Torah for our Times: The Redux

(27) And God created humankind in the divine image, creating it in the image of God— creating them male and female.

(4) All the elders of Israel assembled and came to Samuel at Ramah, (5) and they said to him, “You have grown old, and your sons have not followed your ways. Therefore appoint a king for us, to govern us like all other nations.” (6) Samuel was displeased that they said “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the LORD, (7) and the LORD replied to Samuel, “Heed the demand of the people in everything they say to you. For it is not you that they have rejected; it is Me they have rejected as their king. (8) Like everything else they have done ever since I brought them out of Egypt to this day—forsaking Me and worshiping other gods—so they are doing to you. (9) Heed their demand; but warn them solemnly, and tell them about the practices of any king who will rule over them.” (10) Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people, who were asking him for a king. (11) He said, “This will be the practice of the king who will rule over you: He will take your sons and appoint them as his charioteers and horsemen, and they will serve as outrunners for his chariots. (12) He will appoint them as his chiefs of thousands and of fifties; or they will have to plow his fields, reap his harvest, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. (13) He will take your daughters as perfumers, cooks, and bakers. (14) He will seize your choice fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his courtiers. (15) He will take a tenth part of your grain and vintage and give it to his eunuchs and courtiers. (16) He will take your male and female slaves, your choice young men, and your asses, and put them to work for him. (17) He will take a tenth part of your flocks, and you shall become his slaves. (18) The day will come when you cry out because of the king whom you yourselves have chosen; and the LORD will not answer you on that day.” (19) But the people would not listen to Samuel’s warning. “No,” they said. “We must have a king over us, (20) that we may be like all the other nations: Let our king rule over us and go out at our head and fight our battles.”

(7) And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to GOD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.

(33) When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them. (34) The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I יהוה am your God.

Rabbi Jehudah said: They made a proclamation in Sodom (saying): Everyone who strengthens the hand of the poor or the needy with a loaf of bread shall be burnt by fire. Peleṭith, daughter of Lot, was wedded to one of the magnates of Sodom. She saw a certain very poor man in the street of the city, and her soul was grieved on his account, as it is said, "Was not my soul grieved for the needy?" (Job 30:25). What did she do? Every day when she went out to draw water she put in her bucket all sorts of provisions from her home, and she fed that poor man. The men of Sodom said: How does this poor man live? When they ascertained the facts, they brought her forth to be burnt with fire. She said: Sovereign of all worlds ! Maintain my right and my cause (at the hands of) the men of Sodom. And her cry ascended before the Throne of Glory. In that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "I will now descend, and I will see" (Gen. 18:21) whether the men of Sodom have done according to the cry of this young woman, I will turn her foundations upwards, and the surface thereof shall be turned downwards, as it is said, "I will now descend, and I will see whether they have done altogether according to her cry, which is come unto me" (ibid.). "According to their cry" is not written here (in the text), only "According to her cry."

(21) He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. (22) Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. (23) But Shem and Japheth took a cloth, placed it against both their backs and, walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness; their faces were turned the other way, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. (24) When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, (25) he said, “Cursed be Canaan; The lowest of slaves Shall he be to his brothers.” (26) And he said, “Blessed be יהוה, The God of Shem; Let Canaan be a slave to them. (27) May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be a slave to them.”

(22) When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning.

(6) If a woman is having trouble giving birth, they cut up the child in her womb and brings it forth limb by limb, because her life comes before the life of [the child]. But if the greater part has come out, one may not touch it, for one may not set aside one person's life for that of another.

(15) God יהוה settled the Human in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. (16) And God יהוה commanded the Human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat;

(23) But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me. (24) Throughout the land that you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land.

One day, he was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Ḥoni said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. Ḥoni said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man himself found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.

(1) יהוה said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you And curse the one who curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.” (4) Abram went forth as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (5) Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, (6) Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land. (7) יהוה appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to יהוה who had appeared to him.

