Climbing the Ladder

Two people are on a ladder; one is on the top rung and one is on the bottom rung. Which one is closer to the top? The answer depends on which direction they are going.

Will there Always be Poverty?

As we approach the month of Elul—the month before the New Year—it is customary to reflect on the weekly Torah portion, particularly as it pertains to our preparation for Rosh Hashanah.

One of the central themes of this week’s parsha is the Mitzvah of Tzedakah. This suggests, quite literally, that one way of earning all of the blessings and the Tzedakah that G-d gives us for the New Year is to perform our own acts of Tzedakah. By reaching out to others in need, G-d reciprocates and reaches out to us in our times of need.

The Torah introduces this Mitzvah in two parts that appear to be somewhat contradictory.

After discussing the law of the Sabbatical year which cancels all debts and it is therefore forbidden to “demand payment from his friend or his brother,” the Torah continues with the promise:

“There will no longer be any poor among you, for G-d will bless you repeatedly in the Land G-d your G-d, is giving you as an inheritance and a possession.”

In other words, by following G-d’s commandments, the scourge of poverty will be removed from the land.

A few verses later where the Torah speaks of the commandment to open our hands and hearts to give to the poor, the Torah continues, “There will never cease to be destitute people within the land, and therefore I am commanding you, as follows, ‘you should repeatedly open your hand to your poor brother and to your destitute in your land.’”

The Midrash, cited by Rashi, points out the apparent contradiction in these verses.

In the first citation, the Torah avers that there will be no more poverty: “There will no longer be any poor among you.”

Yet in the second citation the Torah states unequivocally: “There will never cease to be destitute people within the land.” Which is it? Will there always be poverty, or will it eventually be abolished?

Reconciliation

Rashi, citing the Midrash answers that when Israel follows G-d’s commandments, poverty will indeed become obsolete. However, when we fail to live up to the Divine standards of the Torah, poverty will still be around.

The commentary Kli Yakar asks a simple question. Where in the text, where it describes the perennial nature of poverty, does it give any hint that it refers to a situation where people do not follow G-d’s commandments?

Kli Yakar answers that if we examine the text carefully we will see that it begins by referring to the land (where the poor reside) simply as “the land.” By contrast, when it issues the command to open our hands to the poor it stresses “of your land.”

Kli Yakar explains that this verse refers to Jews who refused to return to the Land of Israel in the days of Ezra when the Second Temple was built. Their insistence on remaining in exile was considered as if they did not want to follow G-d’s will and therefore, the Torah predicts, that in circumstances like theirs, poverty will stay around for a long time.

From the Kli Yakar’s textual analysis it is evident that the command to give to the poor of “your land” is intended to express the preeminent role of giving Tzedakah to the poor and needy in the Land of Israel.

Indeed, Jewish legal authorities equate giving Tzedakah to the poor and needy in the Land of Israel to the need to give Tzedakah to the poor of one’s own community. In other words, one’s obligation first and foremost is to give to one’s community before giving to other communities. And giving to Israel is considered a local need and is given highest priority.

Why Perennial Poverty?

A question still remains. When the Jews who lived through the Babylonian exile refused to move to Israel with Ezra, it was indeed considered a sin on their part. But why did that solitary sin accord them the dubious distinction of being labeled a society that will forever have to experience poverty?

A second question: Based on Kli Yakar’s analysis that distinguishes between the Jews of the Diaspora and the Jews who lived in Israel it would seem that there would be no poor left in Israel. Why then does the Torah command the Jews who live in the Diaspora to help support the poor in Israel? Why were there still poor in Israel?

This question can be answered very simply that although the Jews who returned to Israel did the right thing in that regard, they still failed to meet the high standard of “doing G- d’s will,” that would have rendered poverty obsolete.

However, this only serves to reinforce our first question, why would the solitary sin of not going to Israel maintain their state of impoverishment if everything else about them was in order?

Which Direction are You Facing?

One may suggest that the physical state of impoverishment is a physical manifestation of a spiritual one. One could be on the highest rung of the ladder—rich in the true sense of the word—and yet be so far from the goal because the person on the ladder is facing downward—and therefore be no better off than the one who never stepped foot on the ladder.

