(יא) הִנֵּ֣ה ׀ יָמִ֣ים בָּאִ֗ים נְאֻם֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה וְהִשְׁלַחְתִּ֥י רָעָ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ לֹֽא־רָעָ֤ב לַלֶּ֙חֶם֙ וְלֹֽא־צָמָ֣א לַמַּ֔יִם כִּ֣י אִם־לִשְׁמֹ֔עַ אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
(11) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, That I will send a famine in the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.
הא לחמא עניא די אכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים. כל דכפין ייתי ויכל. כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח. השתא הכא. לשנה הבאה בארעא דישראל. השתא עבדי. לשנההבאה בני חורין
Ha Lachma Anya - from the Pesach Haggadah
This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.
Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and celebrate/eat the Pesach (offering).
Now we are here. Next year in the land of Israel. Now we are slaves. Next year we will be free.
Why the seeming repetition?
Is there a difference between a meal invitation to all who are hungry and all who are in need?
What are these two types of need?
Why do all the interesting stories start with famine?
(י) וַיְהִ֥י רָעָ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיֵּ֨רֶד אַבְרָ֤ם מִצְרַ֙יְמָה֙ לָג֣וּר שָׁ֔ם כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
(10) And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.
(א) וַיְהִ֤י רָעָב֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ מִלְּבַד֙ הָרָעָ֣ב הָרִאשׁ֔וֹן אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָיָ֖ה בִּימֵ֣י אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֵּ֧לֶךְ יִצְחָ֛ק אֶל־אֲבִימֶּ֥לֶךְ מֶֽלֶךְ־פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים גְּרָֽרָה׃
(1) And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
(נד) וַתְּחִלֶּ֜ינָה שֶׁ֣בַע שְׁנֵ֤י הָרָעָב֙ לָב֔וֹא כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר אָמַ֣ר יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיְהִ֤י רָעָב֙ בְּכָל־הָ֣אֲרָצ֔וֹת וּבְכָל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם הָ֥יָה לָֽחֶם׃
(54) And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said; and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
What's a mitzvah-seeker to do?? (or: "You can't always get what you want . . . .")
Should we meet need? Exceed need? Anticipate need? Re-think need?
Does anyone really know what they need?
Where are the lines between big picture thinking about need, giving justly to the needy, being paternalistic toward those in need?
To one for whom bread is suitable, give bread; to the one who needs dough, give dough; to one for whom money is required, give money; to one for whom it is fitting to put the food in that one’s mouth, put it in.
– Sifre on Parshat Re’eh
When the great calamity befell Job, he pleaded with the Holy One. “Master of the Universe, did I not feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, as it is written, “Have I eaten bread alone, and orphans not eaten from it?” ( Job 31:16). And did I not clothe the naked, as it is written, “Was he not warmed by the fleece of my sheep?” ( Job 31:20).
However, the Holy One answered Job, “Job, you have not yet reached half the measure [of hospitality] extended by Abraham. You sat in your house waiting for guests to come to you. To him who was accustomed to eat wheat bread, you gave wheat bread; to him who was accustomed to eat meat, you gave meat; and to him who was accustomed to drink wine, you gave wine.
But Abraham did not act this way. He went out, getting about in the world. When he met prospective guests, he brought them to his home. Even to him who was not accustomed to eat wheat bread, he gave wheat bread; to him who was not accustomed to eat meat, he gave meat; and to him who was not accustomed to drink wine, he gave wine. Not only that, but he got busy and built spacious mansions along the highways, and stocked them with food and drink, so that whoever entered ate, drank, and blessed Heaven. Therefore, unusual satisfaction was given to Abraham, and whatever any person requested was to be found in his house.
– Avot de Rabbi Natan 7 on Genesis 21:33
One can be “desperately hungry and not know this.” -- Talmud Bavli, Megillah 7b
Rambam, Matnot Aniyim 7:3
אפילו היה דרכו של זה העני לרכוב על הסוס ועבד רץ
לפניו והעני וירד מנכסיו קונין לו סוס לרכוב עליו ועבד
לרוץ לפניו.
If this particular indigent man used to ride
on a horse and have a servant run before him, heralding his arrival, and he then became poor, one must purchase for him a horse and a servant.
On one occasion prior to Passover, a man came to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the rabbi of Brisk, with an unusual halachic question. “Rabbi”, he asked, “is it permissible for me to drink milk for the ‘Four Cups,’ instead of wine?” “Why do you want to do that?” asked the rabbi. “Is wine bad for your health?” “It’s just that wine is too expensive for me,” the man replied. Whereupon, the rabbi took out some twenty rubles – a large sum of money – and gave it to the man to purchase wine. After the man had left, someone present asked the rabbi why he had given the man such a large sum of money. After all, three or four rubles would have sufficed to buy the necessary wine.
Rabbi Soloveitchik smiled and said, “Think carefully. Obviously, the man is unable to purchase any meat or fowl for the Passover Seder either. Otherwise, how could he even think of using milk for the ‘Four Cups’? I therefore gave him enough to provide for his family’s needs for the entire holiday.” (Rabbi Zechariah Fendel, The Torah Ethic, p. 278)
(א) וַיְהִ֗י בִּימֵי֙ שְׁפֹ֣ט הַשֹּׁפְטִ֔ים וַיְהִ֥י רָעָ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיֵּ֨לֶךְ אִ֜ישׁ מִבֵּ֧ית לֶ֣חֶם יְהוּדָ֗ה לָגוּר֙ בִּשְׂדֵ֣י מוֹאָ֔ב ה֥וּא וְאִשְׁתּ֖וֹ וּשְׁנֵ֥י בָנָֽיו׃
(1) AND IT came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bet-lechem (House of bread) in Judah went to sojourn in the field of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
(ד) לֹֽא־יָבֹ֧א עַמּוֹנִ֛י וּמוֹאָבִ֖י בִּקְהַ֣ל יְהוָ֑ה גַּ֚ם דּ֣וֹר עֲשִׂירִ֔י לֹא־יָבֹ֥א לָהֶ֛ם בִּקְהַ֥ל יְהוָ֖ה עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ (ה) עַל־דְּבַ֞ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹא־קִדְּמ֤וּ אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּלֶּ֣חֶם וּבַמַּ֔יִם בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֣ם מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם וַאֲשֶׁר֩ שָׂכַ֨ר עָלֶ֜יךָ אֶת־בִּלְעָ֣ם בֶּן־בְּע֗וֹר מִפְּת֛וֹר אֲרַ֥ם נַהֲרַ֖יִם לְקַֽלְלֶֽךָּ׃
(4) A . . . Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever; (5) because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt . . .
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(17) Better is a dinner of herbs with love, than a stalled ox with hatred.
Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:7-14,
translated and annotated by Dr. Meir Tamari
The highest degree of charity—above which there is no higher—is he who strengthens the hand of his poor fellow Jew and gives him a gift or [an interest-free] loan or enters into a business partnership with the poor person. [Interestingly, Maimonides proceeds from the lower rank to the higher. The loan is a higher form of charity than is the outright gift since the poor are not shamed thereby (Rashi on Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 63a), while the business partnership is more praiseworthy than the loan or any other form of charity.]
By this partnership the poor man is really being strengthened as the Torah commands in order to strengthen him till he is able to be independent and no longer dependent on the public purse.
It is thus written, “Strengthen him [the poor person] so that he does not fall [as distinct from the one who has already become poor] and become dependent on others” (Leviticus 25:35).