ז כִּי־יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת־יָדְךָ מֵאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן: ח כִּי־פָתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת־יָדְךָ לוֹ וְהַעֲבֵט תַּעֲבִיטֶנּוּ דֵּי מַחְסֹרוֹ אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ: (...) י נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן לוֹ וְלֹא־יֵרַע לְבָבְךָ בְּתִתְּךָ לוֹ כִּי בִּגְלַל | הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־מַעֲשֶׂךָ וּבְכֹל מִשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ: יא כִּי לֹא־יֶחְדַּל אֶבְיוֹן מִקֶּרֶב הָאָרֶץ עַל־כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ לֵאמֹר פָּתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת־יָדְךָ לְאָחִיךָ לַּעֲנִיֶּךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ בְּאַרְצֶךָ
7. If there is among you a poor man of one of your brothers inside any of your gates in your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother;
8. But you shall open your hand wide to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks.
9. Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to the Lord against you, and it be sin to you.
10. You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because for this thing the Lord your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to.
11. For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, saying, You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.
8. But you shall open your hand wide to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks.
9. Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to the Lord against you, and it be sin to you.
10. You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because for this thing the Lord your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to.
11. For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, saying, You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.
COMMENT AWAY!
What does it mean by, there not be a thought in your wicked heart? are our hearts wicked?
ReplyDeleteWhy should you open your hand to the poor?
Why is the 7th year the year of release?
Why should ones heart not grieve when they give tzedakah?
Why is giving money to the poor a mitzvah?
What does it mean, "the poor shall never cease out of the land?
Why does god say i command you as compared to "you should"?
Why is this commandment so important?
When it says open your hand wide, does that mean you should give the poor alot?
How much money should be distributed to the poor?
What does it mean by ''Your eye be evil against your poor brother?''
DeleteWhy is it a sin not to give money to the poor?
If one is already poor, should they still lend there hand to the poor?
What counts as opening your hand?
Is money the only form of tzedakah?
3) one shouldn't question as to if the poor are really spending there money on what they say. The mitzvah of tzdekah is giving money to the needy. The poor are the needy, no matter what they are in need of and if they are lying about where the money goes, give it to them for the mitzvah! If your moral judgment Implies that a man may spend your charity on un-necessary things than you should ignore your selfishness and not jump to conclusions. Who knows what the poor man may do with your charity? Do the mitzvah, you losing 3 dollars to anything in sacrifice to fulfill tzdekah is not a big deal. One does not have the right to question, because one can never come to a conclusion until the action is done.
DeleteIn the text that's posted you hear God saying that you should always open your hand to the poor and to always let them in your land because they are your brother. It also says that you shouldn't harden your heart.
ReplyDeleteThe main point of this text is to never have a wicked thought in your heart.
If someone is poor you have to let them inside your gate, open your hand, give to your brother (the poor man). God says that it is a sin to not give them anything and to harden your heart. By giving him sufficient funds for his needs you aren't giving him all of your money, you are giving them enough so they aren't homeless.
1. What does harden your heart mean?
ReplyDelete- Harden your heart means to be greedy and to shut down the love and care in your heart to give. It basically is saying to approach others with the care from the bottom of your heart rather than shutting it down and being greedy.
2. How do you know when you gave him a sufficient amount?
-One of the things you can do before giving, is asking what he wants and if he doesn't specify his response with a certain amount to ask how much will be enough for him. Also you can give how much you believe will be enough judging from appearance.
3. Why is it saying 'to your brother'?
-The reason is because all the Jewish people are family. Even though you might not know whether or not the poor person is a Jew it is not an excuse to not help out and lend money. You should treat everyone as your own brother or sister.
4. What is it referring to when said, “in your gates”?
-”In your gates” probably is referring to in your sight, somewhere you are able to see the poor person. If he is, “in your view” then you should be generous and kind to giving charity. It is saying you shouldn’t go out of your way to find a poor person and then give.
