A Presentation of Partners in Torah & the Kohelet Foundation MENTOR NOTE: Our Primary Goal in This Session Is to Introduce Y
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A PRESENTATION OF PARTNERS IN TORAH & THE KOHELET FOUNDATION SOURCE DISCUSSION MENTOR MATERIAL QUESTIONS NOTES MENTOR PRACTICAL SUMMARY NOTE LESSON MENTOR NOTE: Our primary goal in this session is to introduce your partners to some lesser known aspects of tzedakah and thereby enhance their appreciation of this mitzvah. Six of the first seven sources in this session share a common principle; that preserving and building the dignity of the recipient of tzedakah is as important, or possibly more important than the tzedakah itself. Your goal is to help your partners discover that underlying principle and identify which source “does not belong”. The questions posed after each source are meant to help your partner discover unique ideas in that source that are somewhat independent of the shared principle. As you go through the sources therefore, try to solicit their answers to the specific question, without directing them to the common thread. That discussion should be postponed until after completing all seven sources. SERIES 1 ■ VOLUME 11 ■ MENTOR EDITION ■ COPYRIGHT 2010 © PARTNERS IN TORAH ■ paGE 1 Partners in Torah is a division of Torah Umesorah NOTE: ix of the first seven sources in this session share a common principle. As you S review these sources, try to identify which source does not belong and a shared principle in the remaining six sources. SOURCE 1: TALMUD, KETUBOT 67B ַמר ְּעּוק ָּׁב ֲא ָּׁהו ַה ְּענָּׁי ְּא ִבשיְּבבּוֵתיּה ַד ֲָּׁהוה ָּׁרגִ יל ָּׁ לכ ָּׁיֹומ ְּא ָּׁדש ִדֵיליַּה ְּאר ָּׁב ָּׁעה זּוֵזְּי ָּׁבִציּנֹור ְּא דַדָּׁשא יֹוֶם ָּׁאחד ָּׁא ַמֵר איִזיֶל איֱחֵזַי מאן ָּׁק ָּׁע ִביד ִב ַי ההּוִא ָּׁטיבּות ַא ההּוא ָּׁיֹומא ָּׁנ ְּג ָּׁהא לֵ יּה ְּל ַמר ְּעּוק ָּׁבא ְּל ֵבי ְִּמד ָּׁר ָּׁש ַא ְּאתָּׁי ְּא ְּדִביתהּו ַב ֲהֵדיּה כֵּ�ָּׁיון ד ְַּחזיּו הַּ ְּ ָּׁדק ַא ְּמצלֵי לֵ יּה ְּל ַדָּׁשא ָּׁנ ַפק ַב ְּת ְַּרייהּו ָּׁרהּוִט ַמק ֵמיּה ְַּעיילֵ י ְּל ַההּוַא ָּׁאּתּונא ַד ֲָּׁהוה גְּ ָּׁ הרּופ ָּׁנּור ֲא ָּׁהוה ָּׁק ִא ַמיק ְּלָּׁיין ַכ ְּר ֵעיְּּהדַמר ְּעּוק ָּׁבא ָּׁא ְּמ ָּׁרה לֵ יּה ד ְִּביתהּו ְּשקֹול ַכ ְּר ֵעיְך אֹוִתיַב ַאכ ְּר ַעאֲי חַלש ַד ְּ עֵּתיּה ָּׁא ְּמ ָּׁר ֵהליֲּה ָּׁאנא ְּש ְִּכיח ָּׁנ ְּא בַגוֵּ יְּּה ָּׁדֵביתא ַּוִמק ְּר ָּׁבא אַ הַ ְּנ ָּׁ י י תִ י . ar Ukva had a pauper in his neighborhood [whom he supported, but the M pauper did not know who his benefactor was], for every day [Mar Ukva] was accustomed to toss four zuzim in the socket of [the pauper’s] door [when he was not there]. One day [the pauper] said [to himself], “I will go and see who is doing me this kindness.” That day, Mar Ukva delayed at the study hall. His wife [who was privy to Mar Ukva’s charitable custom] accompanied him [on the way to the pauper’s house]. As soon as [the pauper] saw that [Mar Ukva] was slanting the door’s pivot [to place the money in the socket], he went out after them. [They] ran away from him [to keep Mar Ukva’s identity secret