Torah Study > Chapter 4: Tzedek, Tzedakah, & Chesed > Texts 2, 3, & 4
Do you think that there is a difference between leaving the corners
of your field unharvested and not returning to pick up what was left
or forgotten? If so, what is the difference? According to these verses,
how much of any harvest belongs to the “owner?” Why? What does
this tell us about who really “owns” the land? the trees? the labor?
Is leaving this portion of the harvest tzedek or tzedakah?
Maimonides teaches us that tzedakah is about assisting those in immediate
need. But tzedakah is not just about the transfer of money from donor
to beneficiary. It is also about the attitude of the donor and the dignity of
the recipient. Maimonides’ levels help us understand that the donor is not
superior, nor the recipient inferior, and that tzedakah should not contribute
to the aggrandizement of the former nor the denegration of the latter.
Judaism teaches that poverty is not a stigma and it should not define the
social status or worth of an individual. It is a condition, somewhat like hunger,
that with proper social structures and individual determination can be
overcome. It is also a condition that, but for the grace of God, might occur
to any one of us.
What is the value of having the needy come to harvest their own
portion?
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We do not live in an agricultural society today. Do you think this text
has contemporary relevance? How might we apply this sense of
mandatory sharing of our earnings to the world we live in?
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