Weekly Mission: Parshat Re'eh

Parshat Re’eh

It is in fact the truth that the cultural norm forces us to live in a completely judgmental society. We may see people of different skin color, different life styles, different financial situations, different clothing and different interests, and to many people who do not resemble their comfortable life style, those people are considered weird and sometimes “crazy”.

We all have different Ideas of what we want in life. But sometimes we feel that we want what others may have in life. We sometimes watch people walking in the streets and we envy them. We envy them for their looks for their talent for their friends or for their knowledge. Sometimes we stay in this pursuit for something that is not ours to receive. For an example I want to be like Michael Phelps, but I know that I G-d has not given me the ability to swim the way can. I am not a… how you say, “Water baby”?

In this week’s Parsha HaShem commands the Jewish people to always lend a helping hand to fellow Jews in need. He also goes on to say lend to the world, but never borrow. Never have debt at always be givers and never takers. HaShem commands us not to be greedy in our possession, and shows us that we will be blessed through the action of giving.

“Giving, you shall give him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for because of this matter, HaShem your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking. (15:11)”

There is a story about a man who was very poor. He had no money to keep his family satiated, and day by day he grew wearier of uncertainty of supporting his family. When he went to speak to his rebbe, the rebbe told him to go to a certain town 2 sunsets away; there he can find a certain land owner who can give him thousands. The poor man knocks on the land owners’ door to only get shoved away. Ashamed and confused the poor man travels back to his town and sits before his rebbe. He asks “Rebbe, I thought you said you knew him, I thought you said he would give me money, and he can help me? He laughed in my face and shoved me away!” The Rebbe says: “Holy brother, return to him and tell him I sent you, Tell him I said that I have an account with him”. So the poor man travels again and again the land owner shoves him away. At the end of the day, the poor man got his money from another source.

Years later a hairy dirty old man stumbles into the yeshiva were this rebbe learns. In despair this poor man tells the rebbe of his misfortunes: “ I was once a wealthy land owner who was held on the highest prestige, I had millions and was loved by all. But then one day when I was not home my house burnt down and all my riches and glory burnt down with it. I have no money and nowhere to live; please can you spare some money for me? The Rabbi then says “My friend didn’t a poor man like yourself once come to you years earlier? Didn’t he say that a Rabbi sent him to you so that you would give him a share of what you had? Didn’t you send him away!? When I was up in heaven HaShem wanted to give me a position in the world to have a very large sum of money. I realized with all that money, Torah learning would have been more difficult, so I asked to give it you. But now you have taken it for granted you didn’t give my money to others you didn’t reach out your hand like HaShem commanded you, and now you are destitute yourself. HaShem took away which wasn’t yours in the first place!”

We sometimes Judge and envy people for what they have or what they don’t have, we sometimes compare to others because we feel they may be lacking in what we have or which is considered normal, and we envy those who have “more” than we have. It is a grave sin to be jealous of someone yet we all seem to have trouble with this attribute. It is important for us to realize that things come and go faster than one can imagine. We all are holding on to money that we can potentially loose or get ripped from our hands at any second. We have to stop holding more and start giving back.

We all have our destined future, we have all been delt the cards that we were given only because these are the best cards that we can get for our destined future. To envy or judge someone is foolish only because we don’t know what the person will do or whether they have a full house or not.

This week I will try to: Recognize that what I have in this world is only meant for my personal journey in life. I must not be stingy with my money but at the same time maintain a level of frugality. I will try to be less judgemental of other around me because they are different than me. I will give to those who are in need because I know that my duty as a Jew is to do so.

Note: Tzedakah(Charity) can be given in 1000 ways it’s just up to you to figure out what that means. I think Charity is defined as doing something for someone or giving something to someone who is incapable of doing or attaining themselves. Giving Tzedakah could mean helping someone who can’t lift groceries or jumpstart their car.

Shabbat Shalom!!