Deuteronomy 15:7-8
כִּי-יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ, בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ, בְּאַרְצְךָ, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה 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.
כִּי-יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ, בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ, בְּאַרְצְךָ, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה 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.
7 If there be among you a needy man, one of your brethren, within
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 needy brother;
8 but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants.
Watch the video and comment below.
Malka's comment #4:
ReplyDeleteThis video is sad, however it is true. There is poverty and homelessness all around the world and especially in the U.S.. This video makes me want to ask "what can I do to help?" or I ask "should I help at all?"
This video compares to Deuteronomy 15:7-8:
It says in the Talmud that you shouldn't turn your back on them or "nor shut your hand from your needy brother". I honestly think that every body has an obligation on helping and not closing your hand on your fellow person. How do we accomplish this opertunity of helping? Like I say "every penny counts". We can all make a difference.
Rachel's Comment #2
ReplyDeleteThis video talks a lot about how poverty is a big issue in the United States, especially in unexpected places. Silicon Valley is a very wealthy community, so when this much poverty was realized, no one had noticed previously. This text talks about how we should give, and be generous to those who are less fortunate. IT relates to this video, because we should be giving to those people. However am I obligated to do this? I am only a fourteen-year-old girl, and its not my fault that these people are poor. Is it my responsibility to give to these people, some people who got themselves in this situation. I don't think I have an obligation for these people, because I have to watch out for my own personal self. Yes, I agree with Malka, it is important to give, but that doesn't mean we have to.
Then I realized, people can't help even if they want to, if they don't know about. If we take Silicon Valley as an example, most people don't realize the poverty level there. Even though it is considered pretty wealthy, the poverty rates are through the roof, but it is hidden to most peoples eyes. How could we help, if we didn't know what was going on? The answer is, we can't. We can't do everything, we can do only do what we are able, and what we know. I now know about the situation, so I can help if I want. I feel like if people knew more about poverty, there would be more helping involved.
Another important thing about this text is, that we realize how strongly the Torah takes poverty. Clearly, theres a big emphasis on Tzedekah from this text. It made me notice how selfless the torah wants us to feel, and wants us to be. We have always learned since Kindergarten how important it is to give back, but now I really realize how the torah feels its important to give back.
(Pierce Comment 3)
ReplyDeleteUpon reading the text, and watching the accompanying video definatly implies that generousity is an element that can affect people on a wide scale. Generous people (charities, donors, kindhearted people) who give a ton of support to people who are suffering from either poverty, stress, or even emotional crisis are good people, but there is something that changes the outlook. A very wise man once told me: "Money doesn't make people better, just makes them better at what they do." I knew he meant that people don't change their ways just if they recieve money, or (for the latter) people won't do what they say they will do if money is the possible bounty. I heard a story of a homeless, one-legged man who stayed at a kind family's home because the next day, his leg was to be amputated. In reality, the homeless man was just freeloading by living in the home, while still keeping his leg. We all know charity is a great mitzvah, but sometimes it is not the best choice, especially the choices of others. For all we know, the homeless bum you recently gave $30 to, when he said would use to buy food, was to spend it on drugs. In addition, I know that we know it is not our duty to make other people's decisions for them, but still, it doesn't seem like it's always the best idea to randomly give money to poverty stricken people. I know it's a bit of a selfish outlook, but it's one to stand by to prevent the wrong people from getting money to benefit their crude gains.
I see your point- money you give to a poor person might be spent poorly. But what else could you do?
DeleteMolly Comment #4
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Rachel and Nathan. Like Nathan, often times when I see a poor person on the street, I think about giving him money but I always have that thought in the back of my head of whether or not hew truly needs it, or her wants to spend it on drugs or alcohol. I also often think that he should go apply for a job himself instead of wasting his time begging for money. This is kind of rude, which I realize, but how can you not think of that? Someone once told me that you have to trust the people who are begging and if you do have a feeling that he will spend money on the wrong thing, at least give him something to eat. After watching this video, I realized that it is not as easy as some people think to get a job. For example, one guy in this video had a very good job, but got laid off when they found out he was living on the streets.
One question I had was if they did live in such a wealthy area, why would they not one somewhere else? It is obviously hard to get a job in such an area, so if they had the chance, I would think they would want to move. This is one way i think we, as young adults, could help. I agree with Rachel, about how do we have any power to help poor people, when we are so young? But I think we do have some responsibility. I think that one way we could help is to volunteer at a soup kitchen or something like that, so people who don't have food can come have one meal to help them keep going on with their lives. I always feel that it feels so good inside and outside when helping others when you can. I do not however think we have a responsibility to give large amounts of money to help, unless you have enough for both your own life and others.
