| This week's Torah portion contains Moses's review of the laws pertaining to care for the disadvantaged; specifically, when harvesting fields the owner is required to leave behind—for the poor—any sheaves he forgot to gather. The commandment concludes with a blessing for the owner for fulfilling this mitzvah. Although the mitzvah comes about through forgetfulness, with little or no action on behalf of the owner, it is still considered meritorious, just as if he would have proactively given the sheaves to a poor person. The reason for this is that deep down every Jew wants to do the right thing and be as generous as we can. Sometimes, however, we require an extra "push" from above, in the form of forgetting. Nevertheless, we still receive full credit for our tzedakah, as though we did it intentionally. The lesson behind this mitzvah is two fold. Firstly, it offers us an insight to how much G-d loves every Jew, to the extent that He provides us with opportunities for mitzvahs even when we aren't actively seeking them. Every mitzvah we do enhances and strengthens our connection with G-d, and G-d wants as much connection as possible, so He sometimes camouflages these opportunities within regular mundane activities. Even when we aren't looking for it, we still benefit from the mitzvah associated with our actions. Second, seeing how great the blessing for unintentional tzedakah is, imagine how much greater is the blessing for actively engaging in acts of kindness on a regular basis. And with every additional mitzvah we do, especially in the realm of tzedakah, we hasten the coming of Moshiach and the ultimate redemption, may it happen in our times! Shabbat shalom, |
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