Hirsch states that if a city has one poor man then there is a poor man amongst you. The text says you shall not be strong against your heart. He explains this by saying that a Jewish heart is inclined to do good. However this good inclination can become cold. He takes this to mean that even a good person might have a cold heart and not give to the poor. He also says that the reason to give is because he is a brother to you. He is a son of God just like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteHirsch says that the manner in which you give the gift is very important. He claims that if you give tzedakah in a cheerful manner it is worth a lot more. On the other hand if you give it in a not cheerful manner then it is worth a lot less. This makes no sense to me because I thought you were supposed to give money covertly. So if you give money covertly then the person doesn’t know if you are giving it happily or un-happily.
FOr my modern comment, I went online to Jewishencyclopedia.com. The first thing i looked up poverty. poverty is the condition or proportion of poor in a population. i find this interesting because when i think of poverty, i fist imagine people. Poverty to me is the state that people ore in. For example, the people on the street corner or are struggling to pay their rent or eat, are living in poverty. I very much agree with this definition because it explains it as the state.
ReplyDeleteTHe second definition i looked up is charity on jewishfaq.org/tzedakah. here, tzedakah is the word to describe the acts of well giving. Tzedakah in English is most commonly translated as charity. tzedakah can be anything from giving money to volunteering to running your own non-profit! The solution to end poverty i to give charity generously.
(I had modern commentary so technically, the internet is modern. SO the views I found on the internet are acceptable y=to "modern".)
In the G-dCast episode for Parshas Re'Eh, we learn about how Moses is leading the children from Egypt and into the chosen land. We learn that we need to feed our souls with importance and not our bodies. We learn that without faith and cherishing God, our lives will be changed. If we are faithful, we will have success in our farming and life, but if we are not able to treat God with the respect that He desires, we will not have a successful year, and our lands will be barren. We also need to keep away from temptations from evil and live purely. From God to Moses to the children to their children, the importance is taught.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this parsha is emphasizing the importance of taking care of our own people who are hungry or poor. It is specific in what the Torah says we should do when it comes to dealing with this subject, but also says it in a way that separates the Israelites from the other nations. Unfortunately, it is sad to see that it isn't as important these modern days to take care of the poor. While there are people who are doing their best, there are also ppeople who are doing nothing to help. We can all learn from this passage that, because even the Jewish bible says something about taking care of the poor, that it is a very important subject in time; from ancient Egypt until Denver 2012.
With this passage Rashi is not really arguing anything but just making clarifications. The first of those saying that if you must pick between two paupers you shall give to the more wanting of the two. He goes on to say that if all your brothers are poor, you too shall be poor. He also discusses the opening of your hand and points to the usage of the torahs use of the word open multiple times. This seems to allude to the fact that you too shall open your hand multiple times, more likely to multiple beggars.
ReplyDeleteRashi is saying that your poor brethren take precedence from all. If all your brethren are poor, you shall donate money until the point when you too are poor. Most importantly you should donate not once but twice opening your hand multiple times to the wanting brothers in your community.
aka bruce.
Deleteאֶבְיוֹן: Pauper, a poor man
ReplyDeleteשְׁעָרֶיךָ: your gates
תִקְפֹּץ: shut ( jump)
תִּפְתַּח: open
מִשְׁלַח: occupation, sending, cast
מִקֶּרֶב: from among, from
בְּתִתְּךָ: your gift
מַחְסֹרוֹ: lacking, absent
Samuel Fogel comment:
ReplyDelete"he will cry out to the lord against you and you will incur guilt"
Give a poor man like you give a wealthy man. Yet does the poor man work hard and what will he spend it on good or bad. I feel that a man should not be persuaded buy guilt to give to a poor man. He should do what is right by giving to an origination that helps the poor. This is a much better way to give knowing the money or items you give will be used well. Even for a poor man it is rong to perswade by guilt it might even be by choice that he is homeless.
Those who give the poor will be blessed by God. but some people are not wealthy and what is the right amount, will good not bless you if you cant give a lot. I feel that everyone should give, fulfilling the mitzvah but people should not be persuaded to give more that what they can. The amount you can give the the right amount.
"For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, saying, You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land."
ReplyDeleteIt is commonly known by commentators that there will always be poor people in any land. This is because the poor people don't do what G-d asks. As it states, "But there shall be no needy amoung you, if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of the Eternal thy G-d to observe tomdo all this commandment."
