Are You Truly Poor?
Before claiming poverty we should reflect on the true nature of wealth and how we are so blessed. METZORA METZORA
Sliding Scale
This week’s parsha discusses the manner through which a person who is afflicted with a skin disease is purified. The Torah considers this very unique skin disease to be more than a dermatological problem; it is a moral and spiritual one. According to the Talmud this form of affliction known as tzara’as came as a result of lashon hara or the evil tongue; i.e., for one who has spoken ill of another.
After the person so afflicted recovers he or she must bring several offering to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. With regard to some of the offerings the Torah provides two standards; a more elaborate offering for those METZORA who could afford it and a less expensive offering for those who are poor.
Redundancy
When the Torah introduces the offering for the poor it appears to use two synonymous expressions:
“If he is poor and he cannot afford (the above offerings; literally: “his hands do not reach”) he should take…”
Commentators raise the question of redundancy in this verse. Why does it say both “if he is poor” and “he cannot afford.” The Torah could have stated one or the other. Why the repetition?
Two Forms of Poverty
One commentator answers by pointing to two scenarios wherein a person could either be poor yet he can afford to bring the more elaborate offering, and conversely a situation where he is not poor but he can still not afford. And in both cases the Torah does not METZORA give the atoning afflicted person “get away” with the meager offering.
There are people who are not poor but they can still not afford to spend much: For example, a wealthy person who is on the road and has no available cash (they also left their credit cards home).
That individual, while clearly not poor, cannot afford to buy anything at that time and place. According to Jewish law He or she is therefore entitled to even collect from the tithes intended for the poor because at that time and place he or she cannot afford to buy anything on which to subsist. This describes the person who is not poor but is temporarily strapped for cash. Nevertheless, he or she is not entitled to bring the less expensive offering.
These individuals can wait until they can access their fortune to purchase the more elaborate offering. It would not be proper for them to procure atonement by making an offering inconsistent with their means. And while the Torah allows them to be beneficiaries of charity to enable them to get METZORA through their temporary financial crisis, they cannot use the poor man’s offering that has as its goal the transformation of a person’s character and moral compass. They need to do more and they must wait until they can access their fortune so they can do more.
Conversely, it is possible for a person to be legally poor but still afford to purchase the more expensive offering. There are two such scenarios mentioned by commentators:
The first scenario is when a wealthy person dispossesses himself of his or her fortune by declaring everything they own to be hefker, free for all to take. A person might do that as an extreme form of penance or a way of showing their magnanimity. Of course, this radical approach to penance is not encouraged in Jewish sources, but if it should occur, the question would arise whether that person is permitted to bring the poor man’s meager offering. And the answer is no. Though this individual is penniless and poor, he can still reclaim all his possessions by simply being the first person to lay claim to the ownerless property.
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So, while this individual who dispossessed himself is now legally poor, his or her hands can, figuratively and literally, reach out and seize the ownerless possessions before anyone else would do so. Indeed, he or she would be encouraged to reclaim these possessions, for, as stated, there is no Mitzvah for a person to become poor as a means to procure G-d’s good will. While Judaism clearly encourages giving more charity when there is a spiritual need for it, it is a far cry from rendering oneself a pauper who will ultimately depend on others for handouts.
“Hands can Reach”
Another example of one who is poor but whose “hands can reach” the necessary funds is one who has friends from whom he can borrow the money to purchase a higher priced offering. Assuming that he or she will eventually be able to repay the loan, this person is not entitled to make due with an inferior standard of offering. While they qualify as poor they have the ability to find METZORA the necessary funds. The funds are within reach.
In order for a person to be so destitute as to entitle them to bringing a relatively meager offering they must be both poor (this excludes the tycoon who left his credit cards and cash a thousand miles from home) and incapable of gaining access to money (this excludes the poor person who has the ability to acquire the money by borrowing it or the like).
True Poverty
The Talmud states: “There is no poor person except one who is poor in knowledge.” And, therefore, what has been said above about the offering of the poor is true about the intellectually and spiritually challenged person as well.
Some people have scant knowledge of the teachings of Torah as to how we must think and behave but they are not poor if they have the means to learn. The excuse of ignorance cannot be invoked if we have the opportunity to reach out and access the knowledge.
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Likewise, one who experiences a temporary lapse of spiritual and moral knowledge, leaving his or her moral compass at home, cannot use the poverty defense as a justification for improper behavior. The only way we can truly atone for our shortcomings is to recognize that while we may seem poor we are truly not as poor as we might think. We can either draw on our own treasury of inner knowledge or access it from the outside from those who would readily lend it to us.
Exile Poverty
However, due to the painful and long exile, many within the Jewish people have degenerated to the state of true poverty. They lost touch with their rich heritage and are situated in places and circumstances where this knowledge is also inaccessible to them. They are truly poor. They can avail themselves of the special poor person’s offering until such time when they reclaim their heritage.
The above might explain why the Moshiach, the leader that will usher in the Messianic METZORA Age of spiritual wealth, is referred to Biblically as a “poor man.” Perhaps, it is the Torah’s way of saying that one of Moshiach’s tasks will be to reach out to the truly impoverished souls and restore them to their rich heirloom and heritage.
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From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Tazria-Metzora by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
