1. Why should God listen to David’s cries?
2. What does this text imply about the experience of being in a foreign environment?
3. How should we treat people who feel like strangers?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. How could this text be used to create better immigration policies?
What does this insight add to your understanding of the "Ger?" How should you treat the Ger, and what forms of justice would this treatment invoke?
1. Why might we assume that there would be separate laws for citizens and strangers?
2. Do we uphold this today in our society?
3. How might the statement of this text guide the way we set public policy in our own societies?
ט ובקצרכם את-קציר ארצכם, לא תכלה פאת שדך לקצר; ולקט קצירך, לא תלקט. י וכרמך לא תעולל, ופרט כרמך לא תלקט: לעני ולגר תעזב אתם, אני י-ה-ו-ה א-להיכם.
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the corners of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
1. Who are the players in this text - seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, neither shall you reap the aftergrowth or harvest the untrimmed vines, for it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you: you may only eat the growth direct from the field. In this year of jubilee, each of you shall return to his holding. When you sell property to your neighbor, or buy any from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. In buying from your neighbor, you shall deduct only for the number of years since the jubilee; and in selling to you, he shall charge you only for the remaining crop years: the more such years, the higher the price you pay; the fewer such years, the lower the price; for what he is selling you is a number of harvests. Do not wrong one another, but fear your God; for I the Lord and your God. Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
1. How do you understand this text?
2. How can you reconcile this text with the reality that many people in the world are hungry?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. How might we fulfill the laws of pe'ah today?
3. In what ways is this text seeking not only to alleviate hunger, but also to prevent it?
1. Why do you think the rabbis mentioned here put so much emphasis on the importance of rain?
2. What does this text say about "unjust" people? What do they deserve despite their unjust ways?
3. What might this text teach us about the importance of food? Is there ever a time when we can deny someone access to food?
| Translation | Original |
|---|---|
| When that great calamity came upon Job, he said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the universe, did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. . . ? And did I not clothe the naked?" Nevertheless the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Job: ''Job, you have not yet reached even half the measure of Abraham. You sit and stay in your house and the wayfarers come in to you. To him who is accustomed to eat wheat bread, you give wheat bread to eat; to him who is accustomed to eat meat, you give meat to eat; to him who is accustomed to drink wine, you give wine to drink. But Abraham did not act in this way. Instead, he would go out and around everywhere, and when he found wayfarers, he brought them into his house. To him who was unaccustomed to eat wheat bread, he gave wheat bread to eat; to him who was unaccustomed to eat meat, he gave meat to eat; to him who was unaccustomed to drink wine, he gave wine to drink. And more than that, he arose and built large mansions on the highways and left food and drink there, and every passerby ate and drank and blessed Heaven. That is why delight of spirit was given to him. [AJWS translation] |
וכשבא עליו ההוא פורענות גדול, אמר לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא: - ריבנו של עולם, לא הייתי מאכיל רעבים ומשקה צמאים? שנאמר: (איוב לא) "ואוכל פתי לבדי ולא אכל יתום ממנה". - ולא הייתי מלביש ערומים? שנאמר: (שם) "ומגז כבשי יתחמם". אף על פי כן אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא לאיוב: איוב, עדיין לא הגעת לחצי שיעור של אברהם. אתה יושב ושוהה בתוך ביתך, ואורחין נכנסים אצלך. את שדרכו לאכול פת חטים האכלתו פת חטים, את שדרכו לאכול בשר האכלתו בשר, את שדרכו לשתות יין השקיתו יין. אבל אברהם לא עשה כן. אלא יוצא ומהדר בעולם, וכשימצא אורחין מכניסן בתוך ביתו. את שאין דרכו לאכול פת חטין, האכילהו פת חטין. את שאין דרכו לאכול בשר, האכילהו בשר. ואת שאין דרכו לשתות יין, השקהו יין. ולא עוד אלא עמד ובנה פלטרין גדולים על הדרכים, והניח מאכל ומשקה. וכל הבא ונכנס, אכל ושתה וברך לשמים. לפיכך נעשית לו נחת רוח.
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1. Based on this text, what actions should we strive to do?
2.What does it mean for us to "build"?
3. In what ways can we follow this model in our own lives? What are the obstacles in our way and how can we navigate around those obstacles?
1. What is the author's reasoning here for when to investigate requests for help?
2. What power dynamics are at play in this text?
3. What realities would exist to make the author write this? What realities exist today?
1. What goal does the tzedakah fund accomplish that individual donors could not do themselves?
2. This text does not call for a collection of donations, but rather for a group to collect mandated amounts. What is the significance of this detail?
3. What can we learn about tzedakah giving from this text - on local, national and international levels?
1. What is the extent of this law - how do we gauge how much is enough?
2. What is the minimum amount we are to give?
3. Looking globally, how are we doing?