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Parshat Ki Tetze
1997
In this week's Parsha, "Ki Tetzeh," the Torah tells us:
"When you reap your field and forget a measure of grain do not return to gather it, for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow it shall be . . . remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt therefore I command you this thing."
Two questions come to mind: (1) Why leave a random amount of grain that you forgot in your field to the needy, why not just five them a fixed amount of direct and anonymous charity each year? and (2) Why is the phrase "remember that you were slaves in Egypt, therefore I command you this thing" added here?
The Kiley Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephrayim ben Yehudah of Leneziza, 1602) writes the following comment on the verse, "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt":
"Do not try to leave your money to your descendants, because who knows what the future holds, give it now to the orphan and widow, in your world, in your life. Do not worry and say, 'but with what will my progeny support themselves?' To this notion, the Torah answers, 'remember that you were a slave in Egypt who owned nothing . . . even so you now have fields and vineyards.' God will provide for your progeny as he has for you and your ancestors. . . "
I think the Kilay Yakar's message is actually twofold. He is stating the basic notion that it is God who moves us from slavery to freedom and on some level my wealth and status are not mine to control. But in addition, I think he answers our question above: Why give forgotten sheaves to the needy and not give charity directly?
The Kilay Yakiar tells us that when we remember that we were slaves and now are not, we also remember that we do not know what our own future holds for us. If I were to give charity directly, I may feel, appropriately so, that it my field and I am giving of it to another person. The problem with this notion is that no matter how charitable and humble I am, it implies a sense of hierarchy and dependence, the giver decided to give so that receiver can receive. The giver is powerful and the receiver powerless.
But, says our holy Torah, by leaving for the needy only that which I have forgotten in my field and not giving my own gift to them directly from my field which I own, I realize that perhaps I am not completely master over my field at all. In fact, I do not even "give" anything at all, the needy receive through no conscious, volitional act on my part.
The Torah teaches us that we must give charity, but not out of pity, not of our own desire as land owners to support the poor, but from the deep realization that I am no different than the one who receives from me. The Torah stresses that we are all, every man and every woman, in a very real sense, exactly the same; pawns of a higher system. Yesterday I was a slave and now I am not. If I see myself as any different than the person to whom I give charity I run the risk of pity and condescension.
Our students relate deeply to the idea of community service and social action, but we must teach them that in the view of this week's Parsha, attitude is everything. Charity and service are not only about providing for others. In the Torah's view they are also about how I view myself and those who receive from me. If I think I am the giver and they the receiver, the Torah admonishes me with the command to give not through my own volition, but accidentally. To realize that I was a slave and I amy soon be again. That we are all equal in the commonality of our cosmic powerlessness.
Shabbat Shalom.
Prepared by Rabbi Hyim Shafner, St. Louis Hillel.
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