כָּל גֵּר הָאָמוּר בְּמַתְּנוֹת עֲנִיִּים אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא גֵּר צֶדֶק. שֶׁהֲרֵי הוּא אוֹמֵר בְּמַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי (דברים יד כט) "וּבָא הַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר" מָה הַלֵּוִי בֶּן בְּרִית אַף הַגֵּר בֶּן בְּרִית. וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן אֵין מוֹנְעִין עֲנִיֵּי עַכּוּ"ם מִמַּתָּנוֹת אֵלּוּ. אֶלָּא בָּאִין בִּכְלַל עֲנִיֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְנוֹטְלִין אוֹתָן מִפְּנֵי דַּרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם:
Whenever the term "stranger" is used with regard to [these] presents to the poor, the intent is a convert to Judaism. [This is evident from the wording used by Deuteronomy 14:29] with regard to the tithe [given to the] poor: "And the Levite and the stranger will come." Just as the Levite is a member of the covenant, so too, the "stranger" is a member of the covenant. Nevertheless, we do not prevent gentiles from [taking] these presents. Instead, they [are allowed to] come together with the poor of Israel and take them as [an expression of the Torah's] ways of peace.
(כט) וּבָ֣א הַלֵּוִ֡י כִּ֣י אֵֽין־לוֹ֩ חֵ֨לֶק וְנַחֲלָ֜ה עִמָּ֗ךְ וְ֠הַגֵּ֠ר וְהַיָּת֤וֹם וְהָֽאַלְמָנָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ וְאָכְל֖וּ וְשָׂבֵ֑עוּ לְמַ֤עַן יְבָרֶכְךָ֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ בְּכׇל־מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃ {ס}
(29) Then the [family of the] Levite, who has no hereditary portion as you have, and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your settlements shall come and eat their fill, so that your God ה׳ may bless you in all the enterprises you undertake.
How do we define "the stranger among us"?
אֶ֕פֶס כִּ֛י לֹ֥א יִֽהְיֶה־בְּךָ֖ אֶבְי֑וֹן כִּֽי־בָרֵ֤ךְ יְבָֽרֶכְךָ֙ ה׳ בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ נֹֽתֵן־לְךָ֥ נַחֲלָ֖ה לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃
There shall be no needy among you—since your God ה׳ will bless you in the land that your God ה׳ is giving you as a hereditary portion—
Does this mean that there shall be no poor among us... anywhere?
Or only "in the land"?
As I've begun to explore in my recent writings here on Sefaria
(eg Devarim 5784 Vitual Inheritance / Nonfungibility https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/580838?lang=bi),
could we consider, would it be helpful to think about "the land" as an ideal, a metaphor?
An idealized notion where we finally arrive only when we are adherent to all the mitzvoth? And since this is unlikely... is there a way to consider that even to this day, we have not arrived "in the land"?
In the "actual world", there is poverty and much need.
Does this mean that we are not "in the land"?
Or only "in the land"?
As I've begun to explore in my recent writings here on Sefaria
(eg Devarim 5784 Vitual Inheritance / Nonfungibility https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/580838?lang=bi),
could we consider, would it be helpful to think about "the land" as an ideal, a metaphor?
An idealized notion where we finally arrive only when we are adherent to all the mitzvoth? And since this is unlikely... is there a way to consider that even to this day, we have not arrived "in the land"?
In the "actual world", there is poverty and much need.
Does this mean that we are not "in the land"?
כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה֩ בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן מֵאַחַ֤ד אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ בְּאַ֨רְצְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֗ וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹּץ֙ אֶת־יָ֣דְךָ֔ מֵאָחִ֖יךָ הָאֶבְיֽוֹן׃
If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kin in any of your settlements in the land that your God ה׳ is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kin.
But wait: there is a qualifying element here: it it not just "a needy person among you", it is also מֵאַחַ֤ד אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ - "one of your bothers"...
And further: the verse says:
בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ בְּאַ֨רְצְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ
in any of your settlements in the land that your God ה׳ is giving you...
So: what are the conditions / where are the locales in which we must enact the generosity that is about to be described?
Who are my brothers? Who is my family? Where or what - for us today, in 2024 / 5784 -
אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ
These are questions I ask myself daily. Perhaps you do as well.