However, Ramban disagrees with this. Ramban says that the Torah may allude to what wil happen to the poor people, but it would never prophesize about them not fulfilling the Torah andnbeing complete failures. Ramban also says that G-d wouldn't have commanded the poor Jews to observe the commandments, knowing that they wouldnt be able to keep them in the future. Ramban gives the correct interpretation of the above paragraph. He says that itis impossible for the poor to cease completely. Moses only said this to motivate the Jews to observe the commandments. however, Ramban says that Moses knew that there wouldn't forever be poor generations. thus, people don't need to be concerned of the poor's actions, but rather their own.
If I had my choice between the homeless adults and children with cancer I would go the more obvious choice of the cancer kids for less than the normal reasons. While most donors would look at this charity and focus on the word kids, I look at this and focus on word cancer. As many of you know my mom died of cancer in september of 2006, since then I have spent countless hours volunteering at PSL (Presbyterian St. Luke's). I have a drive to cure cancer0, and therefore at least in my heart cancer rules over homelessness. A more in apt question for me would be the choice between children's cancer and adult cancer. That would be much more difficult as seeing it from both sides
ReplyDeleteChildren: they are the future. Also it would be extremely devastating on their parents to lose a child at such a young age.
Adults: I am more compelled to choose this one as I have experienced it first hand, it is extremely difficult for a child to lose a parent .
Aka Bruce
Delete1) You are on your way to a pizza place in your neighborhood. A poor person standing outside the restaurant asks you for $2 so they can buy a slice You only have $2 in your pocket which you were planning to use to buy an after school pizza snack. What would you do?
ReplyDeleteIf I was in this situation I would ask the poor person what they needed the money for. If they said they were hungry I would go into the pizza place and buy him a slice. I would do this because they said they were hungry and I don't know if they are lying so they can get things that are bad/illegal. I would give them the $2 dollars for the whole pizza because they need it more than I do. I can go every day and get pizza for $2, but he is begging for money just so he can get food. I know I might work hard for my money and it's not ideal for me to waste my hard earned money on someone who obviously isn't working for what he has, and probably didn't apply himself enough, or had a very unfortunate accident that put him in the place that they are today. I have the opportunity to go and get food whenever and by giving them the money or food they now have something to survive off of. I would also give them the food because if I was in that position I would want someone to help me and by giving them the food it will make me feel better about myself and my actions. It will also make them feel better because now they aren't hungry and are really happy that they got helped.
Question Number 1) You are on your way to a pizza place in your neighborhood. A poor person standing outside the restaurant asks you for $2 so they can buy a slice. You only have $2 in your pocket which you were planning to use to buy an after school pizza snack. What do you do?
ReplyDeleteThere area few things you could do. The mean thing to do would be to not give him anything, not even a look in his direction. But there are also several nice options. One, you could give him the money. The only issue with this is that you aren't guaranteed he is going to use the money for pizza and not for something bad. A solution to that is to just buy him the pizza and give him the whole slice. But then you are hungry. You could also buy yourself the pizza and split it with him. You could also consider the fact that this is just a snack and you are going home to dinner, whereas this man may not know when he is going to eat next.
Even if this man is being dishonest, there is obviously something that has gone wrong in his life that he is not at all embarrassed to be begging on the street. You at least owe it to him to give him something. My advice would be to give him the whole slice of pizza because he needs it more than you do.
I'd buy some pepperoni pizza for myself and split half of that slice with the hobo. I would do this so
ReplyDeleteA.) He would get the food he is asking for
B.) He would not get the just straight up cash he is asking for. Which potentially he could spend on hookers n' drugs. But seriously he does need the nutrition and now I know he will get it and not blow the money on illegal things
I would deny a person money in a few different cases. This may sound mean but why should I give my earned money to someone undeserving? The first case in which I wouldn't give someone money is if they are on a street corner. I don't trust these people because you have no idea what they will spend the money on. Of course I want them to spend the money on something good like food, but they might not. There is a possibility that they would spend it on drugs or alcohol. Then I am funding them deeper into a state of addiction. This is not something I would want. They also could use it for good. I should morally give them the benefit of the doubt, however I don't because in my opinion there is no way to truly trust someone you don't know. I would deny a person on a street corner because there are too many variables that can put my money to negative use.
