Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Av, 5783

Today’s portion focused on the concept of “destitution.” The definition I found that seems most salient is: “poverty so extreme that one lacks the means to provide for oneself.”

And today’s portion is a good barometer as to how we are doing with society. Hashem does judge the society/culture/government.  It’s clear in today’s portion ONE of the metrics of success?  People who are financially destitute among us.

It’s clear in this passage in Deuteronomy:

(So long as you perform the commandments), there will no longer be any destitute people among you, for God will bless you repeatedly in the land God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and a possession. “

That we are NOT following Hashem’s mitzvahs.  We are not connecting with Hashem in the way we are designed to do.  We are not as spiritually liberated and free as we might think we are.  We are stuck.  The “collective consciousness” isn’t working as designed.

And Hashem KNEW this was going to happen as well.  Because we see this:

“If there will be a destitute person -(especially) from among one of your (own paternal) brothers, (or from) one (of the residents) in your (own) town–in the land that God, your God, is giving you, you must not harden your heart or shut your hand from your destitute brother. ” Rather, you must repeatedly open your hand to him, and give him (charity – and if he will not take a gift, then) give him a loan -sufficient to fulfill his requirements that he is lacking.

Be careful that a reckless thought should not enter your heart, saying, “the seventh year, the year of cancellation (of loans) is approaching” and you look begrudgingly upon your destitute brother and do not give him–then he might cry out against you to God, and it will be an (even more serious) sin for you. ‘ (Rather) you should give to him repeatedly, and your heart should not feel bad when you give to him. For God, your God, will bless all your work and everything you do, as a result of (the promises you made to the poor and the money you gave to them).

There will never cease to be destitute people within the land, and therefore I am commanding you, as follows: you should repeatedly open your hand to your poor brother and to your destitute (resident) in your land.

“There will never cease to be destitute people within the land.”  So – there will ALWAYS be people among us who are destitute.

How do we know who among us is destitute? What is our attitude toward them? Do we open our hand repeatedly?

And yes, I know. How do we know who is truly destitute?

I think it’s in the definition.

“poverty so extreme that one lacks the means to provide for oneself.”

Because I also imagine beyond FINANCIAL (physical) destitution, there is a SPIRITUAL destitution, EMOTIONAL destitution, and MENTAL destitution.

This is not JUST a financial piece.  If we give money only to someone who is not in a place to provide for themselves Spiritually, Emotionally, or Mentally? We aren’t helping.

And. I think I just realized.  This communicates the idea of love.

Love means being able to provide for our SELVES first. And for those who cannot love themselves – who are destitute for love (the Torah talks a lot about the orphan, the widow, etc) we are called to LOVE others.

For someone who is destitute for love, as a society, we need to find a way to provide for their basic needs – food, clothing and shelter FIRST. Then we need to help them provide for themselves mental health, emotional health, physical health, spiritual health. Once they are in a better place to provide for their own selves – then, if they ask for financial support? We are called to provide.

I will disclose this has been a tough financial few years for me (and my family).  And I have had people in my life help provide for my basic needs so I can focus on on my health.  And those close to me have seen how much I have grown in my ability to provide for my emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health.

These same people also helped me raise money to provide for the mental and emotional health of my children.  Because I did not have the means of providing it on my own.

And that has made a major impact on my family.

So where are we destitute? It may not be financial. It may be emotional. Mental. Physical. Spiritual.  How can we support one another? How would someone know they could support us?  Do we tried to HIDE our destitution? Are we ASHAMED of our destitution?

And as a final reflection:

As a society, where do we place VALUE on the ability to provide for ourselves? Who do we judge as “better” culturally:

• Someone who can provide financially for themselves (and others), but not emotionally, spiritually, and mentally?
• Or someone who can provide emotionally, spiritually and mentally for themselves (and others) but not financially?

Which dimensions of destitution do we judge more harshly than others?

The Torah addresses destitution HEAD ON.  Why don’t we?

