In the halachah section of this week’s sheet we discussed the three pasukim from this week’s parsha which talk about the mitzvah of hasovas aveidah: לא תראה את שור אחיך או את שיו נדחים והתעלמת מהם השב תשיבם לאחיך. ואם לא קרוב אחיך אליך ולא ידעתו ואספתו אל תוך ביתך והיה עמך עד דרש אחיך אתו והשבתו לו. וכן תעשה לחמרו וכן תעשה לשמלתו וכן תעשה לכל אבדת אחיך אשר תאבד ממנו ומצאתה לא תוכל להתעלם. - “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep driven away, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely bring them back to your brother. And if your brother not be near you and you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house and it shall be with you until your brother inquires of it, and then you will restore it to him. And so shall you do with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment, and so shall you do with every lost thing of your brother’s which he has lost; and you have found; you may not hide yourself.” (Devorim 22: 1-3)
It is noteworthy that in these 3 pasukim, the word “achicha” [your brother] appears 5 times! We know that the Torah is extremely economical when it comes to choosing its words. The pasukim could have easily been written without using this same word again and again and again. Obviously, the Torah is trying to tell us something by the repetitive use of this word.
Rav Matisyahu Solomon explains as follows: He bases his thought on a Medrash in Parshas Vayetzei. When Lavan chased after Ya’akov Avinu and it was not at all clear whether or not his intention was to actually do battle with Ya’akov, the pasuk tells us that Ya’akov instructed his children: “Gather stones” (Bereishis 31:46). However, the pasuk there uses the expression “Vayomer Ya’akov el echav” (and Ya’akov said to his brethren), rather than “Vayomer Ya’akov el banav” (and Ya’akov said to his sons), even though it is clear from the context that he was speaking to his sons!
Rashi there notes this anomaly and explains that the Torah used the word “echav” to connote that Ya’akov and his children were “brothers in arms”. When one is willing to risk his life for someone else he loves, the word the Torah uses to express this relationship is “achva” [brotherhood]. The Torah was not addressing the biological relationship between Ya’akov and his sons. Rather, it was addressing the emotional and strategic relationship that was coming to bear in the impending confrontation with Lavan.
The Medrash Rabbah in Vayetzei makes almost the same comment. It emphasizes that in Lashon HaKodesh, words define the essence of an object. The word “achva” [brotherhood] in its essence means a comrade in arms, a kinship of emotions and of purpose. It has nothing to do with whether the person is a sibling or an offspring.
This information clarifies the redundancy of the word “achicha” in these three pasukim.
The Torah is not merely telling us in the mitzvah of returning a lost object that when one finds a watch, he returns it to its owner. The Torah is telling us is that the relationship between a Jew and his fellow Jew should be that of an “ach” — the type of person one cares about, a person about whom one is constantly concerned with his welfare. A kinship must exists between the two of us.
Rabbeinu Yonah writes regarding this mitzvah: “The Torah warns us to care about our brothers in the time of their trouble.” Rabbeinu Yonah advises regarding this mitzvah that every community should have organizations that are there to take care of the needs of the people of the town. Groups such as Bikur Cholim Societies, Jewish Family Services, etc. are thus all under the rubric of “Returning a Lost Object”. If it is incumbent to take care of the person’s ox, it is certainly incumbent to take care of the person himself!
Rav Matisyahu concludes with a beautiful analysis of the expression: לא תוכל להתעלם – “you are not able to look away”. Normally, if the Torah was going to forbid us to ignore the lost object of one’s fellow Jew, the Torah should have simply said: לא תתעלם - “Do not look away”. That is not what the Torah said.
However, the Torah doesn’t use such an expression and says, לא תוכל להתעלם, what does this mean? It means “You CAN’T walk away! You are not CAPABLE of turning a blind eye!” Why? “Because he is your brother.” That is the message here. This is the relationship a person should have with his fellow Jew: Not merely you should not walk away; but you CAN’T walk away!
