Parshas Mishpatim
Help Me Help Myself
“If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its
burden...you shall help repeatedly with
him” (23:5)
The Torah relates that we are
obligated to help a person in a predicament
even if we strongly dislike him. The
terminology used by the Torah is “azov
ta’azov imo” - “you shall help repeatedly
with him”. The use of the term “azov” to
describe the assistance which we are
obligated to offer is perplexing, for “azov” is
usually translated as “leave”, as we find in
Sefer Vayikra “la’ani ta’azvenu velo
silketenu” - “you shall leave it for the poor,
do not gather it”.[1] This would lend the
opposite interpretation to our verse, i.e. “if
you see a person requiring help, you should
leave him”. Why does the Torah use a word
to describe assistance which has the opposite
connotation?
The Vilna Gaon teaches that the true
definition of a word can be gleaned from the
first time it is introduced in the Torah.
The Torah uses the term “azov” when describing a man leaving his
parents’ home to find a mate for himself: “Al kein ya’azov ish es aviv
ve’es imo
vedavak be’ishto” - “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother
and cling to his wife”.[2] The reason
why marriage is described in terms of leaving the parents’ home is to
teach us that marriage requires an
individual to separate from his parents and acquire his own independence.
Only then is he ready to establish
a new home with his wife. The term “azov” does not only mean “take leave”,
rather “become independent”
as well.
The greatest assistance we can offer to a person in need is to bring him
to a point where he no longer
requires assistance. In so doing, we are giving him his independence. The
Torah is teaching us that when we
assist our fellow man, it should be done as an act of “azov”, providing
the recipient with the ability to leave
us, to no longer need our assistance.
1. 2.Bereishis
2 :24
What About The Starving Children In India?
“You shall worship Hashem, your G-d, and He shall bless your bread and
your water…” (23:25)
The Torah teaches that upon entering Eretz Yisroel, we are commanded to
destroy all vestiges of
idolatry and show complete allegiance to the Almighty. Doing so insures
that He will bless our bread and
water. The Talmud states that we should not read the word in the verse
as “u’veirach” - “and He will
bless” (your bread, etc.), rather as “u’vareich” - “and you shall bless”
(prior to partaking of your bread and
water). This, continues the Talmud, is a Scriptural allusion to the
requirement to make a blessing before
eating or drinking.[1] In an earlier section in the same Tractate, the
Talmud records that no Scriptural source is
necessary for the obligation to make a blessing, for it is obvious that
prior to receiving benefit from
Hashem’s world we must ask permission in the form of a blessing.[2] How do
we reconcile these two sections
of the Talmud?
As a rule, when the Sages offer an alternative reading for a word in the
Torah, it is not to contradict
the original interpretation, rather to shed light upon it. How does
changing the meaning from “He will bless”
to “you shall bless” accomplish this goal?
The Talmud states that a person who does not make a blessing prior to
partaking from this world
steals from his father and mother. His father, explains the Talmud, is
Hashem, and his mother is the
Assembly of Israel.[3] What is the notion of stealing from the Assembly of
Israel?
According to some commentaries the root of the word “beracha” - “blessing”
is “berech” - “knee”, for
when reciting a blessing, we are figuratively kneeling before Hashem,
submitting ourselves to Him as the
Creator of the world; we ask His permission prior to benefiting from that
which is His. The Rashba offers
another interpretation for “beracha”, saying that it stems from the
word “beraicha” - “pool” or “source”; an
object can only be blessed when it is connected to the source from which
all abundance emanates, i.e.
Hashem.[4]
When reciting a blessing we are asking for permission to benefit from
Hashem’s world, as well as
being cognizant of the fact that by benefiting, we are causing the
depletion of some of the world’s resources.
We therefore appeal to the source of all blessing to restore this lost
resource, ensuring that others may benefit
from it as well. Reciting a blessing over an item that we are about to
consume connects it back to its source
so that the blessing of abundance can be bestowed upon it, enabling this
resource’s replenishment.
Failing to recite a blessing results in two wrongdoings: We are stealing
from our Father by taking that
which is His without permission, and we are also stealing from our mother,
i.e. society, for we are depleting
the world of a resource without ensuring its replenishment. It is
concerning the first notion, the requirement
to request permission prior to partaking from Hashem’s world, that the
Talmud comments that no scriptural
source is necessary. However, the requirement to ask Hashem to restore the
depleted resource is not an idea
that we would have derived had it been left to our own intellectual
capacities. Therefore, for this second
notion a scriptural source is presented. The verse states “He will bless
you (with abundance)” but it can be
read “you shall bless”. There is no contradiction between the two, for
both ideas coalesce. For us to receive
Hashem’s blessing of abundance we are required to bless our food. By
connecting our food to the source of
blessing, the blessings of abundance will be bestowed upon us
1.Berachos 48b
2.Ibid 35a
3.Ibid 35b
4.Responsa5:51 See Nefesh Hachayim II: 2