Thoughts?

Here is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Av, 5782.

As we approach the new moon on Saturday night and the new month of Elul, we are finishing out our journey of spiritual awakening. Not really finishing, but finishing this cycle. Because the journey from slavery to liberation isn’t linear. It’s cyclical. And that is important for us to remember.

Today’s passage is interesting as it kind of relates to something I’m seeing a lot of in my feed.

So, for those of us who believe in God, but who are struggling with the forgiveness of student loans, I have some good or bad news for you depending on your perspective. I’m not TRYING to get political here. However, we can’t ignore the synchronicity of the Torah portions and life around us. So let’s dig in:

As part of Moses’ last lecture – he moves on to the topic of loans. I am going to quote the Torah literally here. From Deuteronomy 15:1:

At the end of (the) seven-year (cycle) you must annul (all loans). These are the terms of the annulment: Every creditor should release from his hand the debt which he can claim from his fellow. He may not demand payment from his friend or his brother, because the time of God’s annulment has arrived.

Now. If you want to get technical – there are some loans that don’t get annulled. From Deuteronomy 15:2-6:

You should demand payment from a gentile (who owes you money), but your hand should release whatever (claim) you have against your (Jewish) brother

(So long as you perform the commandments), there will no longer be any destitute people among you, for God will bless you repeatedly in the land God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and a possession. “

However, (this is only) if you listen to the voice of God, your God, and are careful to observe every commandment, which I am commanding you today. For God, your God, has blessed you, as He has told you: You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, and they will not rule over you.

So, let’s talk. The goal here is that God does not want His people to be destitute. That’s the blessing. In the land of liberation everyone is provided for. The exception to this rule are the gentiles. Now, if we believe that today there isn’t a difference between Jew and Gentile, we should be good releasing loans and annul them to everyone.

If you think to yourself “we should forgive believers but not non-believers” than you are basically playing God – because there is literally no way to do that without you judging someone’s heart and mind. And soul. So. I would say Moses is pretty clear here.

The United States’ government didn’t go far enough in releasing student loans. But that’s my opinion- I’m open to hearing yours PROVIDED you are discussing it from a Torah perspective, since that is the purpose of my posts. This is about studying Torah.

Ok. Let’s keep going; here’s Deuteronomy 15: 7-10:

“If there will be a destitute person -(especially) from among one of your (own paternal) brothers, (or from) one (of the residents) in your (own) town–in the land that God, your God, is giving you, you must not harden your heart or shut your hand from your destitute brother. ” Rather, you must repeatedly open your hand to him, and give him (charity – and if he will not take a gift, then) give him a loan -sufficient to fulfil his requirements that he is lacking.

Be careful that a reckless thought should not enter your heart, saying, “the seventh year, the year of cancellation (of loans) is approaching” and you look begrudgingly upon your destitute brother and do not give him–then he might cry out against you to God, and it will be an (even more serious) sin for you. ‘ (Rather) you should give to him repeatedly, and your heart should not feel bad when you give to him. For God, your God, will bless all your work and everything you do, as a result of (the promises you made to the poor and the money you gave to them).

There will never cease to be destitute people within the land, and therefore I am commanding you, as follows: you should repeatedly open your hand to your poor brother and to your destitute (resident) in your land.

I think this is pretty clear.

Moses closes today’s portion with discussing gifts to slaves when they are released. The goal is to send those who were slaves (remember they became slaves when they could not repay their loans) away with gifts so they could thrive in their freedom.

I reflect on this as we discuss our journey from slavery to freedom. When we reach liberation front a spiritual perspective, Hashem will bless us with gifts in our liberation. We do not enter freedom with empty hands. We enter with full hands. That is something to get excited about on this cycle of our journey. We only need focus and lean into our love for Hashem. Our love for ourselves as Hashem’s creation. Our love for others as co-creators of the experience we want on earth.

And that my friends; is truly liberating.

What are your thoughts?