and thus spare the pauper from shame]. [Eventually, to escape the pauper,] [Mar Ukva and his wife] entered a certain oven, whose coals had been removed [but which was still burning hot]. [As they sat inside,] Mar Ukva’s feet were becoming singed. His wife [whose feet were not affected] said to him, “Take your feet and place them upon my feet.” [Mar Ukva] felt dejected. [His wife] said to him, “I am generally present in the house [were the paupers can find me easily], and [also] the benefit [they derive from] my [charity] is immediate.” DISCUssION QUESTION 1: What is troubling about this story? SERIES 1 ■ VOLUME 11 ■ MENTOR EDITION ■ COPYRIGHT 2010 © PARTNERS IN TORAH ■ paGE 2 Partners in Torah is a division of Torah Umesorah MENTOR NOTE: The issues your partners may identify include: 1) why Mar Ukva went to such lengths to hide his identity from his beneficiary, 2) why Mrs. Ukvah’s actions were more meritorious than her husband’s, and 3) why Mar Ukvah was singed. Each of these questions are addressed in the Mentor Summary SOURCE 2: DEUTERONOMY 15:11 ִכי ליא ְּיֶח ַד ֶל ְּאביֹוִן מק ֶרב ָּׁה ָּׁא ֶרַץ על ֵכן ָּׁאני ִכי ְּמ ַצוִָּך לֵ אמיר ָּׁפתי ַח ְּ ּתפַּת ֶח אַת ְּידָך ְּל ָּׁא ִחיָך ַל ֶֶעִניָך ְּּול ְֶּאב י ְּנ ְָּך ְּבַאר ֶצָך. or destitute people will not cease to exist within the Land; therefore I command F you, saying, “You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your destitute in your Land.” DISCUssION QUESTION 2: n that a poor person’s condition can be alleviated with money, it would appear that I given enough money there might come a time when there are no longer any poor people. Why do you imagine the Torah views the ongoing presence of poor people as an absolute? SOURCE 3: MAIMONIDES, MISHNEH TORAH, LAWS OF GIFTS TO THE POOR, 10:4 ָּׁכ ַל הּנֹוֵתן ְּצ ָּׁד ָּׁקה ְּל ָּׁע ִנְּי בֵסֶבר ָּׁפנִ ים ָּׁרעֹות ָּּׁופ ָּׁנ יְּוכבּושֹות ַב ַק ְּר ַקעֲ, אִפלּו ָּׁנ ַתן לֶֹו אֶלף ְּזהּוִביִם - ֵאבד ְּזכּותֹו ְּו ְִּהפ ִָּׁסידּה. hoever gives charity to a poor person with an unpleasant countenance and with W his face buried in the earth, he loses and destroys his merit even if he gives him 1000 gold pieces. DISCUssION QUESTION 3: hile it is understandable that a pleasant countenance is important in dealing W with others, especially someone who is suffering from poverty, how can the merit of giving 1,000 gold coins be lost simply because the giver didn’t make the gift in an appropriate way? SERIES 1 ■ VOLUME 11 ■ MENTOR EDITION ■ COPYRIGHT 2010 © PARTNERS IN TORAH ■ paGE 3 Partners in Torah is a division of Torah Umesorah SOURCE 4: TALMUD GITTIN 7B ֲאִפילּו ָּׁע ִנַי ִהמ ְּת ַפ ְּר ֵנִסמן ָּׁהְּצד ָּׁק ַה יֲעֶשה ְּצ ָּׁד ָּׁקה. ven a poor man who receives his support from charity should [also] devote [some- E thing] to charity. DISCUssION QUESTION 4: he poor person is apparently expected to give away funds he himself received T from charity. Wouldn’t it be far more efficient to calculate what he himself needs, give him this amount, and relieve both he and the community of the added burden? SOURCE 5A: DEUTERONOMY 