Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Our parashah emphasizes some ways that farmers should make it possible for people who are poor to collect food from their fields:
וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶם֙ אֶת־קְצִ֣יר אַרְצְכֶ֔ם לֹ֧א תְכַלֶּ֛ה פְּאַ֥ת שָׂדְךָ֖ לִקְצֹ֑ר וְלֶ֥קֶט קְצִֽירְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תְלַקֵּֽט׃
וְכַרְמְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תְעוֹלֵ֔ל
וּפֶ֥רֶט כַּרְמְךָ֖ לֹ֣א תְלַקֵּ֑ט
לֶֽעָנִ֤י וְלַגֵּר֙ תַּעֲזֹ֣ב אֹתָ֔ם
אֲנִ֖י יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
When you gather the harvest of your land, don’t collect all the way to the edges of your field, and don’t gather whatever you drop while harvesting.
Don’t pick your vineyard bare or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. Leave all this for the poor and the stranger. I am God your Lord.
What is the purpose of the final phrase? (We bolded it for you.) Don’t we all know Who God is?!
דַּיָּן לִפָּרַע. וְאֵינִי גוֹבֶה מִכֶּם אֶלָּא נְפָשׁוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "אַל תִּגְזָל דָּל… כִּי ה' יָרִיב רִיבָם" (משלי כב).
God is saying, “I am the judge Who is able to get payback. And all I’ll collect is your life (if you don’t follow these rules).” As it is said, “Do not rob the poor… because God will fight for their cause and take the perpetrator’s life” (Mishlei 22:22-23).
According to Rashi, the point of reminding us about God in this pasuk is to emphasize how seriously God takes these laws about making sure people who are poor have enough to eat. Rashi brings another pasuk from Mishlei to show that God will take up the fight of those who have no one else to be on their side, and that this is a life-and-death issue.
- Why do you think these are laws that God takes so seriously? What does this say about God and the Torah?
- Why should leaving food for the poor be a life-and-death issue? Is a life really the fair value of the food we’re talking about here? How so?
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