In addition to studying for the Rabbinate, I am a physician, a psychiatrist, and I work for the City of San Francisco in a section of the Department of Public Health that is solely devoted to offering services to people experiencing homelessness.
I am the only psychiatrist in the entire seion of the SF Department of Public Health (along with a small number of psychiatric nurse practitioners).
Thus, I have the opportunity, every work day, to encounter בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן - a "needy person among you"... people who are experiencing profound and abject poverty, suffering, alienation.
Most certainly, I feel the most fundamental human connection with the vulnerable people I encounter nearly every day in my work. Aren't they my "brothers"?
Once I identify who my "brothers" are, then:
And further: the verse says:
בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ בְּאַ֨רְצְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ
in any of your settlements in the land that your God ה׳ is giving you...
So: what are the conditions / where are the locales in which we must enact the generosity that is about to be described?
Who are my brothers? Who is my family? Where or what - for us today, in 2024 / 5784 -
אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ
These are questions I ask myself daily. Perhaps you do as well.
In addition to studying for the Rabbinate, I am a physician, a psychiatrist, and I work for the City of San Francisco in a section of the Department of Public Health that is solely devoted to offering services to people experiencing homelessness.
I am the only psychiatrist in the entire seion of the SF Department of Public Health (along with a small number of psychiatric nurse practitioners).
Thus, I have the opportunity, every work day, to encounter בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן - a "needy person among you"... people who are experiencing profound and abject poverty, suffering, alienation.
Most certainly, I feel the most fundamental human connection with the vulnerable people I encounter nearly every day in my work. Aren't they my "brothers"?
Once I identify who my "brothers" are, then:
כִּֽי־פָתֹ֧חַ תִּפְתַּ֛ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֖ ל֑וֹ וְהַעֲבֵט֙ תַּעֲבִיטֶ֔נּוּ דֵּ֚י מַחְסֹר֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֶחְסַ֖ר לֽוֹ׃
Rather, you must open your hand and lend whatever is sufficient to meet the need.
We are commanded to open our hand, not to harden our heart, and to
וְהַעֲבֵט֙ תַּעֲבִיטֶ֔נּוּ - to surely lend.
A pledge.
Is this a gift? Do we expect to be paid back?
וְהַעֲבֵט֙ תַּעֲבִיטֶ֔נּוּ - to surely lend.
A pledge.
Is this a gift? Do we expect to be paid back?
Do we have particular obligations to our co-religionists, our fellow Jews?
For me, today, as Jew living in a large urban setting in the USA, where there is a tremendous amount of poverty and inequity and a hugely problematic degree of homelessness, these questions are pressing ones, daily ones.
כִּ֛י לֹא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹ֠חַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃ {ס}
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 kin in your land.
In Gifts to the Poor, Mishneh Torah, the Rambam explores the extent of our obligations with respect to tzedakah. The following passage is illustrative and relevant to the questions I am exploring - who are our brothers, and to whom are we obligated to open our hands?
כָּל גֵּר הָאָמוּר בְּמַתְּנוֹת עֲנִיִּים אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא גֵּר צֶדֶק. שֶׁהֲרֵי הוּא אוֹמֵר בְּמַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי (דברים יד כט) "וּבָא הַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר" מָה הַלֵּוִי בֶּן בְּרִית אַף הַגֵּר בֶּן בְּרִית. וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן אֵין מוֹנְעִין עֲנִיֵּי עַכּוּ"ם מִמַּתָּנוֹת אֵלּוּ. אֶלָּא בָּאִין בִּכְלַל עֲנִיֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְנוֹטְלִין אוֹתָן מִפְּנֵי דַּרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם:
Whenever the term "stranger" is used with regard to [these] presents to the poor, the intent is a convert to Judaism. [This is evident from the wording used by Deuteronomy 14:29] with regard to the tithe [given to the] poor: "And the Levite and the stranger will come." Just as the Levite is a member of the covenant, so too, the "stranger" is a member of the covenant. Nevertheless, we do not prevent gentiles from [taking] these presents. Instead, they [are allowed to] come together with the poor of Israel and take them as [an expression of the Torah's] ways of peace.
דַּרְכֵי שָׁלוֹםways of peace
Can we explore and expand our understanding of who is a "stranger" and who is a "brother"?
Today more than ever, it is incumbent on us to do so - מִפְּנֵי דַּרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם - as an expression of the Torah's ways of peace.