ReplyDeleteI would also deny a person who doesn't try alternative ways for income money. In this scenario I would need to question them about their actions. If they aren't trying to get a job then I know my money will go to little use. If they have a job then I feel that they will be more trustworthy because they have some work ethic. I know that this person is trying to get back on their feet, and will probably not spend my money poorly. Where as a man with no job has less work ethic and won't try to earn his own money. He becomes reliant on other people rather than himself. Because of this he is can be considered a child. It is better to teach someone how to be good at a trade so he can make income, rather than let him be lazy and not have a self sufficient source of income.
re there cases in which you would deny someone money if they asked? Why?
ReplyDelete-Yes. Before giving money I would first ask what they are planning on using it for. If the response is something that deals with drugs or alcohol, I would simply make up an excuse and ask if they would prefer some food instead. The reason why I would deny their request is because this is obviously just an addiction and without it they THINK they will not survive. This would actually do the exact opposite and they do not realize that. Drugs, alcohol, and so on is majority of the time the reason why they got themselves into the big mess of living on the streets, homeless. Continuing this act would just dig them self into a bigger hole, causing it to be much harder to get out. They are basically asking to ruin their body and make their life even worse than it already is. Denying this request is not meant to show cruelty, rather to help them go through the right path, get them out of trouble and save their life.
Example:You see two beggars on the side of the street. One is holding up a sign begging for food and the other one is asking for money. You approach the one begging for money and ask what they need to use the money for and he answers saying for some alcohol. You glance over to the other side and see the homeless that needed food. What do you do? Do you really want to give this guy money to get himself drunk and risk his life? No. In my opinion this is NOT the right thing to do. Obviously, I wouldn't leave this guy hanging, and would give him the option to get him something more useful. On the other hand, I would gladly approach the homeless that is need for food, and actually help them.
If a Jewish person and a non Jewish person asked you for Tzedakah, would their religion make a difference in who you gave it to? Would it change how much you gave them?
ReplyDeleteIf a Jewish person and a non Jewish person asked me for Tzedakah, I would give my money to the Jewish person. I know that I should be saying that I should not let my religion get in the way of making someone else happy, but I feel that I have a special connection to the Jewish person. My religion tells me that every Jewish person is responsible for each other. In this particular case, it is universalism vs. particularism. Universalism means that money should go to everyone, but in my case, which is particularism, money should go to "my" people. My religion also states that your family is your first priority. Your second priority should then be Jews in your community, then Jews anywhere, then Non Jews in your community, and finally people anywhere. According to my religion, a non Jewish person should be my 5th priority.
I think that this situation would not change how much I would give the Jewish person. All people are equal, And even though I would be choosing to give to the Jewish person, it would not affect how much I would give. I would not chose to give any more or any less, even if I was giving to the non Jewish person. They are all people in need and Any amount of money would help.
on question number 3 on the poverty chevruta sheet I would trust them what they would do with there 2 dollars I would give them. In my opinion if I were homeless and I was given $2, I wouldn't be spending it on drugs that could possibly kill me or lessen my life even more, I would rather use it on food something that would help my life, something that would let me live maybe a little longer in the future that's what I would do if I were homeless. But if your the person giving the money you should trust that they would do good with it. Personally I wouldn't ask them what they would do with the money because once I hand it to them it's there business not mine all I know is I helped a person at the end and made a difference in there lives. Another thing I would do instead of asking them, if they wanna spend the 2$ on a slice of pizza and eat for a little bit with the person who gave you money, that's how you know for sure they wouldn't spend it on drugs or alcohol or anything bad that could not help there lives out in the future. At the end of all of this it's up to them not me.