It is crazy to think about how many people are in poverty, just in the United States. It is very hard to keep a stable income and be able to happily live without being poor. As Rabbi Goodman shared in class, 45 million Americans could go straight into poverty, just by not getting one pay check. I think this is crazy to think about and puts into perspective how hard it is to keep a stable lifestyle and not go into poverty. This article (http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/03/17671753-there-may-be-millions-more-poor-people-in-the-us-than-you-think?lite) talks about actually how many poor people there are in the United States. About 15% of Americans are in poverty. That is such big percentage and is crazy to think about. As I said before, I think our responsibility is to volunteer at various places where people can have one meal, which could potentially help them get back on their feet.
Gabi Comment #4
ReplyDeleteRachel and Molly both brought up the point of responsibility. I think responsibility is a huge unknown factor not just in this text but in life in general. When I see poor people on the street, I have mostly ignored them. Sometimes I feel bad about this, but I can console myself bye saying that they are not my responsibility, and then forgetting about it. However, if everyone takes this outlook then nothing would ever be done. I think that as we get older, we have more responsibility for our actions, and we have more obligations. A 3-year-old is not able to recognize and help a homeless person, but a 13-year-old or a 23-year-old can. As we get older and our actions are dictated less by our parents and more by ourselves, we can choose which responsibilities we want to take on, which could potentially be a problem.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/nyregion/city-report-shows-a-growing-number-are-near-poverty.html?_r=0
The article above talks about the number of people living in poverty in New York. Since the recession, the number of people below the poverty line has increased or decreased, it has stayed the same. Mark Levitan, the director of poverty research for the Center for Economic Opportunity says that things are not getting worse which is the start of things getting better. I think as our country recovers from the recession, many individuals and families will be able to rise above the poverty line. However, this does not relieve any of us from our responsibilities of helping people.
As Molly said, there are many ways we can help out. Volunteering is a great way to do something good for the community without having to give anything other than our time. It is not necessarily our responsibility to give these people "that which they are lacking", as we learned in another text, but I think helping out in some way would fulfill our so-called responsibilities to ourselves, the community, and many people in need of help.
Alana comment #3
ReplyDeleteRachel, Molly, and Gabi all brought up the point of is it really our responsibility to take care of the poor? As young adults, should be have the obligation to take responsibility for others. I tend to agree with Rachel, in saying that while the text does say we "shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your needy brother; but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants," we as 15 and 16 year old kids can not be held accountable for the homelessness of others. I am not trying to say that we shouldn't help them, I am just saying that we should not be obligated to make sure every person who is homeless should have a sufficient amount of food and money. Personally, I think homelessness is a big issue, especially in the US and I would love to help everyone but it is nearly impossible to help every poor person.
I think the biggest issue which this article brings up is how unaware and hidden homelessness can be. Since people are hiding away people do not realize just how big the issue of poverty is, so it makes it harder to solve the problem. I think what we should take away from this text is how the text says that the community should lend a hand to the poor and help them in anyway possible. On a day to day basis we are put in situations where people could use a helping hand and I think that although we do not have an obligation to help someone, if you can you should.
Daniel Bush #2
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very controversial text. In the text is talks about giving to people who are needy. I agree with this text up until a point. I think it is a great thing to give to people who are needy. But it is not great to excessively give to the needy. This may be a really wrong analogy but it reminds me of don't feed the geese signs. The reason those signs are put up in parks is so that the geese do not become dependent on humans for food. If they do once the people stop giving them food the geese will perish. This is a lot like the problem with giving too much to needy people. If you give a person everything he needs eventually he will need more. And instead of being useful to society the person may become dependent on society to care for them. This create a cycle where the people who are needy stay needy and the people who give continuing giving until the people who give have nothing left to give. So by not giving a lot of stuff to needy people it forces them to create opportunities for themselves to provide for themselves. So I believe it is ok to give people things of need here and there, but it would be wrong for people to continuously provide for the needy.
Samuel Fogel Comment #2:
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I tend to agrees with all 6 of the previous comments especially on the idea that a young adult can not be held responsible for homelessness. However I also believe that it is not my obligation to help every needy person and give up my belongings . I as a teenager I do not have a steady income yet I do get money on my birthday and make it here and there and I do have quite a few belongs that could easily be beneficial to a homeless person. Yet do I need to give some of it up? In my mind I don't feel that I should have restrictions and obligations on helping out many of these people. One of the most common reasons people are on the streets and are not getting of the streets is because of substance abuse and crime they have commented. Although its makes my morals seem bad how can I feel bad for the those people. I strongly agree in this citation that "whats mine is mine and whats yours is yours." Luckily I have not had to experience all the hardship many needy people go through but in the end I unfortunately have to say tuff luck and get your (stuff) together because just sitting on the corner of a street is not going to be helpful in the long run.
