Emor

Parshas Emor, the portion of which is read on each of the holidays, informs us about Pesach, Shavuos, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos. The last posuk in the laws of Shavuos states: ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם, "When you reap the harvest of your land, לא תכלה פאת שדך בקצרך ולקט קצירך לא תלקט, you shall not remove completely the corner of your field as you reap and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest, לעני ולגר תעזב אתם, for the poor and the proselyte shall you leave them."

This posuk seems out of place; why is there one posuk of gifts to the poor amongst the laws of the holidays? Rashi addresses this question and says it teaches that whoever does this mitzvah properly, is considered as if he built the Bais Hamikdash and brought his offerings inside it.

What is so special about this one type of tzedaka that it can mean so much?

There is another aspect to these laws regarding this mitzvah which Rashi explains. When the posuk says תעזוב אותם, "you shall leave them," it means that you can't even help one of the poor people to take it; you have to leave the stalks and go away. The מעייני החיים asks how this makes any sense. The owner of the field just wants to help the poor person, to make it easier for him; he feels for the poor person and wants to help him. Why would that be forbidden?

He answers that the Torah is addressing what could possibly be in the back of a person's mind as he helps the poor person. Even though he's helping him, he still has that feeling that “I'm the boss who's helping out this unfortunate person”. The poor person can feel these types of thoughts and then the help is more of a burden, for the poor person is reminded again how desperate he is. Therefore, the Torah commands to leave it for them and go away for then they feel like it's theirs; it was given to them as a gift from Hashem with no intermediary. The Torah is teaching us how concerned we have to be with someone else's​ feelings.

There's a story told about ר ישעיה one of the students of the גר”א . One Friday afternoon, a wagon full of Jewish businessmen on their way home from the market passed by his town. Reb Yishaya went out to greet them and invited them to stay at his home for Shabbos. They didn't know who he was and thought he just wanted to make money on them, so they declined. Reb Yishaya pleaded with them to stay saying, “it's a long trip for you. It's already Fri afternoon; you won't make it home, so why take a chance of not having a place to stay for Shabbos? I have everything you need; just stay here”. They refused and went on their way. A little while later, a wheel on their carriage broke, so the wagon driver went back to Reb Yishaya on foot, asking him for a new wheel.  He got it for him but, at this point, there was no way to make it to any city before Shabbos. He told the driver to bring everyone back and stay here for Shabbos. Having no choice, they all came back. 

Reb Yishaya greeted them warmly and had his worker took their horses and fed them while he turned to the businessmen and said, “I’m an innkeeper and I don't like to give the bill at the end of the stay. I want you to know up front what it's going to cost so, for two nights and four meals, the price is five gold coins each. The men were astounded at the price and said to themselves, “this is what we thought at the beginning. He just wanted our money.” Having no choice, though, they agreed. However, once they knew what they were paying, they asked for the best food and drink and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. On Sunday when it was time to leave, each one put his payment on the table and also asked how much they owed him for the new wheel. How shocked they were when he refused to take payment for anything.

When asked why he told them the price up front when he wasn't going to take payment anyway, he said that he wanted them to ask for anything they wanted without feeling any embarrassment. This way, they could eat and drink as much as they wanted and really enjoy as they did. 

This shows how careful we must be with people's feelings. Especially at this time, when we remember the students of Rebbi Akiva, and are told that they were punished because they didn't show each other honor, we must learn this lesson. Rebbi Akiva is the one who brought Torah back to the Jewish people when it was practically forgotten. Maybe this is why the Torah puts this law at the end of the laws of Shavuos, when received the Torah, to teach us that Torah and caring about others are synonymous.  Rebbi Akiva's students were lacking this, so the rebirth of Torah couldn't come through them. The Torah is teaching us how careful we each must be with someone else's feelings, in all circumstances!