blogs/rabbi-huberman

Tzedakah Before We Are Asked #453

Paying Tzedakah Forward
 
There is a story told in our tradition of a young man whose father suddenly passed away leaving him, at the age of twenty, as the family's sole breadwinner.
 
His father was a mohel -- one who performs ritual circumcision -- and he had taught that skill to his son. But as with any sensitive profession, it was initially difficult for the young man to establish his own reputation. Times became difficult.
 
One day, an old family friend summoned the young mohel to his office, and after some brief pleasantries, handed the young man an envelop containing a substantial sum of money. 
 
"Thank you," said the young man,"But I can't accept charity." 
 
"This is not charity," replied the elder. "This is a loan. When things improve you can repay it."
 
Eventually, the young man accepted the loan. Time went by, and things improved and when the young mohel accumulated the sum of the loan, he returned to the family friend's office, intending to repay the outstanding amount in full. 
 
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept that money," insisted the elder. 
 
"But you said this was a loan!" protested the mohel. "I told you that I didn't want to accept charity!" 
 
"It was a loan," agreed the older man, "but I cannot accept repayment. Let me explain," he continued. "There was a time when I was in your shoes. I was young, and things were difficult. A friend offered me a loan and I accepted it. When I went to repay it, he refused to accept the money.
 
"He told me that I should repay the loan to someone else who needs it at some point. Now I've done the same for you, and now I'm refusing to accept it.
 
"Please give it to someone else in similar circumstances whom you may find in the future." And so it was.
 
The story of the young mohel and the family friend is an important one. On one hand it speaks of the elder's strong sense of righteousness, who -- before he was asked -- came to the assistance of someone in need. 
 
But the story also presents a real-life example of an important portion of this week's Torah reading. It teaches us to anticipate need, and maintain the dignity of a fellow human being who has suffered a financial setback.
 
According to the Torah, "When your kinsman becomes poor - if his hand gives way - and his means fails -- then thou shalt uphold him...." (Leviticus 25:35).
 
Our great Biblical commentator, Rashi (1040-1105), compares the fate of a person who has suffered a severe financial setback to a donkey carrying a load.
 
As long as the load is still on top of the donkey, says Rashi, a single person can steady it and keep it in position. But once it falls to the ground, even five people may have trouble raising it back to its place.
 
The issue of financial support is a complex one. Sometimes we fear that if we open our hand, that person will return again and again. 
 
Indeed, each of us has lent money to someone who has not paid it back. Families and friendships are torn apart by this dynamic. The experience has left many sour and cautious.
 
Yet our tradition is clear about the need to act before the "donkey falls." It is better, when someone loses their job or their livelihood, to help keep them in their home, maintain their forms of transportation, and keep them properly clothed. 
 
Because it is from that strength - without public embarrassment -- that a person can most easily rise from the brink of financial and emotional collapse.
 
The Torah does not regard money as a sacred possession, but rather a vehicle to sustain ourselves and others through both good and bad times.
 
The Torah has a profound understanding that there will always be among us those who will have more or less. Each presents its own sacred and ethical challenges.
 
But the Torah also teaches us that life is a gift, and everything we have - no matter how hard we worked for it - comes as a blessing from God.   Our tradition does not ask us to thank God for money, only to use it wisely, as an extension of our inner being.
 
Within Jewish tradition, the word Tzedakah has come to mean "charity" but in truth, the term is closer related to the idea of "justice" or "balance."
 
This week's Torah makes special mention of maintaining the dignity of those in financial need, for there are few of us who have not endured a time of financial challenge. 
 
My father tells the story of a customer who came to him in 1962 soon after he launched his hardware business, and placed a big order of saws, hammers and screwdrivers. It depleted my father's inventory.
 
I remember the celebration in our family as we toasted my dad's success. But that joy was doused a few days later when my father found out that the buyer, soon after making the purchase on credit, declared bankruptcy.
 
"How will we survive?" I remember my parents musing at the kitchen table.
 
But in came my grandparents, Bubbie Rivka and Zaidie Duddie (of blessed memory) who owned a small grocery store. Without being asked, they provided groceries, and agreed to convert various coupons my parents presented to cash.
 
My Zaidie Nissan and Bubba Sheva (of blessed memory) provided extra dollars which served as a down payment to buy a modest house in the suburbs where we could get a fresh start.
 
My parents eventually recovered, rebuilt and flourished and perhaps the reason that I am privileged to share these words with you today, is in part because of my grandparents' chesed(loving-kindness).
 
Our Torah portion reminds us this week that it is important to till and respect the land, and make a living- but perhaps most essentially, to keep an eye out for each other - family, friend or stranger -- and catch each other before we fall.
 
For while each us has worked hard for what we have acquired, we have not accomplished this alone. Let us consider how we can utilize our assets not only to sustain ourselves, but also to elevate the lives of others.
 
For each of us at some point has known financial challenge. Who was the person whose chesed sustained us?
 
Is there someone in our lives who we can help before we are asked? As the Torah teaches us this week, it is our responsibility to hold up those who stumble, before they fall.
 
It also begs the question, as we learn from the story of the elder and the mohel, how can we pay it forward?
 
Shabbat Shalom, v'kol tuv (with all goodness).
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman