Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Here’s something surprising. In one perek in our parashah, the Torah says two things that seem to contradict:
אֶ֕פֶס כִּ֛י לֹ֥א יִֽהְיֶה־בְּךָ֖ אֶבְי֑וֹן כִּֽי־בָרֵ֤ךְ יְבָֽרֶכְךָ֙ יהוה בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹֽתֵן־לְךָ֥ נַחֲלָ֖ה לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃
There will be no person who is poor among you, because God will bless you in the land that God your Lord is giving to you as a possession to inherit.
כִּ֛י לֹא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹ֠חַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃
For there will always be a person who is poor on the land, therefore I command you saying, “Open your hand to your brother, to your poor in your land.”
"כִּי לֹא יֶחְדַּל"—מִן הַנִּמְנָע בְּדֶרֶךְ הַטֶּבַע שֶׁיֶּחְדַּל אֶבְיוֹן...
"עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי"—דְּהַמְּרַחֵם עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת מְרַחֲמִין עָלָיו מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם.
“For there will always be a person who is poor”—It’s unlikely, in the natural order of things, for poverty to stop…
“Therefore I command”—If you show compassion for other people, God will show compassion.
The Netziv is saying that poverty doesn't go away all by itself. That's pasuk 11.
But we’re commanded to give tzedakah, and if we do, then God will also show compassion and kindness by getting rid of poverty. That's pasuk 4.
Bekhor Shor has a different way of reading it:
"כִּי" זֶה כְּמוֹ "דִּלְמָא" שֶׁמָּא לֹא יֶחְדַּל הָאֶבְיוֹן מִקֶּרֶב הָאָרֶץ.
This “ki” is like “perhaps,” and it means, “Maybe there will always be a person who is poor.”
According to this interpretation, there is no contradiction. In pasuk 11, Moshe is just pointing out that it’s up to us. Poverty might always be around if we don’t keep the Torah’s rules. But that means that if we do, then we might actually have a society where no one is poor!
- Can the interpretations of the Netziv and Bekhor Shor fit together? How?
- What's so hard about getting rid of poverty? Why haven't people been able to figure that out yet?
- How could following the Torah help end poverty forever?
- How does the Torah want us to think about poor people? If you have enough money to give to others in need, what does the Torah want you to think about that?
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