Your Gashmiyut Is My Ruchniyut

The Torah reading on the first days of Sukkot outlines the yamim tovim of the year and their sacrifices. In the middle of the detailing of all the holidays, the Torah repeats the mitzvah of Leket and Pei’ah – leaving a portion of your harvest for the poor. Rashi is troubled by the placement of this repetition in the middle of the descriptions of the holidays. Rashi explains that the Torah is teaching us: “Whoever gives leket, shik’chah and pei’ah to a poor person properly, the Torah considers it as if he built the Holy Temple and brought all of his sacrifices in it.”

This Rashi is very difficult to understand. What possible comparison is there between this simple mitzvah of leaving a portion to the poor man, and the colossal mitzvah of bringing all of the sacrifices on each holiday? And even more, how can giving charity be equal to the building of the Beit HaMikdash?

 

The Heart of our Nation

The center point of each moed is the avodah done in the Beit HaMikdash. It is difficult for us to imagine the holiness invested, and the spiritual accomplishments that are attained via the korbanos being brought.

In the days of the Beit HaMikdash, a kohen was a holy Jew who spent his life dedicated towards the spirituality. From his earliest youth he was trained in learning, eventually to join the ranks of the Torah teachers in Israel. Only when he became 25 was he ready to begin his apprenticeship as a kohen. He would spend five years learning, preparing, and practicing, and then for only the next 20 years was her permitted to serve. As there were thousands of kohanim, each kohen would only get to do limited parts of the actual service, and even that for only two weeks out of a year.

For each Yom Tov, a team of hundreds of the holiest people of the generation were involved in the preparations and the actual service. With the L’viim singing, and the rest of the Jewish nation waiting, the assigned kohen went through the actual process. Scripted from beginning to end, he had to have the exact intentions throughout and had to follow the procedure to the letter.

These korbanos affect the upper worlds as well as the physical world in a profound manner. The Gemara tells us that if the gentiles knew the impact of the sacrifices, they would surround the Beit HaMikdash with armies, and not allow anything to interfere.

How can Rashi say that when a man leaves part of his produce for the poor man, it is equivalent to all of this? All he did was not pick up the droppings from his harvest and leave a corner of his field to the poor. In what way can this be compared to the spiritual impact of having built the Holy Temple and having had brought all of the sacrifices?

The answer to this can best be understood by focusing on a concept that Chazal share with us:

 

The Great Opportunity to Help Another

“More than what the rich man does for the poor man, is what the poor man does for the rich man” (Midrash Rabbah Rus 5:9).

The reason for this is based on the very purpose of Creation. Hashem created man to give to him. By placing man in this world and giving him free will, Hashem allowed man the opportunity of perfecting himself, and enjoying the greatest pleasure: basking in Hashem’s presence forever. In accordance with the level of perfection that man reaches here, he will be able to enjoy closeness to Hashem.

The measure of all perfection is Hashem. The more like Hashem man is, the more perfect he is, and the closer to Hashem he is. The Torah is the system of spiritual perfection. Its mitzvos bring a person nearer to Hashem by making him more like Hashem.

Hashem needs nothing and does nothing for Himself. This entire Creation and everything in it was fashioned to benefit others. Hashem is the Benefactor. And so, the more of a giver a person is, the more like Hashem he is, and thereby the more perfect.

 

Hashem is Perfect

There is, however, one critical observation. Hashem is very good at doing that which Hashem does. Hashem doesn’t need help in running the world. And, Hashem has lots and lots of money. If Hashem so wished it to be, there wouldn’t be poor people, and even more: The entire concept of poverty and wealth wouldn’t exist. Hashem created a world with different sorts of people: some strong and some weak, some brilliant and some not, some wealthy and some poor. But it wasn’t by accident, and it wasn’t because Hashem ran out of money. Hashem created the world this way to allow people the opportunity to use their strengths and talents, their resources and situations. If man does that, not only does he grow, but he is also credited with the accomplishment.

If a wealthy person sustains a poor man, it is considered as if he gave life to the person. Even though it's Hashem’s world, and even though Hashem gave the wealth to the rich man, if the wealthy man gives to the poor man, he is credited with saving him.

This seems to be the answer to the Rashi.

Granted the kohanim bringing the avodah is a spiritual act of extraordinary impact. But the source and the measure of all holiness is Hashem. The way that Hashem shows Himself in this world is through giving. When man gives to others, he is acting like Hashem, and so there can be nothing holier.

The Torah is teaching us that when you leave over your leket and shik’chah, you are acting like Hashem as much as you can. When I take care of another’s needs, that is spirituality – not second rate, not some add on – this is the highest level of spirituality.

This concept has particular relevance, as we find much of the spiritual aspirations today are focused on certain mitzvos. While all mitzvot are holy, we need to remain cognizant that the aim of all of the mitzvos is to bring us closer to Hashem. The way we do that is to be like Hashem as much as we are able. The more that we are focused on the needs of others, the more like Hashem we become.

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Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier, director of Tiferes Bnei Torah: Yeshiva Programs for Working People; says “the Shmuz”. The Shmuz is a series of powerful, life changing Torah lectures, dealing with the issues facing thinking Bnei Torah, in today’s world. They are available at www.TheShmuz.com  or by calling 866-613-TORAH (8672).