Parshat Re’eh — Tzedakah, Teshuvah, And The Privilege Of Being Hashem’s Children

“Beware lest there be a base thought in your heart, saying: ‘The seventh year, the year of Shemittah, is approaching,’ and you look begrudgingly upon your needy brother and do not give to him. Then he will cry out against you to Hashem, and it will be a sin upon you” (Devarim 15:9).

The holy gaon Rav Menachem Mendel Kregil of Krakow, author of Dvash VeChalav, asks: Why does the Torah go out of its way to emphasize that if a person fails to fulfill this mitzvah, “it will be a sin upon you”? Is that not self-evident? Whenever a person neglects a mitzvah, there is sin.

Rav Kregil offers a beautiful explanation based on the Gemara (Bava Batra 10a).

Turnus Rufus the wicked once asked Rebbe Akiva, “If your G-d loves the poor, why does He not support them Himself?”

Rebbe Akiva replied, “So that through them we may be saved from the judgment of Gehinnom.”

In other words, the tzedakah we give to those in need becomes a merit through which we are spared punishment.

Turnus Rufus was not satisfied. On the contrary, Turnus Rufus argued, giving tzedakah should itself be grounds for punishment.

“To what may this be compared?” Turnus Rufus asked. “To a mortal king who became angry with his servant, imprisoned him, and ordered that he be given neither food nor drink. Then someone came and fed and sustained the servant. When the king hears what happened, will the king not be angry that his command was disregarded?

“You Jews are called servants of Hashem, as it is written, ‘For bnei Yisrael are servants to Me’ (Vayikra 25:55). If Hashem has chosen to make His servants poor, who are you to interfere with His decision?”

Rebbe Akiva answered with a different mashal.

“To what may this be compared? To a mortal king who became angry with his son and imprisoned him, ordering that the son be given neither food nor drink. Then someone came and fed and cared for the king’s son. When the king hears what happened, will the king not reward that person generously?

“For we are called children, as it is written, ‘You are children to Hashem your G-d’ (Devarim 14:1).”

Hashem is therefore not angered when we care for those among His children who are in need. On the contrary, Hashem desires that we help them.

The author of Dvash VeChalav explains that this distinction reveals something fundamental. The fact that we are called Hashem’s children is itself what obligates us to give tzedakah.

The same principle, Rav Kregil explains, applies to teshuvah. Teshuvah is effective because we are considered children of Hashem. A father may waive the honor due to him, and that honor is considered forgiven. The nations of the world, however, are regarded as servants, and a king cannot waive the honor due to the monarchy. Therefore, teshuvah does not operate for them in the same manner.

With this understanding, the Torah’s unusual wording becomes clear.

“And you look begrudgingly upon your needy brother.”

A person might withhold tzedakah on the grounds that Hashem Himself made this individual poor. Why interfere with what appears to be Hashem’s will?

But such reasoning adopts the very premise of Turnus Rufus. It views our relationship with Hashem solely as that of servants to a King rather than children to a Father.

And once a person views that relationship only through the lens of a servant, the very foundation upon which teshuvah rests has been undermined.

This, Rav Kregil explains, is the deeper meaning of the Torah’s warning:

“And it will be a sin upon you.”

The Torah is teaching us more than the simple fact that withholding tzedakah is a sin. By refusing to care for a needy brother on these grounds, a person distances himself from the extraordinary relationship expressed in the words banim atem laHashem Elokeichem—“You are children to Hashem your G-d.”

That privilege carries responsibility. Because we are Hashem’s children, we are called upon to care for His other children. And because we are His children, the door of teshuvah remains open to us.

The privilege and the responsibility come from the very same place: we are children of Hashem.

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Rabbi Leeor Dahan, a graduate of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim/RSA, is a noted scholar and teacher, well-versed in halachah. He currently leads Kehilat Avodat Hashem in Hillcrest, Queens, inspiring his congregation to delve into Torah study and embrace its eternal teachings.