15:8 ִכ ַי פתי ַח תִּ ְּ פַּת ֶח את ָּׁי ְּדָך לֹו ְּו ַהֶעֵבט תַּ ֲעִביֶטּנּו ִד ַי ְּמחסירֲֹו ֶאשר ְּיֶח ַסר לֹו. ather, you shall open your hand to him; you shall lend him his requirement, what- R ever is lacking to him. SOURCE 5B: TALMUD KETUBOT 67B ֲֶאשר ְּיֶח ַסר לֲֹו - אִפילּו סּוס לִ ְּ רכֹוב ָּׁע ָּׁליו ְּו ֶעֶבד ָּׁלרּוץ ְּל ָּׁפ ָּׁניו. ָּׁא ְּמרּו ָּׁע ָּׁליַו עִל ֵהל ַל ָּׁהז ֵקן ֶש ָּׁל ַקח ְּל ָּׁענִ י ֶבן טּוִביֶם ָּׁאחד סּוס לִ ְּ רכֹוב ָּׁע ָּׁליו ְּו ֶכֶבד ָּׁלרּוץ ְּל ָּׁפ ָּׁניו. ַפ ַעַם אַחת, ליא ָּׁמ ָּׁצ ֶא עֶבד ָּׁלרּוץ ְּל ָּׁפ ָּׁניו, ְּו ָּׁרץ ְּל ָּׁפ ָּׁניו ְּש ָֹּׁלש ִה מיִלין. hatever is lacking to him” – Even [if he is lacking] a horse to ride upon and “W a servant to run before him [you must provide these for him].1 They said about Hillel the Elder that he [once] took for a pauper from an aristocratic family a horse to ride upon and a servant to run before him. On one occasion, [Hillel] could not find a servant to run before [the pauper], so [Hillel] [himself] ran before him for three milin (ed. approximately 2 miles). (1) Although they remain extravagances for the vast majority of people, they have become necessities for him, i.e. items for which he feels a lack if he does not have them. The Shitah Mekubetzes cites the view in the name of the Geonim that these expenses are covered by the charity fund only as long as the current status of the formerly wealthy man is not widely known. In this case, the charity fund will assist him in maintaining his lifestyle so that his poverty will not become public knowledge. However, once it is already publicized that he is a pauper, he is given no more than any other pauper (see also Meiri to 68a). From Artscroll Schottenstein, Ketubot 67b, note 7 SERIES 1 ■ VOLUME 11 ■ MENTOR EDITION ■ COPYRIGHT 2010 © PARTNERS IN TORAH ■ paGE 4 Partners in Torah is a division of Torah Umesorah DISCUssION QUESTION 5: hy would the Talmud mandate that a poor person receive these luxuries – a W horse and a person to run in front of him to announce his arrival – when it is quite likely that few of the community members contributing to the charity fund would themselves have had these luxuries? SOURCE 6: JERUSALEM TALMUD, SHEK ALIM 5:15 ‘אשרי משכיל אל דל’ )תהלים מא, ב( -’אשרי נותן אל דל’ אין כתוב כאן, אלא ‘אשרי משכיל,’ זה המשתדל בצדקה לעשותה. כיצד היה רבי יונתן עושה? כשהוא רואה בן טובים )בן למשפחה טובה( שירד מנכסיו, היה הולך אצלו ואומר לו: בשביל ]מאחר[ ששמעתי עליך שנפלה לך ירושה במדינת-הים )מעבר לים(, טול ואתה פורע. משלקח - היה אומר לו: במתנה נתתי לך. raiseworthy is he who contemplates the needy” (Tehillim 41:2) – “Praiseworthy “P is he who gives to the needy” is not written here, rather “praiseworthy is he who contemplates”. The reference here is to the one who puts an [extra] effort into fulfilling one’s tzedaka obligation. How was Rabbi Yonatan accustomed to do this? When he would see the son of good people (someone from a reputable family) who had lost his possessions, he would approach him and say: Accept this loan as I heard that you have received an inheritance overseas.