Judaism has Mitzvot and instructions that cover so many areas of our lives, and this week’s Torah reading highlights a whole range of such laws. These include laws from how we treat our workers and the poor, to how we treat our own body as in tattoos, self-harm, and more. It also includes laws about fair justice and about not showing favoritism in a legal system to either the wealthy and the powerful or to the poor and to those who have less means. It includes laws regarding agriculture and how we farm, how we plant and several laws concerning what we should do with our produce once we have harvested it. There is also mention in this week’s portion about social attitudes and not taking revenge or bearing a grudge and then of course there is the ultimate commandment in the Torah “Love your fellow as yourself”.
Each one of these topics has been discussed, learned and implemented for thousands of years and each one is worthy of its own article, as the implications and meaning that is contained within them, is so important and powerful.
I would like to share one simple idea which I think is also very powerful and telling of the Torah’s attitude and perspective to how we view our work and success in life.
Planting & Profits
There are two sets of laws in this week’s Torah Reading, one concerns laws of planting and growing in terms of not cross breeding and overly playing around with nature, and a second set of laws that talk about how we are to distribute the produce to the poor, needy, widows and converts. Some of the examples mentioned in this week’s reading include, leaving a corner of the field that is not harvested and left for the poor to come and take, leaving small stalks or clusters of grapes that were left behind in the main harvest for the poor, and also to not pick up the small parts of produce that drop as the harvest is being completed.
Common sense would tell you, that when teaching such laws, one would first teach the laws about the planting process itself and then teach the laws about what to do with the harvest. Yet the order in the Torah is actually the opposite, with first the laws about charitable giving being written and then later the laws of how to plant which seemingly should have come first. Why is this the case?
One of the explanations is, that the specific order is conveying to us an important principle about our work and earnings which is fundamental to being a Jew and our approach to others.
Is Charity a nice thing or the right thing?
Charity is central to the needs of society and how a healthy and moral community and society can function. The question that we often think about is, is Charity a nice thing to do or the right thing to do? Meaning is charity more of a voluntary thing that we choose to do out of the goodness of our hearts but we are not truly obligated to do so, or perhaps, is charity an obligation and critical to how we go about our lives and live as a society and not just an optional afterthought?
Chassidic teachings suggest, that the order of the laws in this week’s portion is very telling and gives clarity to the above question. G-d seeks to lay out right from the get go, even before one has planted, that part of what grows is not going to belong to the one who is planting it or the owner, rather from the very beginning some of the produce that will grow is destined to be shared with others who are less fortunate.
It is for this reason, that the Torah doesn’t even start off with the laws of planting itself, rather instead it talks about the attitude and mindset one should keep in mind right from the get go about how we go about our business and earnings and what some of this is destined for. In addition, just like there are things in life that G-d doesn’t want us mixing together as in cross breeding, so too, the same concept applies with our earnings, where our perspective need to be from the start, that a portion of our earnings are not going to be about ourselves and our own needs, rather they are going to be destined for charity and helping others.
Earning & Mindset in the 21st Century
While planting and harvesting may not be something that we all do these days due to industrial farming, the guiding principles and values that were important then, should be the same values that guide our harvest and profits in whatever field they may be. This approach is both inherently the right mindset for ourselves and ultimately will also help make society and the world around us into a better place for all of mankind.
Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel