Ed Note: Although we don't understand why the Zera Shimshon wrote this D'var Torah in this week's Parsha, as it seems to fit more in Parshas Re'eh, where the Pesukim upon which he bases his words are written, nevertheless, we follow his lead and chose this week to share with you his holy words.
You shall not cook a tender young animal in its mother's milk. Tithe, you shall tithe the entire crop of your planting...
Rashi explains why the Torah felt it important to juxtapose the prohibition of 'cooking a tender young animal in its mother's milk', which is an eating-related prohibition, to the commandment of 'tithing the entire crop' which is a financial-related commandment, and says as follows.
אמר להם הקב"ה לישראל, לא תגרמו לי לבשל גדיים של תבואה עד שהן במעי אמותיהן, שאם אין אתם מעשרים מעשרות כראוי, כשהוא סמוך להתבשל אני מוציא רוח קדים והיא משדפתן.
- By putting these two commandments side by side, Hashem was telling the Jewish People, "Do not cause Me to 'cook' the tender young crop while they are still in their 'mother's insides', for if you do not take tithes properly, I will bring forth an east wind as soon as the new crop is about to ripen, and it will destroy them."
We need to understand why the punishment for not tithing properly was specifically fashioned as such that the wind will come and damage the crop after it begins to grow; why not punish them in the more simple manner that the crop would not grow in the first place. Moreover, elsewhere (דברים יא טז יז) the Torah does indeed forewarn and tell us, השמרו לכם, פן יפתה לבבכם וסרתם וכו', וחרה אף ה' בכם, ועצר את השמים ולא יהיה מטר, והאדמה לא תתן את יבולה. - Beware for yourselves, lest your heart be seduced and you will turn astray... Then the wrath of Hashem will blaze against you and He will restrain the heavens and there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce, the Torah says that if the Jewish People will sin, the ground will simply not yield its produce. Why then, here, as punishment for not tithing, does the Torah clearly say that the produce will begin to grow, and only before it ripens will Hashem strike it with the east wind?
The Gemara in Shabbos (שבת קיט ע"א) discusses the reward for tithing and relates as follows.
בעא מיניה רבי מר' ישמעאל ברבי יוסי, עשירים שבא"י במה הן זוכין. א"ל בשביל שמעשרין, שנאמר עשר תעשר עשר בשביל שתתעשר.
- Rebbi inquired of R' Yishmael the son of R' Yose: The rich of Eretz Yisrael, through what good deed do they merit their great wealth? He said to him: Because they faithfully tithe their crops, as the Passuk says: Tithe, you shall tithe. The double use of this word teaches: Tithe, so that you shall become wealthy. This homiletic interpretation is based upon reading the Passuk as if it were to say, Tithe, so that you shall tithe further. This would imply that if you tithe, you will be blessed with added crops which will necessitate you to tithe even more.
This notion, that tithing generates wealth, is actually already clearly stated in the Passuk in Malachi (מלאכי ג י) which says, הביאו את כל המעשר אל בית האוצר, ויהי טרף בביתי, ובחנוני נא בזאת אמר ה' צבאות, אם לא אפתח לכם את ארבות השמים, והריקתי לכם ברכה עד בלי די: - Bring all the tithes into the storage house, and let it be sustenance in My Temple. Test Me with this, says Hashem, see if I do not open up for you the windows of the heavens and pour out upon you blessing without end.
In view of this we can understand why the punishment for withholding tithes wouldn't suffice for the ground to simply withhold its crop, but rather calls for the crop to initially grow and only then to get destroyed before it has a chance to ripen.
This is based upon the words of the Zohar who says that Divine blessings can only be found when it has upon where to develop. This is a concept that we learn from the prophet Elisha's reply to the destitute widow, who came crying to him when the creditor had come to take her son in leu of payment. Elisha said to her, "Tell me, what do you have in your house?" When she replied that she had a jug of oil, Elisha told her to borrow as many vessels as she possibly can, and to pour oil from her jug into all the borrowed vessels. Her jug would miraculously retain the oil as long as she had vessels into which to pour. She was then to go ahead and sell the oil, from which she would have money to pay her creditor. Elisha wanted to know what she had that could be used to 'trigger' a blessing, and since she had a bit of oil, there was a basis for the miracle, for her jug of oil could become like a spring from which water gushes continuously. The idea behind this is that Hashem created the laws of nature, and is, so to speak, very reluctant to alter those laws. Thus, when stemming from something which already exists naturally, the blessing does not need to alter the laws of nature entirely.
Accordingly, just as the reward for tithing would be triggered from an existing crop - for the natural crop will yield much more than usual and will thus bring about much wealth to its owner - so too, measure for measure, it is befitting that the punishment for withholding tithes should also be actuated upon something which is in existence already. Thus, as Rashi describes, if one does not take tithes properly, the crop will indeed grow, but as it is about to ripen, Hashem will bring forth an east wind and it will destroy the existing crop.
זרע שמשון פרשת מסעי אות ז
