“If your brother becomes poor and his hand falters, you shall support him”.
This week we have one more double Torah portion, Behar and Bechukotai.
The verse therein instructs us to strengthen and support a brother or sister in need.
Rashi, French 11th century Torah commentary, elucidates on the words
“you shall support him”
by giving us instructions on how to provide such aforementioned support.
Rashi tells us, do not allow the person to fall down and collapse altogether before you extend a helping hand. Rather reach out when his hand is starting to falter and become unsteady. Because you can save him from degradation with much less effort. Rashi gives an example of a laden donkey whose load is beginning to slip. If one puts out a supporting hand, single-handedly it is possible to avert disaster. But once the load and donkey have fallen over, it will take many people and a lot of attention to right the animal.
Imagine an unsteady person walking in a muddy field. If given a cane he could come through unsullied. But if he falls in the muck not only will it take a few people to rescue him, he will be much more embarrassed by the attention paid to his inadequacies.
Therefore Maimonides in his hierarchy of charity states that the highest level of charity is actually providing work for a person, furnishing the proverbial fishing rod, so they can fish for themselves, as this will allow a person to retain their dignity and self worth while ameliorating their financial needs.
The word “hand” appears many times in the portion. Hand in Hebrew is the word “yad”. The numerical value of the word “yad” is 14. If one extends a hand (14) and another grabs another hand (14), those teo hands together equal 28.
A word whose numerical value is 28 is the Hebrew word “koach” which means strength. When two hands come together they can strengthen one another.
This can also be seen in the way we read the commandment
“You shall support him”
We could actually read the words with a slightly different interpretation,
“you shall RECEIVE strength from them”.
In other words, sometimes we may think we are going out of our way to help someone and it turns out that we turn out to be the beneficiary of the kindness.
Rabbi Meilech Biderman, inspirational Torah teacher in Israel, shared the story of a young couple. who wanted to spend Shabbat in Meron, the burial place of a great Kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
The husband has a cousin who lived near Meron and he called asking if they might spend the night. The cousin regretfully declined. He explained he lived in a two bedroom apartment with his wife and seven children and there was simply no room.
The young man understood and began making other inquiries when he received a call from his cousin, inviting him to stay. The cousin explained that when the children heard they could do the mitzva of hospitality they offered to sleep in the kitchen and the hallway for that night.
And so the plans were made. After the Friday night meal the young couple walked to the holy site and stayed till the wee hours of the morning. When they returned the house was quiet but smoke was billowing from the baby’s carriage. Somehow an ember had fallen in and the carriage was smoking. The couple arrived in the nick of time to rescue the baby from a terrible catastrophe.
The family thought they were extending a kindness, but in the end it was they who received the gift.
The concept of extending a hand and offering support is therefore not limited to monetary manners. It includes all kinds of “support” such as offering words of encouragement, giving a compliment, acknowledging the other with a smile, lending a listening ear, or providing lodging when it is needed.
The world is sometimes a cold and lonely place and the support of a small gesture can provide an anchor to someone in pain.
May we merit to join hands and support one another.
It will make our own load so much lighter.
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Shabbat Shalom and so much love.