Mia Comment #3
DeleteI agree with Sam wit what he said about people getting their "stuff" together and bringing yourself to how you were before (if not better) but and i also agree with the idea that people shouldn't be responsible for taking care of these people. It was primarily their issues on why their homeless, but i think that some people have some responsibility for taking care of these people. I as a teenager know how hard it is to be able to earn money without having a stable job, so there should be some people who assume responsibility. I believe these people should be people who have taken on responsability, Such as rabbis. I believe that rabbis should have some responsibility when it comes to helping out the community. Even if it isnt giving money or food, i believe that giving your time is important and easy for many people to do, especially when helping others and the community out
This video helped me with my comment. It talks about getting yourself together to help yourself out:
Deletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424077n
Leahs comment 2
ReplyDeleteIt's an unfortunate situation. For me, the most troubling part about this is that there are so many huge companies that require a ton of orders with homeless people in their backyard. In defense of the companies, the people are hidden and are probably not applying for jobs every week. In the defense of the people, these corporations do require a lot of people to run successfully. If they were trying to get a good reputation, they could start by working in their own community. According to this text, the companies should be providing for the people because they are in their community.
When I saw this video, I didn't know what to think. I know how to help a little bit, but not a lot. I've never helped someone go from living under a bridge to living in an apartment. I can let them live with me, so what can I do? How can I help? I know that I can give them food and blankets and stuff, but there has to be something more that I can do. No one deserves to live under a bridge, but I don't know how I can help get them out of there. It's even worse when the person has a family to take care of, and they don't even have a house to live in.
ReplyDeleteThe Talmud says that you shouldn't ignore a person in need, however, what if the person refuses to let you help? What if you've done the best that you can do, but they want to make it on their own. To me this is ok,, it says that if you've done your best to help your fellow, than its all good.
Natasha Comment #3
ReplyDeleteI realize that helping people in need is a good thing, but when they hide themselves from you, and you have to go looking for those people, do you think that they even want your help? I mean its just really strange to me because if I wanted help I wouldn't hide in the shadows, I would be in the spotlight. So what if those people don't want our help, we can't help someone who won't accept it. I would love to help people in need, I know that my family donates a lot to organizations who try and find the people who need help, like the ones in the video we watched, every year. But even though I feel the need to help someone how can I help someone when they won't tell me that they need it? How am I supposed to know that they need my help at all? I think that caring for others is a good thing, but you should also worry about yourself and your family's needs. You can't take care of someone when your about to be put out on the street, its nice and all but in some cases you are more important than others. How can I help someone when I don't see the problem? I'm going to do what my family does when I'm older. But I'm going to try and make sure that I can take care of my family as well because what help would I be if I was out on the streets? I couldn't help very much. I will try to help as much as I can, but I will need to make sure that I can take care of myself first.
On another note why would you help someone who sits on the street begging for money? While I would like to be able to disagree with Molly, I also think the same things about those people on the streets. I also know that sometimes its that persons job to look homeless and stand on those streets, most of the time those people aren't actually homeless. So maybe since I have such a bad impression of those people on the streets, I wouldn't want to be one of the people next to them. Especially because they don't need the money or sometimes use it one drugs and alcohol, which is a waste of my money. So even though in the beginning of this blog I thought I would want to be in the spotlight, maybe its better to not be in the spotlight, because I know that most of the people who have been tricked out of their money wouldn't trust me enough to believe that I would use it for good.
Zachary Comment #4
ReplyDeleteI think that Deuteronomy 15:7-8 demonstrates just how sad this video is and how important the it is to follow these Torah verses. While the richest people and companies in the world are having a good time making money, the poor people are becoming even more so because of how much money is going to the major companies. So many extremely rich people in the area make everything more expensive, especially housing. What really annoys me is that these companies were built by the smartest the world has ever seen. They all have had an impact on the world. Some names like Google, Apple and even Facebook can all help but choose not to. The smartest people and the richest are not even worrying about anyone else but themselves. These companies have the brains and the power to make a difference and help the needy. This is what Deuteronomy 15:7-8 instructs us to do. In Denver where we live, there are some amazing programs that help out the poor. One of the major projects is called "Denver's Road Home" which is a ten year plan to stop homelessness. According to the website, now in year seven they have reduced chronic homelessness by 59%. One of the programs they have sponsored is actually one of the programs we did at school. PJ day raised money in almost every school in Denver to help out these homeless people to get on their feet. To show how much of a difference a company that is this little did, is amazing. Now imagine if one of the big companies like Facebook tried to make a difference.
Here is a link of the organization in Denver to learn how you can help and follow Deuteronomy: www.DenversRoadHome.org