STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
RE’EH 5778
“WITH
DIGNITY”
Rav
Mottel Weinberg zt’l, the beloved Montreal Rosh Yeshiva, would join his Yeshiva
for the summer in Camp Harim in the Catskills Mountains. Rav Weinberg developed
a close relationship with Rav Yankel Horowitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Bais Meir,
who also spent his summers there.
Rav
Mottel would get dressed early on Friday afternoon, and would learn in the Bais
Medrash until Shabbos began.
One
Friday the two Roshei Yeshiva met and were conversing outside the Bais Medrash.
Suddenly two bochurim ran by, engaged in a water fight, oblivious to their
surroundings. As one of them rounded a tree, he unwittingly sprayed Rav Mottel
with water. The bochur was paralyzed from shame, and stood silently not knowing
what to do with himself. Dripping with water, Rav Mottel smiled and said, “What
can I do? The Gemara says that one who damages on Erev Shabbos is exempt,
because he has a right to be in a rush before Shabbos.”[1]
Anyone
who has ever attended or worked in an overnight camp knows how important
visiting day is. For the camp it’s an opportunity to show off the camp to
parents and grandparents, for campers it’s a chance to show their parents why
they love camp, and staff are excited to receive tips from their camper’s
parents, as an added bonus for all of their hard work. For that reason, they
call it Palm Sunday.
Each
summer, during the days prior to visiting day in Camp Dora Golding, the
lifeguards chant at meals “tip your lifeguard”. It’s a not-so-subtle-reminder
that campers should remind their parents to include the lifeguards when they
give tips. (Tact is not one of their strong points.)
In
response, I often announce to the campers that the next time they are boating
on the lake and see a lifeguard on a boat out there, they should make sure to
tip the boat over, as per their request.
After
six years of servitude, the Torah requires a Jewish slave to be set free. The
Torah adds that when he is released, ”...You shall not send him
empty-handed; you shall adorn him with gifts...”[2]
It’s
obvious that this gift is not his compensation, because that has been paid to
him when he was originally hired. So why is there a special obligation to give
him valuable gifts at the time of his departure?
Rav
Yochanan Zweig explains that in our society it is accepted that one offer a tip
for services rendered on his behalf. It is intriguing however, that tips are
given for certain services, but not others.
For
example, if a person checks in his luggage curbside, it is accepted that he tip
the porter. However, if he checks his luggage in at the counter, he does not
tip the attendant. Similarly, one tips a barber, but not a cashier.
Rav
Zweig explains that when one performs a personal service for another, to a
certain extent he has demeaned himself for the other person’s convenience or
benefit. The tip is the means by which the recipient
restores dignity to the person who served him; it demonstrates his
appreciation for what has done for him.
The
Torah requires that we give parting gifts to the Jewish slave, since, for six
years he has been at our beck and call, giving us the highest level of personal
service. We are obligated, therefore, to restore his dignity.
That
is why the Torah employs very usual terminology for the giving of this gift.
Instead of the more common verb used for giving, "titein", the
Torah uses "ha'aneik", which is not found anywhere else in the
Torah in that form.
Rashi
explains that the word comes from the noun "anaka", which
means jewelry worn around the neck. When a person wears jewelry, he feels
elevated, because it gives him a sense of dignity. This is the function of
the gift which is given to the Jewish slave. We are attempting
to restore the dignity that was lost by his six years of
personal service.
In
Parshas Re’eh, the Torah also commands about the mitzva of tzedaka: “Be
open-handed and freely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he lacks.”[3]
The
Gemara[4] explains that when the
pasuk states that a poor person must be provided with what is “sufficient for
his needs”, it means that one is commanded to give him what he personally
needs. This means even a horse to ride on and a slave to run before him, if
that is what he is accustomed to.
The
Gemara relates that Hillel the elder bought for a certain poor man who came
from an aristocratic family a horse to ride on and a slave to run before him.
On one occasion when he could not find a slave to run before him, he himself
ran before him for three miles.
From
the Gemara it is clear that there is a psychological dimension to tzedakah as
well. It is embarrassing to be impoverished, and therefore we have an
obligation to protect the poor person from humiliation and to preserve his
dignity.
The
mishna at the end of Ta’anis relates that on Yom Kippur and the fifteenth of
Av, young women would borrow clothing before they began dancing, ‘so as not to
shame those who do not have.’ There too, the value of maintaining the dignity
of others is taken into account.
The
Torah does not only value chesed and tzedakah but maintaining dignity as well.
When one performs chesed he must also take into account the feelings of the
recipient. He cannot become so intoxicated by his philanthropy that he forgets
about how it feels to need to accept.
One
must always be vigilant about how his words and actions - even positive ones - affect
others.
“You
shall adorn him with gifts”
“For
his need in that which he lacks”
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
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