(18) On that day יהוה made a covenant with Abram: “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates—

(27) for all those abhorrent things were done by the people who were in the land before you, and the land became defiled. (28) So let not the land spew you out for defiling it, as it spewed out the nation that came before you.

(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. (19) Therefore, when your God יהוה grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God יהוה is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

(8) The officials shall go on addressing the troops and say, “Is there anyone afraid and disheartened? Let him go back to his home, lest the courage of his comrades flag like his.” (9) When the officials have finished addressing the troops, army commanders shall assume command of the troops. (10) When you approach a town to attack it, you shall offer it terms of peace. (11) If it responds peaceably and lets you in, all the people present there shall serve you at forced labor. (12) If it does not surrender to you, but would join battle with you, you shall lay siege to it; (13) and when your God יהוה delivers it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword. (14) You may, however, take as your booty the women, the children, the livestock, and everything in the town—all its spoil—and enjoy the use of the spoil of your enemy, which your God יהוה gives you.

The Gemara asks: And with regard to all of the other transgressions in the Torah, is punishment not exacted from the entire world? But isn’t it written: “And they shall stumble one upon another” (Leviticus 26:37)? This verse is homiletically interpreted to mean that they shall stumble spiritually, one due to the iniquity of another, which teaches that the entire Jewish people are considered guarantors for one another. Apparently, any transgression makes the entire world liable to be punished.

(18) Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say: on three things does the world stand: On justice, on truth and on peace, as it is said: “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16).

(1) When [David] finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan’s soul became bound up with the soul of David; Jonathan loved David as himself. (2) Saul took him [into his service] that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.— (3) Jonathan and David made a pact, because [Jonathan] loved him as himself. (4) Jonathan took off the cloak and tunic he was wearing and gave them to David, together with his sword, bow, and belt.

(8) You shall count off seven weeks of years—seven times seven years—so that the period of seven weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years. (9) Then you shall sound the horn loud; in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month—the Day of Atonement—you shall have the horn sounded throughout your land (10) and you shall hallow the fiftieth year. You shall proclaim release throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: each of you shall return to your holding and each of you shall return to your family. (11) That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, neither shall you reap the aftergrowth or harvest the untrimmed vines, (12) for it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you: you may only eat the growth direct from the field. (13) In this year of jubilee, each of you shall return to your holding. (14) When you sell property to your neighbor, or buy any from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

(9) 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. (10) 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 יהוה am your God.

(12) If that party is needy, you shall not go to sleep in that pledge; (13) you must return the pledge at sundown, that its owner may sleep in the cloth and bless you; and it will be to your merit before your God יהוה. (14) You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow Israelite or a stranger in one of the communities of your land. (15) You must pay out the wages due on the same day, before the sun sets, for the worker is needy and urgently depends on it; else a cry to יהוה will be issued against you and you will incur guilt. (16) Parents shall not be put to death for children, nor children be put to death for parents: they shall each be put to death only for their own crime. (17) You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pawn. (18) Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that your God יהוה redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.

(12) Another matter, “you shall not be as a creditor to him,” that is what is written: “One who cares for the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay his reward.” (Proverbs 19:17). To what extent? “A borrower is a servant to a man who lends” (Proverbs 22:7). Another matter, “to the poor who is with you,” there is nothing in the world as harsh as poverty, as it is harsher than all the suffering in the world. Our Rabbis said: All forms of suffering on one side, and poverty on the other. If it is your wish to know, come and see: When the accuser was denouncing Job to the Holy One blessed be He and saying to Him: ‘You gave him money and children and You protect them, as it is stated: “[Satan answered the Lord…] Have You not sheltered him, his household, and everything that is his?” (Job 1:9-10), and it says: “Is it for nothing that Job reveres God?” (Job 1:9); “however, extend Your hand now”’ (Job 1:11), the Holy One blessed be He said to [Job]: ‘What do you prefer, poverty or suffering?’ Job said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, I accept upon myself all the suffering in the world, but not poverty, for when I go out to the marketplace and I do not have in my possession a peruta with which to purchase, what will I eat?’ After he suffered, what is written? He began railing against the attribute of justice, as it is stated: “If only I could know and find Him” (Job 23:3). Elihu said to him: ‘Why are you shouting? Did you not say that you do not seek poverty, but rather, suffering? Was it not you who chose the suffering, as it is stated: “Beware, do not turn to injustice, for you have chosen this over poverty”?’ (Job 36:21). Thus, poverty is harsher than all types of suffering. That is why it is stated: “To the poor who is with you.” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Is his poverty not enough, such that you are taking interest from him?’ That is, “to the poor who is with you.”

