Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Woe to the person who falls on hard times!

In ancient Rome, a creditor could legally imprison a person who owed him money in his own private dungeon. He could chain him to a block; sell him into slavery, or even worse.   England had an infamous London prison called the Marshalsea, where debtors were sent. Charles Dickens father was sent there in 1824 because he owed money to a baker.  Dickens was forced to leave school at the age of 12 to work in a factory to try to pay his father’s debt and help support the family. As we know, Dickens went on to write about the inhumane and cruel conditions that the poor suffered in his time. The ethos seems to have been, “When your fellow comes to ruin, you need to punish him for it.”

Not so in our Torah. The Torah repeats, five times in this week’s portion alone, that we have an obligation to help those who are in dire straits. “Should your brother come to ruin,” the Torah says, “you need to strengthen him, even if he is not Jewish, even if he is someone just passing through – that he may live.” (Leviticus 25:35) We have an obligation to help our fellow human being when misfortune strikes.

However, according to the Psalms, it appears it is G-d’s obligation to provide sustenance to all of His creatures!

The eyes of all look to You expectantly,
and You give them their food when it is due.

You give it openhandedly,
feeding every creature to its heart’s content. (Psalm 145:15-16)

Is G-d then derelict in G-d’s duties? That is where we come in. When it comes to helping those who are in need, we lend our hands and snatch, as it were, this mitzvah from G-d and make it our own. Did you know what G-d says when we do this? According to our tradition G-d says, “I’m in debt to that person who feeds the poor. I am grateful to that person who gave a loan. I owe that person who lifted up another.” This does not begin and end with our care for fellow humans. It extends as well when we show compassion to other members of the animal kingdom. G-d says, “I am beholden to that person who rescued that kitten”, “I am obliged to that family who gave this dog a home”.  We always think of ourselves as being thankful to G-d. But when we come to the aid of others, man or beast, G-d is thankful to us.