ReplyDeleteJAKE VOLIN
ReplyDelete1) The topic of poverty is something that can strike many people in this community at heart. Living in Denver, many of us have been subjected to the saddening sights of poverty. Also, living in a community where social service is highly important allows us to see the broad spectrum. Every day many of us are asked to give some change to a homeless person who is seemingly at every street corner, and regardless of what situation, it is your choice as to whether you are going to give them money or not. My family keeps a box of nutrigrain bars in the car so when we see a sign that says hungry, we can provide. However, if a homeless man were to ask me for money while I was just about to purchase something for myself, I would feel obligated to help a human being. I would think that they lack human interaction and affection, so I would share a piece of the pizza with him, to show him I was thinking about him. The money was mine, and I would spend it on me, but give a portion to him so he could re gain some energy and also feel loved. This would make more sense to me because if I just gave him money, regardless of how 'clean' they look, there is no way to know what they do with the money. So buying a piece would either offend them or piss them off for not supplying their drug addiction. Finally, the most important part is understanding they are people too. If a person who was obviously not homeless came up to you and asked for money, your natural response would be, ' oh hell naw.' but, if a homeless person were to do this, you would immediately see they need some help, and as a human being you have an obligation to help out a fellow human being. That's how I would want to be treated if I were a homeless man.
Samuel Fogel
ReplyDeleteDo you think it's ok to question wether that person will really use your money for food and not something bad like drugs?
Well I guess I can start by creating a situation. Im on my way to the pizza shop in the mood to chow on some good pizza but suddenly a man that seems to be homeless says something to me. He asks if I could spare him a few bucks for some food. He looks homeless but maybe he chooses this life still, maybe he really is starving or maybe as soon as a give him the money hes gonna bust of there and spend that money latter on drugs or alcohol. So should I question him on how he will se he money and would it be wrong. I feel that I indeed have a right to do so since I am not doing it to be rude. The poor man should not get upset if I ask these questions they are only to benefit his well being. I would feel great helping this man from starving but feel terrible if he ended up buying drugs and doing something bad that could put other people in danger. Some people might not think twice but how can I feel that I have done a mitzvah when that money is spent on bad. So yes I would ask him if the money I am about to give him will truly be spent on food and if he really has no money.
Dylan Sanborn
ReplyDelete#5. If a jewish and a non-jewish person asked for tzedakah, would their religion make a difference in who you gave to? Would it change how much you gave them?
i believe that each man deserves the same amount of money, regardless of their religion. This is due to the fact that each man may have similar needs, and are both equally dependent on you to survive. So if there were two men in front of me, one jewish and one not, i would give money to both. Then if each asks for maybe $5, and if i only had five dollars, i would give each man $2.50. Thus, each man would be given money. Also in Judaism it does say to give the jew the money only if you have enough for one. In defense that it also says that you shall “open your hand wide to your brother, the poor, and to your needy”. Which means that you shall give to anyone who is poor and in need, since it is a mitzvah to give tzedakh. Thus, supporting my answer that both poor men, jewish or not, both deserve the same amounts of money. Both men are equal , so then why should that make a difference about who gets money and who doesn’t?
4) Are there cases in which you would deny someone money if they asked for it? Why?
ReplyDeleteI definitely think there are many situations where one must deny someone money. I would never ask what someone would plan to do with the money, how could you trust his or her response? I probably would defy against the typical saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Yes, most homeless people look ragged, weak, and worn out, however, other symptoms of drug or alcohol abuse can easily be observed. Assuming that the homeless person has an addiction of some kind, I am not willing to support their poor mental and physical state. I would deny someone money with any type of addiction they may be struggling from. In addition, I would provide food or water, and if they don’t accept that, I would walk away.
Another case where I would deny money to a homeless person is if they are extremely irritating. If they complained about the amount that I already gave them or continuously begged and begged until pleased. I understand how homelessness can be a difficult circumstance, however, I think many homeless people lose their morals and manners. They don’t understand how generous people can be by already giving them money or food. Eventually, they grow dependent on other people to support their lives, rather than trying to stabilize themselves.
A last case where I would deny a homeless person money is if I was fairly unstable myself. Being only 16, I find it odd that a grown man would look to me in a time of need. Now with a car, I must word to pay for gas and insurance, which isn’t exactly cheap. I hardly have extra money to spend on other personal, not-so-important pleasures. So, it is relatively difficult to give up my money, which I very much need as well, to someone who may use for something not very important.