At the time the Second Temple was built, Israel was still in ruins and the land was desolate both physically and spiritually. Many of the Jews who refused to return to Israel did so because they felt more spiritually, as well as physically, secure in the Diaspora. So while they were on a higher rung than their brethren who did return to Israel, their direction on the ladder was going down.

So we have two forms of spiritual poverty:

One form is poverty because they are on the lowest rung of the ladder. Their lives are bereft of spiritual content. They do few Mitzvos and are far from the ideals of Judaism. There are some who are so impoverished that they have yet to get even to the first rung of the ladder. They are still mired in the earthliness and earthiness of life.

However, since they possess a spark of Jewish feeling in them, their situation is only a temporary one. They will eventually get on the ladder and climb it rung by rung until they reach the top.

The second form of poverty is far worse. It can even include rabbis or spiritual people who think they are—and may indeed be—on the highest rung of the spiritual ladder. But, because they think they have achieved such heights, they think that they need not cross over into the Land of Israel when G-d deemed it appropriate to do so.

In effect, they are, as stated above, facing the earth. They represent the ultimate impoverished individuals because they don’t realize how far they truly are from the goal.

Three Kinds of Jews

All this can be applied to today’s Jewish life. The Jewish community is usually divided into categories based on affiliation (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform) or political philosophy (liberal, conservative), active or non-active in their respective communities etc. These labels do little to describe the true nature of the person and their position on the Jewish ladder.

If we have to divide the Jewish people into categories—not for the sake of creating divisions between them, but for the sake of understanding where we stand in relation to our common goal and purpose—it would be more helpful to divide them into the following three groups:

There are those Jews who are, jewishly speaking—although only G-d can determine this—on the ground, inert and have no conscious desire to be anywhere else. They have absolutely no interest to enter the Promised Land in either the literal or figurative sense of the term.

At the opposite end of the spectrum it would seem are those Jews whose ambiance is thoroughly and totally Jewish. They live and breathe Jewish knowledge and their lives pulsate with Judaism. They are, outwardly at least, on the highest rung of the ladder of Judaism. They certainly don’t have a desire to get into the Promised Land because in their mind they got there long ago.

And there are those amongst us that might very well be on the lower or lowest rung of the ladder or even lower, but they are making a sincere effort—albeit in many cases, a minimal one, baby steps—to get on that ladder.

Of these three categories, ironically, only the last is potentially out of the woods and is not spiritually impoverished. They feel the need to go to the Land of Israel—physically and spiritually—because they are looking for more ways to express their Jewishness. For them poverty will eventually disappear.

However, for those who are on the lowest rung or on the highest rung and harbor no desire to get into the mindset and state of enhanced holiness represented by the Land of Israel are sorrowfully destined to remain impoverished. And while those on the higher rungs might be more fortunate than their inactive brethren they are ultimately worse off because they do not feel the need to grow.

This was the state of the Jewish people who chose to remain behind in the more structured and comfortable life that existed in Babylonia. They were more settled in their Judaism but they missed the boat when it came to helping to build the Land of Israel and the Temple, which would have never been destroyed had all of the Jewish people united in that effort.

Carving our Comfortable Niches in the U.S.A.

We are now living in a similar—although not identical position—as our Babylonian forebears. We can choose to carve out comfortable niches as it pertains to Judaism or we can forge ahead and do all that we are capable of doing to bring the final Redemption.

The message of this week’s parsha thus is to recognize that being comfortable in exile—no matter how intense our Jewish life may be— is a sign that we are impoverished.

Our challenge is to pull ourselves out of this morass and do all that we are capable of doing of helping the poor, whether they are “Jews for Nothing,” or Jews who are for everything except to get out of exile. It is our duty to assist them in every way possible even as we motivate ourselves to do the same.

Preparation for Rosh Hashanah

This message is particularly poignant at this time of the year, as we enter into the transitional month of Elul.

Our Sages tell us that Rosh Hashanah is the spatial parallel to the Land of Israel. We are now about to enter into this New Year, the same way Jews were/are poised to enter into the Land of Israel and the messianic Age.

We have to ask ourselves the question: Are we content with the limited growth of this year? Are we satisfied where we are now? Do we want to enter into, not just a new year on the calendar, but a new and refreshing dimension of life? Do we want the most for all of our people? The answer is certainly a resounding yes! And therefore G-d will certainly grant us—among all of Israel—a good, sweet and redemptive new year!

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Rei by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.