Re'eh

In this parsha, there's an unusual Mitzva that goes against the normal kind nature of the Jewish people. Bnei Yisroel is told to wipe out an עיר הנדחת , a city where some of the inhabitants convinced the entire city to go serve idols. The Mitzva is to wipe out the entire city & burn it to the ground. After that command, the posuk continues with an apparently total contradiction. It states ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך , and Hashem will give you mercy & be merciful to you.

The Gemara in Shabbos learns from this posuk כל המרחם על הבריות מרחמין עליו מן שמים , whoever has pity on living beings, Hashem will have pity on him. The אור החיים elaborates &  says that since the command is to kill out an entire city, the act will infuse a person with an evil heart. As the Arabs tell us, the ones that murder at the word of the king have great enjoyment while they are killing. Any thought of mercy is foreign to them. They become ruthless, pretty much like the terrorists of today. To counter that, Hashem promises that even though naturally you would nowbecome ruthless, Hashem promises to give you mercy. Since Hashem runs the world מידה כנגד מידה, one who doesn't have mercy on others, Hashem won't have mercy on him.

Using this logic Rav Yisroel Salant explained a story in the gemara. During the time when the rains weren't coming, Rebbi Eliezer went up to daven; said twenty four prayers & still wasn't answered. Then Rebbi Akiva got up, said Avinu Malkinu & the rains poured down. The rabbis were busy talking, wondering why Rebbi Akiva was answered & not Rebbi Eliezer when a heavenly voice said, “it’s not because one is greater than the other, but rather because this one is מעביר על מידותיו & this one isn't. A question begs an answer here. If one lets things slide & doesn't get offended, then he is greater than the other. Why did the בת קול say that they were equal?

Rav Yisroel explains that there really was no difference between them in greatness. One, however, was a student of Bais Shamai whose method of serving Hashem was by the strict letter of the law while Rebbi Akiva was a student of Bais Hillel whose method was more easygoing. Neither was greater than the other; they just followed a different philosophy. So why was Rebbi Akiva answered? For Hashem runs the world מידה כנגד מידה & when Rebbi Akiva, who was  מעביר על מידותיו, asked for something, Hashem had to be  מעביר על מידותיו too, & answer him.

We see this concept, as well, by Tzedaka. If someone sees his income shrinking, he should give more tzedaka. That seems absurd! One has less so he should give more? However, it’s this same concept of מידה כנגד מידה: if Hashem sees that you are giving, then He will give you too.

This teaches us a great lesson about how careful we have to be when we interact with other people. We must treat them as we would want to be treated, for, in essence, that is what will happen to us. However we treat other people, Hashem will treat us!