This week's parashah discusses the mitzvah of tzedakah. (15:7-11) לא ...אביון בך יהיה כי פתח כי ,האביון מאחיך ידך את תקפץ ולא לבבך את תאמץ לו ידך את תפתח, "If there will be among you a needy person...you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him..."
Giving tzedakah is based on the awareness that we are Hashem's children. The Gemara tells us that Turnesrofus the Rasha said to Reb Akiva, "You will go to Gehinom for giving tzedakah, and I will explain myself with a mashal: A king got angry at his slave, so he put him in jail and commanded that no one give him food or drink. If someone disobeys the king and gives him food and drink, won't he be punished?"
Reb Akiva replied that this is true regarding the king's slaves, but the Jewish nation is Hashem's children. Reb Akiva said, "I will answer you with a mashal: A king became angry with his son and put him in jail, and he commanded that no one is to give his son food or drink. Someone disobeyed and gave the son food and drink. When the king heard about it, he gave him a present for doing so. And we are called Hashem's children, as it states 'לה אתם בנים אלקיכם."
So, the concept of giving tzedakah is based on the fact that we are Hashem's children. And there is more on this topic. We begin with the Gemara (Bava Basra 131:), which states that if a father writes in a document that all his money and possessions should go to one of his sons, we understand that he meant that this one son should be the manager (apitropus) over his money, and he should distribute it equally between all the brothers. We don't assume that the father wanted only one son to get the money because why would he do so? He loves all his children; why would he want to give one child and let the others suffer poverty?
The Chida (Pnei Dovid, Re'eh) zt'l takes this further. We are Hashem's children. In fact, as the Alshich tells us, every Yid, individually, is Hashem's child. Is it logical that Hashem would want some of His children to be wealthy and some of them not? It is clear that Hashem gave more money to some because He wanted them to be apitropsim, money managers, to distribute the money among Hashem's children.
The previous Skulener Rebbe zt’l explains this lesson with an analogy of people seated at a table at a chasunah, and a waiter comes by and places a tray full of meat next to one person. Will anyone think that the entire tray was intended for him alone? Everyone understands that it is for all those seated at the table. The same occurs when one person is blessed with wealth. Hashem's intention is that he should share his good fortune with others.
This can explain why the Torah writes in double lashon (15:10) לו תתן נתן, "Give you shall give him." It is written in double because the giving should occur twice because Hashem gave to you so you can give to others. ירע ולא לבבך, "your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him," because the money was given to you to distribute to others. One doesn’t really deserve a reward for giving tzedakah. All he did was allocate the money to where it was destined to be. Nevertheless, the Torah promises, אלקיך 'ה יברכך הזה הדבר בגלל כי ידיך משלח ובכל מעשיך בכל, “For this Hashem your G-d will bless you in all your work and all your endeavors.”
Wealth as a Custodianship
We will explain this concept with another mashal: A very wealthy person didn’t have time to speak to all the poor people and fundraisers who came to solicit him, so he hired someone to be his gabbai tzedakah and distribute money for him. The wealthy person gave his gabbai tzedakah basic guidelines on how much to give to each type of cause, and the gabbai loyally fulfilled his job.
The wealthy man particularly liked to support orphans. Once, fundraisers of an orphanage approached the gabbai tzedakah, and he gave them a very generous sum. A few months later, the gabbai tzedakah received a call from the orphanage. They told him they were making a fundraising dinner and wanted the gabbai to be the guest of honor. The gabbai protested, "It isn't me. I just write the checks and don't deserve any praise. It’s my employer that deserves the honor." So the heads of the orphanage called up the wealthy donor and told him to invite him to be the guest of honor at their dinner because he so generously supported the orphanage. The wealthy donor replied, "I don't deserve the honor either. I am also just a gabbai tzedakah. Hashem gave me the money to distribute to people in need."
A poor man from Kerestir complained to Rebbe Shayale Kerestirer zt’l about his poverty. Reb Shayale advised him to start a new business. He did so, and in a short time, he became very wealthy. A year later, he returned to Rebbe Shayele. This time he complained that his friends, family, and even strangers keep coming to him to ask for money, and they bother him at all times of the day. He said, "It is my money, I don't owe them anything. I don't want to give them money."
The Rebbe explained to him that when Heaven gives someone money, he becomes an apitropus, a custodian over the money to distribute to others. The rebbe said, “Why does one need wealth if not to distribute money to the poor? I see you aren’t a loyal apitropis. You aren't giving the money where it is intended to go. Therefore, we will find someone else to be wealthy, someone more suitable for the job." The wealthy man became very afraid, realizing he might lose all his wealth. The Rebbe said, "We will make a gorel to decide who will be the next wealthy person of Kerestir. If you do teshuvah and commit to helping the poor, you will win the lottery..." Indeed, his name came out in the gorel.
The Ben Ish Chai tells about a donkey that was decorated with beautiful roses, and when it went through the street, everyone came near it to smell the wonderful scent of the roses. At nighttime, the donkey returned to its barn and told his friends about the honor it received. The donkey said, "Everyone was so excited to see me. They oohed and aahed and ran to me as I walked through the streets." The next day, the donkey was carrying garbage on his back. Everyone kept their distance from him. The nimshal is that people honor the wealthy or those in important positions, but the rich should know it isn't about them. The honor is because of what they are carrying.
Michtav m'Eliyahu compares it to a child imagining that he is a ship captain as he pushes a box floating on the water. When people become older, they are still imagining that they are playing, but since they are older, the toys become more sophisticated. Ultimately, it is all an allusion, a game, and not a real reason to feel honored.
