Weekly Halacha Yomit: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch

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Daily Kitzur Limud (2)

This week's learning:

2nd of Tevet

29 Dec 08

34:1 -4

3rd of Tevet

30 Dec 08

34:5 -13

4th of Tevet

31 Dec 08

34:14 - 35:7

5th of Tevet

1 Jan 09

35:8 - 36:10

6th of Tevet

2 Jan 09

36:11 -26

7th of Tevet

3 Jan 09

36:27 - 37:9

8th of Tevet

4 Jan 09

37:10 - 38:8

"Baruch Hashem Yom Yomi"
Insight on this week's learning
By Daniel Cohen, Programs Director, World Mizrachi

The majority of the laws of Tzedakah are derived from the psukim in Parshat Re'eh – Dvarim 15:7-11 – as quoted in the Kitzur's Hilchot Tzedakah (34:1, 3, 6, and 7). These psukim read as follows:

(7) If there shall be a destitute person among you, any of your brethren in any of your cities, in the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, you shall not harden your heart or close your hand against your destitute brother. (8) Rather you shall open your hand to him; you shall lend him his requirement, whatever is lacking to him. (9) Beware lest there be a lawless thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year approaches, the remission year,” and you will look malevolently upon your destitute brother and refuse to give him – the he may appeal against you to Hashem, and it will be a sin upon you. (10) You shall surely give him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for in return for this matter, Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking. (11) For destitute people will not cease to exist within the Land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your destitute in your Land.” [my emphasis]

It seems strange that the psukim should mention the Land of Israel when talking about charity – surely the laws of charity apply not only in Eretz Yisrael, but also in the Diaspora? This does not seem to be a Mitzva connected to the Land, so why mention it?

The Sifri learns that the poor of one's own city take precedence over from another city from the order of the psukim. Furthermore, he concludes that the poor of Eretz Yisrael take precedence over those from the Diaspora. The Torah Temimah, commenting on this Sifri, concludes that if someone living in the Diaspora is approached by two poor people, one from another town and one from Eretz Yisrael, the poor person from Eretz Yisrael takes priority. He then goes on to say that those poor from Yerushalayim take precedence over those from other places in Eretz Yisrael, due to the extra Kedusha there is inbuilt in Yerushalayim. According to him, therefore, the order is as follows: a) the poor of one's own city; b) the poor of Yerushalayim; c) the poor of the rest of Eretz Yisrael; d) the poor of other cities outside Eretz Yisrael.

We see here an inexorable link between charity and Eretz Yisrael. Not only that, but the Kitzur (34:1) tells us of the link between Tzedakah and the redemption:

Israel will be redeemed only through tzedakah, as [Isaiah 1:27] states: "Zion will be redeemed through judgement and those who return to her through tzedakah."

Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks explains through a beautiful parable connected with Eretz Yisrael exactly why it is that Tzedakah is so important:

A later sage noted something strange about the geography of the Holy Land. There are two seas in Israel: the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The latter is full of life: fish, birds, vegetation. The former, as its name suggests, contains no life at all. Yet they are both fed by the same river, the Jordan. The difference, he said, is that the Sea of Galilee receives water at one end and gives out water at the other. The Dead Sea receives but does not give. The Jordan ends there. To receive without reciprocating is a kind of death. To live is to give.
[To Heal a Fractured World, p41]

If you have any comments or feedback, please email daniel@worldmizrachi.org .

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