Oseh Mishapat Yatom – Responding to Those in Need
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s sermon in 5777
On Tisha B’av I made an appeal on behalf of the Solomon family, who were brutally attacked at their Friday night table, losing 3 members of their family.
We sent out a follow up email to the entire shul list.
We received 18 contributions. To make matters worse, one of those was from Tamar and I, another from a family member of mine who is on the shul email list and a third from our office administrator.
That leaves 15 shul members who sent in contributions to aid a family of terror victims.
That is distressing, more on that in a moment.
In this morning’s parsha we find a description of Hashem that seemed out of place to me given the context and nature of the parsha.
דברים פרק י
יז) כִּ֚י יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם ה֚וּא אֱלֹהֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים וַאֲדֹנֵ֖י הָאֲדֹנִ֑ים הָאֵ֨ל הַגָּדֹ֤ל הַגִּבֹּר֙ וְהַנּוֹרָ֔א אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹא־יִשָּׂ֣א פָנִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יִקַּ֖ח שֹֽׁחַד
יח) עֹשֶׂ֛ה מִשְׁפַּ֥ט יָת֖וֹם וְאַלְמָנָ֑ה וְאֹהֵ֣ב גֵּ֔ר לָ֥תֶת ל֖וֹ לֶ֥חֶם וְשִׂמְלָֽה
יט) וַאֲהַבְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־הַגֵּ֑ר כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם
The Parsha opens with Moshe encouraging the people not to be afraid when they enter the land. Remember the great things that Hashem did, avoid idolatry…
It continues with remember what Hashem did for you in the desert and don’t forget Hashem.
It then repeats – Hashem will take you into the land… goes back to smashing of the tablets and our rebellion against Hashem.
The parsha seems to be all about the land and our relationship with Hashem, past and future.
In that context I might expect to find God described as the God who took us out of Egypt, the great warrior, the one who sunk the Egyptians etc.
Instead we find God referred to as the one who does not accept bribes and takes care of orphan and the widow etc. We are then commanded to love the convert.
Why that description? It doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the parsha.
To strengthen the question – every other time that the Torah mentions the widow and the orphan it is in the context of taking care of people.
The first time it appears is in Parshat Mishpatim, the mother of all interpersonal mitzvah parshiot.
The next time is our parsha.
After that we read in Reeh about taking care of the widow and orphan in the context of giving Maaser (tithes) to the Levi, who has no land and needs to be taken care of.
In Ki Tzezeh we find the widow and orphan in the context of taking care of the poor.
Lastly in Ki Tavo one of the cursed people is the one who perverts the justice of the widow and orphan. That curse is preceded by the curses for the one who encroaches on a neighbor’s border and one who trips a blind person.
In our parsha there is no context, no connection between what came before it and seeing God as the protector of the widow and orphan!
I scanned the commentaries but to no avail. No one addressed the issue of context.
I had an idea of what I wanted the answer to be but it is always nice to read it from someone much smarter than you. So I put the question out a Rabbinic Forum of which I am a member.
I received the following answer from Rabbi Menachem Leibtag.
imho that’s the exact reason why Moshe emphasizes this point in this parsha, i.e. concept of imitato deo [v’halchta b’drachav], to let you know living in the land is not the core value, but rather how we act in the land is the core value, and key way how (that) we develop our relationship with Hashem- acting as a ‘mamlechet kohanim v’goy kadosh [see summary psukim of speech 26:16-19]
I would sharpen the point as follows. In the context of the land and our relationship with God, the Torah intentionally uses terminology that connects us to others places in the Torah that highlight the issue of how we treat each other.
The terminology is meant to be understood as “out of place” and thus jarring! It is meant to teach us that no matter what else you are doing and no matter how important it is – and Israel and God are pretty important – do not ever forget to treat people well and most importantly to take care of those in need. That too is critical to our national mission.
We need to be sensitive to those in need and take care of those in need. It is part of our national mission and part of the fiber of the Jewish people.
That is why 15 responses is so distressing.
It could be that you simply weren’t listening and don’t read the shul emails. That is certainly better than hearing and not responding.
Even better is that you gave directly to the family or are giving to other terror victims. That probably doesn’t cover everyone.
More likely for many- you heard the request and either decided not to give or thought you would and then forgot.
We have to hear the cries of this widow and these orphans. And we have to respond and take care of them. That has to be part of who we are. It is something we need to be better at!
