Parashat Behar- Giving Charity in Times of Financial Hardship
Parashat Behar discusses the important Misva of supporting one’s fellow Jew who has fallen upon hard times: "Should your brother become impoverished, and his means falter with you, you shall support him…so that he may live with you" (25:35).
Some Rabbis noted that the Torah here describes a situation where a person becomes impoverished "with you," together with the individual whom the Torah commands to give charity. What this might mean, some have explained, is that the Torah speaks of a situation of widespread financial hardship, when all people – rich and poor alike – find themselves in economic straits. The Torah instructs the wealthier members of the nation that even if they have come upon hard times and do not enjoy the kind of material standards to which they have grown accustomed, they must realize that the poorer members of the nation are suffering far more severely. If the wealthy businessman sees his business faltering, then instead of focusing only on his losses, he should also think about the plight of the truly underprivileged. If he is experiencing hardship, then he can only imagine the extent to which the poor are suffering, how they cannot even afford basic necessities such as food and clothing.
The verse states in Tehillim (41:2), "Fortunate is he who acts intelligently toward the destitute person, on a day of trouble, Hashem shall rescue him." The straightforward reading of the verse is that God will rescue the charitable person on the day when trouble befalls him. However, this verse may also be read as referring to a person who "acts intelligently toward the destitute person," recognizing the need to give charity, even "on a day of trouble," when he – the donor – experiences hard times. In periods when everybody is experiencing hardship, a certain degree of "intelligence" is needed to recognize the importance of Sedaka. Many people excuse themselves from this Misva during difficult times, in light of their own loss of income. In this verse, King David extols those who are "intelligent" enough to realize that as much as they are suffering, the poor as suffering to a far greater extent. They wisely understand that periods of economic hardship require even a higher level of generosity, and call upon us to go to even greater lengths to assist the impoverished among our nation.
A bad economy is not an excuse for failing to give charity. To the contrary, it is a reason for us to commit ourselves with even greater devotion to the important Misva of Sedaka, and to see to it that every Jew is cared for and given what he needs.
