shemini (11:42) " ... do not eat any of the insects that crawl on the ground". Refer to mitzvah 97.

This mitzvah applies to men and women everywhere and at all times.

99. Not to eat water-insects - as the Torah writes in Shemini (11:43) "Do not abominate yourselves with any kind of insect that crawls ... ". This posuk incorporates water-'insects', such as frogs, crabs, worms and leeches, as well as water-creatures such as beasts of the sea, sea-dogs, etc.

Someone who eats a kezayis of any of these is due to receive malkos.

See also mitzvah 97.

This mitzvah applies to men and women everywhere and at all times.

100. Not to eat 'remosim' - - as the Torah writes in Shemini (11:44) "And do not abominate yourselves with insects that creep on the ground".

'Remosim' are created from dirt, and not from the union of a male and female.

Someone who eats a kezayis of them is due to receive malkos.

This mitzvah applies to men and women everywhere and at all times.

101-103. Not to eat bread from the new crops, not to eat roasted grains, and not to eat fresh grains (rolled in the hand), before bringing the Omer - as the Torah writes in Emor (23:14) "Do not eat bread, roasted grains or fresh grains until this very day".

All this pertains exclusively to the five species of grain (wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt). Someone who eats a kezayis of bread, a kezayis of roasted grains and a kezayis of fresh grains has contravened three la'avin.

When the Beis ha'Mikdosh stood, the prohibition remained in force until after the Korban Omer had been brought on the sixteenth of Nisan. Nowadays, when there is no Beis ha'Mikdosh, the isur of 'Chodosh' extends throughout the sixteenth min ha'Torah. And in Chutz lo'Oretz, where they celebrate two days Yom-tov, the isur extends to the second day Yom-tov - mi'de'Rabbonon. Produce that took root before the Omer, is permitted by the Omer, even though it continues to grow after the Omer.

This mitzvah applies to men and women everywhere and at all times.

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