(כב) וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶ֞ם אֶת־קְצִ֣יר אַרְצְכֶ֗ם לֹֽא־תְכַלֶּ֞ה פְּאַ֤ת שָֽׂדְךָ֙ בְּקֻצְרֶ֔ךָ וְלֶ֥קֶט קְצִירְךָ֖ לֹ֣א תְלַקֵּ֑ט לֶֽעָנִ֤י וְלַגֵּר֙ תַּעֲזֹ֣ב אֹתָ֔ם אֲנִ֖י יקוק אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (ס) (כג) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יקוק אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (כד) דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ (כה) כָּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיקוק (ס)
(22) And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the LORD am your God. (23) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (24) Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. (25) You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall bring an offering by fire to the LORD.
Stop! Generate questions with your chevrusa- ask as many as you can before moving on. What confuses you? Where are words placed in relation to each other that you think is interesting? What does this text say about Rosh Hashanah so far?
(כב) ובקצרכם. אָמַר ר' אֲבְדִּימַי בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵף מָה רָאָה הַכָּתוּב לִתְּנָהּ בְאֶמְצַע הָרְגָלִים — פֶּסַח וַעֲצֶרֶת מִכַּאן וְרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים וְחַג מִכַּאן — ? לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁכָּל הַנּוֹתֵן לֶקֶט שִׁכְחָה וּפֵאָה לֶעָנִי כָּרָאוּי, מַעֲלִין עָלָיו כְּאִלּוּ בָּנָה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ וְהִקְרִיב קָרְבְּנוֹתָיו בְּתוֹכוֹ (ספרא):
(22) ובקצרכם AND WHEN YOU REAP — R. Avdimai the son of R. Yoseph said: What reason had Scripture to place it (the law concerning the corner of the field) amidst those regarding the festival sacrifices — with Pesach and Shavuot placed on one side of the commandment, and Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot on the other side? To teach you that whoever gives gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corner of the field to the poor properly- is regarded as though he built the Temple and offered his sacrifices therein (cf. Sifra).
How would you answer Rav Avdimai's question? What is the relationship between building the Temple/offering sacrifices and properly caring for the poor? What does this have to do with Rosh Hashanah?
(כד) זכרון תרועה. זִכְרוֹן פְּסוּקֵי זִכְרוֹנוֹת וּפְסוּקֵי שׁוֹפָרוֹת (ספרא: ראש השנה ל"ב) לִזְכּוֹר לָכֶם עֲקֵידַת יִצְחָק שֶׁקָּרַב תַּחְתָּיו אָיִל:
(24) זכרון תרועה [THERE SHALL BE UNTO YOU] A זכרון OF SOUNDING THE SHOFAR— a mention (זכרון) of Biblical verses which speak of the Divine remembrance and Biblical verses which have reference to the blowing of the Shofar (a ram’s horn) on the occasion of important historical events (Sifra; Rosh Hashanah 32a) that I may recall to memory (זכרון) for you the offering (lit., the “Binding”) of Isaac in whose stead a ram was offered (cf. Rosh Hashanah 16a) having been caught by its horn (שופר).
And as is put forward in sefarim [holy books], the point of Rosh Hashanah is binyan hamalchut [see note] as we pray, “reign over the whole world in Your dignity.” And besides what one needs to be in shofar blowing, (i.e. simply calling out “Parent, merciful parent”), there is much else that is cast our way from the level of itaruta d’l’tata / arousal from below, that is begun for us in the month of Elul which begins with [Aleph Lamed] Ani L-dodi / I am my beloved’s – in arousal from below. And so too the month of Tishrei [the month after Elul], i.e. the letters of Tishrei begin from the end of the alphabet – going upwards — Tav-Shin-Reish and after, V’dodi Li / my beloved is mine [itaruta d'l'eila/arousal from above].
And what is our role? To raise Binyan hamalchut! “Pronounce before me verses of malchuyot, etc” (in order to make me your Sovereign via arousal from below) and through this we arouse the Divine will to be our king for another year. And some particular efforts on our part are needed to make us worthy of this service.
- Reb Zalman Shachter Shalomi
Binyan haMalchut: On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, all things revert to their primordial state. The Inner Will ascends and is retracted into the divine essence; the worlds are in a state of sleep and are sustained only by the Outer Will. The service of man on Rosh Hashanah is to rebuild [binyan/build] the divine attribute of sovereignty [malchut] and reawaken the divine desire, "I shall reign," with the sounding of the shofar. (The Kabbalistic masters)
Arousal from below/arousal from above: That Israel's acts causes Hashem to intervene and vice versa. The concept is pointing to the co-creatorship and love between Israel and Hashem.
The more I love God, the more I love the forms of God, which are all forms. Living from the soul is very much a heart-center journey. I get on a bus, and by the time I get off, I feel like I have met intimately family members I’ve known all my life. We’re all in love with one another. To live in your spiritual heart with the degree of openness it entails, trust in the One. In that loving awareness, you are not as vulnerable as you would be in the ego, where you think you are separate from others. - Ram Dass