Rabbi Pinches Friedman
Parshas Re'eh 5784
Translation by Dr. Baruch Fox
In this week’s parsha, parshas Re’eh, we will focus on the mitzvah of tzedakah. Apropos this mitzvah, Chazal teach (B.B. 9a): "שקולה צדקה כנגד כל המצוות"—tzedakah is commensurate to all of the mitzvos. Furthermore, it hastens the geulah, as we learn elsewhere (ibid. 10a): "גדולה צדקה שמקרבת את הגאולה"—tzedakah is so great, because it hastens the geulah. Here are the pesukim in our parsha related to the mitzvah of tzedakah (Devarim 15, 7):
"כי יהיה בך אביון מאחד אחיך באחד שעריך בארצך אשר ה' אלקיך נותן לך, לא תאמץ את לבבך ולא תקפוץ את ידך מאחיך האביון. כי פתוח תפתח את ידך לו... נתון תתן לו ולא ירע לבבך בתתך לו, כי בגלל הדבר הזה יברכך ה' אלקיך בכל מעשיך ובכל משלח ידיך, כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ, על כן אנכי מצוך לאמר פתוח תפתח את ידך לאחיך לענייך ולאביונך בארצך".
If there shall be a destitute person among you, any of your brethren in any of your cities, in the land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, you shall not harden your heart or close your hand against your destitute brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him . . . You shall surely give to him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for in return for this matter, Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking. For destitute people will not cease to exist within the land; hence, I command you, saying, “Open your hand generously to your brother, to your indigent, and to your destitute in your land.”
Regarding the last passuk, the Gemara teaches (Shabbas 151b): "כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ, תניא רבי אלעזר הקפר אומר, לעולם יבקש אדם רחמים על מדה זו שאם הוא לא בא בא בנו, ואם בנו לא בא, בן בנו בא, שנאמר כי בגלל הדבר הזה, תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם". “Poor people will not cease to exist within the land.” It has been taught in a Baraisa: Rabbi Elazar HaKappar says: A person should always plead for mercy regarding this fate (poverty). For, if he does not become poor, his son will come to be so; and if his son does not come to be so, his son’s son will come to be so. For it is stated: “For in return for this matter . . .” A Baraisa was taught in the Academy of Rabbi Yishmael: Poverty is a wheel that revolves in the world.
At first glance, this passage should raise some eyebrows. After all, in the pesukim above, the Torah states explicitly that HKB”H promises the person who gives tzedakah wholeheartedly that He will bless all the fruits of his labor. That being the case, how can we make sense of the elucidation: "כי בגלל הדבר הזה, גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם"—that as a reward for the mitzvah of giving tzedakah, if he or one of his descendants becomes poor and destitute, they, too, will receive tzedakah?
Failure to Give Tzedakah Wholeheartedly
We will begin our discussion by introducing an illuminating insight presented in the sefer Dvash HaSadeh (1) in the name of the esteemed Rabbi Meir the son of the great Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, zy”a. This should inspire and motivate every Jew to perform the mitzvah of tzedakah generously and wholeheartedly. He refers to the following Mishnah (Avos 4, 11): "רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר, העושה מצוה אחת קונה לו פרקליט אחד, והעובר עבירה אחת קונה לו קטיגור אחד". Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: A person who performs one mitzvah acquires for himself one advocate (a supportive malach); while a person who commits one aveirah acquires for himself one accuser (a prosecuting malach).
Now, our sacred sources explain that although a malach is a spiritual creature, nevertheless, it is composed of a body and a neshamah. The body of the malach is generated by the actual performance of the mitzvah, while the proper intent to perform the mitzvah sincerely and happily generates the neshamah of the malach. Based on this premise, Rabbi Meir teaches us a wonderful chiddush. Say we have a rich man who gives tzedakah begrudgingly. In such a case, only the body of the malach is generated but not its neshamah. Therefore, HKB”H arranges for him to become destitute. As a result, he will constantly lament not having performed the mitzvah of tzedakah sincerely and happily and will yearn to do so. This positive thought and good intent will generate a malach with a neshamah but lacking a body.
Then, HKB”H combines all the bodies of malachim that were generated by the mitzvah of tzedakah performed when this man was rich with the neshamos of the malachim generated when he became poor. Thus, all of his mitzvos of tzedakah become complete in both deed and intent, and all the malachim these mitzvos generated will possess both a body and a neshamah.
Therefore, HKB”H implores us: "נתון תתן לו ולא ירע לבבך בתתך לו"—give tzedakah sincerely. After all, if you fail to do so: "גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם"—as it was taught in the Academy of Rabbi Yishmael, HKB”H will arrange for the rich man to become poor, so that he will yearn to perform the mitzvah of tzedakah, and his prior insincere deed will be complemented by a proper intent. Therefore, to avoid this sequence of events, it is advisable to perform the mitzvah of tzedakah sincerely and happily to begin with. Then, a person will not need to become impoverished and the words of the passuk will be fulfilled: “For in return for this matter, Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking.”
This is the gist of his illuminating insight.
Reincarnating into a Pauper Who Yearns to Give Tzedakah
This fascinating insight from Rabbi Meir the son of the Kedushas Levi is also presented in the sefer Doveir Shalom (229) in the name of the holy Sar Shalom of Belz, zy”a, but with an intriguing twist: Once, our master, Sar Shalom, was sitting at Seudah Shlishit on Shabbas, and they were singing Tehillim 112. When they reached the ninth passuk: "פזר נתן לאביונים"—he distributed widely to the destitute—he repeated it several times and sighed deeply. He remarked that there are rich Jews who give tzedakah insincerely and reluctantly, without intending to fulfill the command of the Creator but for some ulterior motive such as kavod. He explained that every mitzvah generates a malach; however, an insincere mitzvah generates a malach without a neshamah. So, when this Jew arrives at the heavenly court, and his mitzvos are reviewed, they find that the malachim he generated lacked neshamos. This prompts HKB”H to send him back to Olam HaZeh as a poor man with an extravagant heart; he wants to give but cannot. Thus, the tzedakah he performed previously is completed (in both deed and intent). This is the meaning of the passuk: "פזר נתן לאביונים"—HKB”H gave the destitute the midah of extravagance, so that their tzedakah would last forever.
In light of the remarks of Sar Shalom, zy”a, we can interpret the words of the Gemara cited above slightly differently: "כי בגלל הדבר הזה, תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם". Why is it crucial to give sincerely? Because otherwise one will be forced to reincarnate.
According to this explanation, the Academy of Rabbi Yishmael are associating the word "בגלל" in the passuk with the concept of "גלגול"—reincarnation. So, when they say "גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם"—poverty is a wheel (“galgal”) that revolves in the world—they are suggesting that this person will have to return to this world through the process of reincarnation—“gilgul neshamos”—as a pauper who sincerely wants to give tzedakah to complete his previous deed. Clearly, it is preferable to give tzedakah initially willingly and sincerely to avoid the need to reincarnate.
