Parshat HaShavua

Parshat Re’eh, 5768

A riddle:

In Deuteronomy 15:4-5, God tells us, through Moses, that if we follow God’s laws, there will be no needy people among us.

Later, in Deuteronomy 15:11, He says that the the poor will never cease out of the land.

What gives?

At first I thought this was a rebuke.  If someone says to you, if you do X, I will give you Y, but you will never get Y, what does that mean?  That we can’t be trusted to do X?

It’s as if God is telling us straight up that He doesn’t believe we will do as we are told, or even as we have agreed to do by joining the convenant.  And would it be the first time we’ve heard this sentiment?

Thanks, Dad.

A closer reading perhaps redeems this apparent dearth of trust.  Verse 4 talks about the lack of needy “among you”, whereas verse 11 says that there will always be poor and needy “in the land”.

What this says to me is that even if we keep all the laws, and even if as a result there are no needy among us, that is to say, no needy Jews, or no needy among whatever group of with whom we identify, there will always be people who need help or compassion in the land in which we dwell, whether in ISrael or abroad.  If all of our family or community or political party or religion are prosperous, well fed, and well cared for, can we be satisfied that we’ve abided by the laws of the covenant?  I think not.  God makes it clear here that there will always be those in our land who need our help, and we will always be obliged to help them.

This week I heard a stirring editorial on the radio.  A woman was talking about visiting New Orleans and encountering a young couple in a bar in the French Quarter.  When she asked the young man what he thought of the fact that so much outside of the tourist area had not been rebuilt, the young man said, those people chose to live in a flood plain, in substandard housing, with inadequate insurance.  How much can we be expected to do for people who make bad choices?  What is the value of personal responsiblity if people aren’t held accountable for those choices?

God is not telling us that He doesn’t trust us to do His will.  He is telling us that even if we follow the law to the letter, and our own communities prosper thereby, we are not done.  We are still on the hook to help even those who don’t follow all the rules.  Wherever there is suffering that can benefit from compassion, “Thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy poor and needy brother, in thy land.” (D 15:11)