D'var Torah - August 21, 2010
"Leftovers” - D’var Torah 8/21/10
The arrival of August reminds us of a new school year, new friends, clothes, courses, and the regular business of the year – compared with a “lighter” schedule during the summer.
Tax-free purchases sent people to the stores to take advantage of saving 6½ % on their bill. We also think about those in need – REAL NEED! The ones who are still unemployed or underemployed because of the economic downturn.
And so, we look at our very relevant Torah Portion for the week. Not only does Ki Teitzei speak of the sin of holding the wages of a worker overnight (see Deuteronomy 24:16; because the day worker especially needs the money that day) but our parasha injects the idea of the “pe’ah” – the leftover sheaf in a harvested field.
As a farmer who owned, ploughed, fertilized and tended the land, I would feel that whatever produce was wrested from it was mine. Farming isn’t easy. It’s back-breaking work which hopefully yields something of value to sell. Which Mother Nature cooperates in bringing it to market (ex., wheat in Russia because of drought and lightning strikes).
The Torah instructs that remembering that we were slaves in Egypt that we do not return to our field to do a second “gleaning” after the first harvesting is completed.
19 When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord, your God, will bless you in all that you do. (Deut. 24:19)
The sheafs that were forgotten belong to the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, not the farmer! (a forgotten stack is yours, but not a sheaf). Social justice as dictated by our tradition says – some of what we harvest belongs to the less fortunate. We must provide for them. What a concept! A portion, which was defined in more detail later, was to be provided to the needy. Ten percent (10%) was fixed at another time – ma’aser – a tenth.
In getting ready to face God at the high holidays, this parasha becomes a good reminder for us as to how to prepare (and live) in the New Year.
Shabbat Shalom!
MARK