"For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman."
The verse does not say “from your midst [mikirbecha]” or “from the midst of your land [mikerev artzecha],” but “from the midst of the land [mikerev ha’aretz].” It lies well in the course of the natural development of things that, left to itself, the greatest differences in fortunes, want and surplus, poverty and riches, should exist next to each other. The inequality of mental gifts would already produce such inequalities [of living standards] as a natural consequence. Also, two children starting from home with exactly equal means, with one, say, having to provide for a single child, and the other for a large family, would soon present a very considerable difference in their means, and if the latter meets illness and other misfortune, the second generation would already be in dire need, in contrast to the rich opulence of the other branch of the family. But this condition of need, which naturally arises elsewhere in the world, you are not allowed to occur “in your land [be’artzecha],” in the land of God’s Torah. In the carrying out of the special guidance which is attached to it, where the Torah effects the ironing out of these naturally occurring contrasts, there every poor person is to find in their rich relatives, their “sibling,” there every poor and needy person belongs to you, …[and] under the regime of a Torah-dutiful nation, a Torah community, penury and need would only temporarily affect any individual, and with God’s assistance, be changed to a happy existence on Earth, commensurate with the dignity of a human being. [Isaac Levy translation from German, modified]
1. What is Rav Hirsch suggesting about the existence of poverty and the re-distribution of wealth?
2. What creates poverty?
3. What is the community's role in response to poverty?
1. In what situations is the employer obligated to pay the workers if the job was not completed? Why?
2. What does this text teach us about the experience of the worker?
1. Why does Shammai provide each of these three pieces of advice? How do they make you a better person?
2. In what way do each of these three apply to your life today?
3. What does it mean to make your Torah fixed?
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To punish children for the faults of their parents is less dreadful than to tolerate impunity when the stranger is injured. Let passersby know this: in Israel, princes die a horrible death because strangers were injured by the sovereign. The respect for the stranger and the sanctification of the name of the Eternal are strangely equivalent.[Translated from French by Annette Aronowicz]
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1. Who is the stranger? Why is injury to strangers deserving of such harsh punishment?
2. Why are respect for the stranger and sanctification of God equivalent?
3. Who are the strangers in our society today?
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| This is the language of the Rambam and the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch: One gives to their adult sons and daughters, even if one is not obligated to feed them, in order to teach them Torah and train them to act in a righteous manner. And similarly, if one gives a present to their parents and they need [the gift], this is in the category of tzedakah. Furthermore, one must prioritize their parents over other people, and this is true for [prioritizing] other relatives as well. Even if [the relative] is not your child, nor are you their parent, but just another relative, you must prioritize them before any other person. And your sibling from your father’s side precedes your sibling from your mother, and the poor of your house precede the poor of your city, and the poor of your city precede the poor of another city - until here are their words. And the poor of your city are those who reside in your city. Those poor who come to your city from another city - they are considered the poor of another city even though they are currently with you, but many disagree with this. [Translation by AJWS] |
וז"ל הרמב"ם בפ"י [הל' ט"ז] והטור והש"ע סעי' ג' הנותן לבניו ובנותיו הגדולים שאינו חייב במזונותיהם כדי ללמד את הבנים תורה ולהנהיג את הבנות בדרך ישרה וכן הנותן מתנות לאביו והם צריכים להם ה"ז בכלל צדקה ולא עוד אלא שצריך להקדימו לאחרים ואפילו אינו בנו ולא אביו אלא קרובו צריך להקדימו לכל אדם ואחיו מאביו קודם לאחיו מאמו ועניי ביתו קודמין לעניי עירו ועניי עירו קודמין לעניי עיר אחרת עכ"ל ועניי עירו מקרי אותם הדרים בעיר והבאים מעיר אחרת לכאן נקראים עניי עיר אחרת אף שהם עתה בכאן ויש חולקים בזה והטור הכריע כדיעה ראשונה
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1. Why do we create a hierarchy in giving among our relatives? What does this accomplish?
2. Why does the Aruch HaShulchan add the last clause about the poor of another city that currently reside in your city? What does this contribute to our understand of hierarchies of giving?
3. How should we treat the poor of another city if they are not properly cared for by their own neighbors? Would this affect the Aruch HaShulchan’s perspective?