Torah from HACD
Giving Tzedakah and its Challenges,Parashat Behar, May 24, 2024
This week’s parashah includes many striking laws, especially about issues of agriculture. Recognizing the fragility and vicissitudes of an agricultural society, the Torah states (Leviticus 25:35):
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When one of your kin becomes poor and is indebted to you, you shall support that person like a resident alien; let your kin live by your side. |
וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ וּמָטָה יָדוֹ עִמָּךְ וְהֶחֱזַקְתָּ בּוֹ גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב וָחַי עִמָּךְ |
Note that the Torah says “when one of your kin becomes poor,” not, as many translations state “if”. The Torah understands that dealing with poverty is an ongoing and unavoidable issue. The medieval commentator Rashi restates a powerful earlier midrash on this verse::
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support that person. Do not just leave him by himself so that his situation gets progressively worse and that he falls completely and you can’t lift him up. Rather provide support as soon as he begins to fall. To what may this be compared? To a very heavy load on the back of the donkey. While it is still on the donkey, one person alone can hold it on the donkey’s back. But once it has fallen off, even five people can’t lift it back up. |
והחזקת בו. אַל תַּנִּיחֵהוּ שֶׁיֵּרֵד וְיִפֹּל וְיִהְיֶה קָשֶׁה לַהֲקִימוֹ, אֶלָּא חַזְּקֵהוּ מִשְּׁעַת מוֹטַת הַיָּד; לְמָה זֶה דוֹמֶה? לְמַשּׂאוֹי שֶׁעַל הַחֲמוֹר, עוֹדֵהוּ עַל הַחֲמוֹר אֶחָד תּוֹפֵס בּוֹ וּמַעֲמִידוֹ, נָפַל לָאָרֶץ, חֲמִשָּׁה אֵין מַעֲמִידִין אוֹתוֹ |
Although referring to the poor person as a “heavy load” is rather depersonalizing, the image is quite clear. Preventative tzedakah, or tzedakah distributed rapidly to help someone before the situation becomes desperate is crucial. Unstated, but clearly part of the ethical calculus that Rashi raises is how one balances the need for preventative tzedakah with the need to provide for those who are already in worse situations. In a situation of scarcity of resources, we may not feel able, as a society, to provide the preventative tzedakah (regular health check-ups, education and job training, cleaning the environment) in the face of more urgent needs (emergency medical care, food and housing support). But as Rashi makes clear, in the long run, preventative tzedakah is worth the investment. Without it, providing for emergent needs requires far greater resources, and the problems that develop may not be resolvable at all.
Another text which relates to this verse provides a different perspective. A famous argument in the Talmud (Bava Metzia 62a) quotes the end of the verse for a very different purpose:
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And Rabbi Yoḥanan, what does he do with this verse: “let your kin live by your side”? He needs the verse for that which is taught: If two people were walking on a desolate path and one of them had a jug of water, and if both drink from the jug, both will die, but if only one of them drinks, he will make it home. Ben Petora taught: Both should drink and die, and let neither one of them see the death of the other. Until Rabbi Akiva came and taught that the verse states: “let your kin live by your side,” indicating that your life takes precedence over the life of the other. |
וְרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, הַאי ״וְחֵי אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ״ מַאי עָבֵיד לֵיהּ? מִבְּעֵי לֵיהּ לְכִדְתַנְיָא: שְׁנַיִם שֶׁהָיוּ מְהַלְּכִין בַּדֶּרֶךְ וּבְיַד אֶחָד מֵהֶן קִיתוֹן שֶׁל מַיִם, אִם שׁוֹתִין שְׁנֵיהֶם – מֵתִים. וְאִם שׁוֹתֶה אֶחָד מֵהֶן – מַגִּיעַ לַיִּשּׁוּב. דָּרַשׁ בֶּן פְּטוֹרָא: מוּטָב שֶׁיִּשְׁתּוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם וְיָמוּתוּ, וְאַל יִרְאֶה אֶחָד מֵהֶם בְּמִיתָתוֹ שֶׁל חֲבֵירוֹ. עַד שֶׁבָּא רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא וְלִימֵּד: ״וְחֵי אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ״, חַיֶּיךָ קוֹדְמִים לְחַיֵּי חֲבֵירֶךָ. |
The scenario discussed by Ben Petora and Rabbi Akiva takes the issue of scarce resources to an extreme: two people with a single jug with just enough water to keep one person alive. Ben Petora’s argument makes moral sense. As the Talmud states repeatedly (Pesachim 25b):
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What did you think? Is your blood redder? |
מַאי חָזֵית דִּדְמָא דִידָךְ סוּמָּק טְפֵי |
How do we decide who should live? Is one life worth more? So Ben Petora’s claim is reasonable.On the other hand, the scenario described in the Talmud is that one has the jug of water. Does Ben Petora ignore that the one seems to own the water and just assumes that the holder of the jug has no prior claim on that water? For this reason, Rabbi Akiva (and the later halakhah/Jewish law) state that you should let your kin live by your side, which assumes that you have a right to live independently. You don’t have to give up your life to save someone else’s. Your life comes first.
The former chief rabbi of Israel made explicit what was implicit in Rabbi Akiva’s midrashic reading (Responsa Piskei Uziel on Contemporary Questions #48):
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If one has the opportunity to perform the mitzvah of tzedakah for a poor person who has no one else to help him, one is obligated to provide for him "sufficient for his needs" (Deuteronomy 15:8) to whatever extent one can. Furthermore, this is proven from what is written, "Your life comes before your fellow's life, only [your life], but your money does not come before the life of your fellow. |
אִם נִזְדַּמְּנָה לְפָנָיו מִצְוַת צְדָקָה לְעָנִי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ עוֹזְרִים בַּלְעֲדוּ, חַיָּב לָתֵת לוֹ דֵּי מַחְסוֹרוֹ בְּכָל מִדַּת יְכָלְתּוֹ. וְכֵן מוּכָח מִמָּה שֶׁכָּתוּב "חַיֶּיךָ קוֹדְמִין לְחַיֵּי חֲבֵרְךָ" דׇּוְקׇה מִינָהּ, אֲבָל אֵין מָמוֹנְךָ קוֹדֵם לְחַיֵּי חֲבֵרְךָ. |
These texts weigh on me as I think of the obligations to provide food and shelter for those in need, and at the same time, to be cognizant that one’s own life takes precedence over one’s obligations towards others. The complications of applying these principles (and the balance of preventative vs. emergent tzedakah) force us to be extra thoughtful in fulfilling our obligations towards others. I hope that studying these issues and discussing the values embedded in them before one is faced with difficult decisions will help in allocating our resources, individually and communally.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jeffrey Spitzer