(13) Another matter, “to the poor who is with you,” the poor man is not with you, but rather, he is with Me. Likewise, David said: “For You rescue the poor people” (Psalms 18:28). The attributes of the Holy One blessed be He are not like the attribute of mankind. The attribute of mankind is that if someone is wealthy and he has a poor relative, he does not acknowledge him. He sees his relative and hides from him because he is embarrassed to converse with him because he is poor. Likewise Solomon says: “All the brethren of the poor hate him” (Proverbs 19:7). And he says: “The poor is hated even by his friend” (Proverbs 14:20). Likewise, Job said: “My relatives have departed” (Job 19:14). But if one is wealthy, everyone cleaves to him and loves him, as it is stated: “But the lovers of the wealthy are many” (Proverbs 14:20). But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. Who are His people? The poor. He sees a poor man and cleaves to him. If you would like to know, see what is written: “So said the Lord: The heavens are My throne…” (Isaiah 66:1). What is written thereafter? “But to this I will look, to the poor….” (Isaiah 66:2). Likewise, Moses says to Israel: “Not because you are more numerous…did the Lord desire [you]” (Deuteronomy 7:7), and it is written: “For you are the fewest of all the peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7). When He becomes reconciled with Zion, upon whom will He have mercy first? It will be upon the poor, as it is stated: “For the Lord has established Zion and in it the poor of His people will be sheltered” (Isaiah 14:32). Likewise, “For the Lord has comforted His people and He will be merciful to His poor” (Isaiah 49:13). That is, “to the poor who is with you.” The poor man is not with you, but rather, he is with Me. That is why it is stated: “For You rescue the poor people” (Psalms 18:28). “You shall not impose usury [neshekh] upon him.” Do not bite [tinshokh] the poor man like the serpent bit Adam the first man and uprooted him and his descendants. Likewise, you shall not see that the poor man has houses, fields, vineyards, a slave, or a maidservant and seek ways to take it from him. That is why it is written: “You shall not be a creditor [kenoshe] to him.” Do not bite him [tinshekhenu]; do not be like a serpent that is cunning to do evil. “Do not take from him usury or interest; you shall fear your God” (Leviticus 25:36). Do not say to him: ‘Request of me, I will lend to you,’ and the next day the interest rises, and you take what is his. I ascribe to you as though you injured [ḥavalta] him, as it is stated: “If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral [ḥavol taḥbol]” (Exodus 22:25). From here you learn that anyone who takes interest from an Israelite does not fear the Omnipresent. This is analogous to one who murdered and they brought him before the governor. When he reads his indictment, he says: ‘Is he still alive?’ So too, anyone who takes interest, the verse ascribes to him as though he committed all the evil and the transgressions in the world, as it is stated: “He gave with usury and took interest” (Ezekiel 18:13). The Holy One blessed be He says: ‘Is he still alive? “Shall he live? He shall not live. All these abominations he performed, he shall be put to death, his blood shall be upon him”’ (Ezekiel 18:13). However, one who lends without interest, the Holy One blessed be He considers it for him as though he performed all the mitzvot, as it is stated: “He does not lend his money with usury…. [One who performs these will never stumble]” (Psalms 15:5).