Guest Post by Rabbi Yosef HaLevi Soloveichik
לעלוי נשמת הגאון הר"ר אהרן בן הר"ר משה הלוי סאלאווייציק זצ"ל
משוך חסדך ליודעיך וצדקתך לישרי לב. (תהלים ל"ו)
The passuk in Mishlei says: נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסר יבואנו. The Megaleh Amukos says that the קרי is חסר יבואנו but theכתיב is חסד יבואנו. The קרי is חסר and the כתיב is חסד. The question is what is the connection between the קרי and the כתיב? What is the co-ordination between the קרי and the כתיב? They seem to be saying two opposite things. They seem to contradict each other.
The Megalleh Amukos (parshas Re’eh) cites a medrash:
נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסר יבואנו - ר' לוי פתח קרא בזה שאינו מוציא מעשרותיו כראוי. מעשה באדם אחד שהיה מוציא מעשרותיו כראוי והיתה לו שדה עושה אלף מידות והיה מוציא ממנה מאה מידות למעשר וממנה היה ניזון כל ימיו וממנה מתפרנס כל ביתו. בשעת מיתה, קרא לבנו ואמר ליה, בני, תן דעתך בשדה זו כך וכך כורים היתה עושה וכך הייתי מוציא למעשר והייתי מוציא כל מזונותי והייתי מתפרנס כל ימי. בשנה ראשונה, עשה אלף מידות, הוציא ק' מידות למעשר. בשנייה, הכניס בה עין הרע והיה פוחת עשרה והיא פחתה מאה. פחת לה עשרה והיא פחתה מאה, עד שעמדה על מעשרותיה ק' מידות. שמעו קרוביו, לבשו לבינים ונתעטפו לבינים ונכנסו אצלו. א"ל מה באתם לשמוח על אותו איש שנידוהו?! א"ל ח"ו לא באנו אלא לשמוח עמך! לשעבר היית בעל הבית והקב"ה כהן, עכשיו נעשית כהן והקב"ה בעל הבית.
There once was a man who had a field. He consistently received from the field a yield of a thousand measures and he consistently gave ma’aser בעין טובה of one hundred measures. After he passed away, his son began to decrease the ma’aser each year. The son reduced the ma’aser progressively each year by ten measures. And the field, as a result of this, produced progressively one hundred measures less in each following year. Eventually, the field produced only one hundred measures, which was the original amount of the ma’aser. The relatives of the son told him that there is cause for him to rejoice over this. Because previously he had been the בעל הבית and HaShem was the כהן. Now HaShem is the בעל הבית and he became the כהן.
What is the meaning of the response of the relatives to the son that he had become a כהן? How did the loss of wealth convert him into a כהן? The Megaleh Amukos explains that the son became an איש חסד as a result of his being impoverished. He became a כהן in the sense of an איש חסד because a כהן is an איש חסד. And this is the connection between the קרי and the כתיב. נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסר יביאנו. He had become obsessed with his wealth and had diminished the ma’aser because he was an איש רע עין. But he did not know that this would cause him to lose his wealth. But, he also did not know that this would also cause him to become an איש חסד just as a כהן is an איש חסד. His stinginess had caused him to lose his wealth. And as a result of losing his wealth he would no longer be miserly and he would become an איש חסד.
ולא ידע כי חסר יבואנו ר"ל אותן י' שפיחת והיה רע עין הם מביאין מארה וחסר כבודו שלו וגם הכתיב חסד יבואנו שהוא לסוף נעשה כהן שנקרא איש חסד ז"ש ולא ידע כי חסד יבואנו שיהיה הולך וחסר עד שנעשה כהן ויהיה איש חסד כמו שהשיבו הקרובים לאותו הבן.
The איש רע עין is self-centered, stingy and mean and does not want to share his wealth with needy people because he is obsessed with his wealth. He imagines that his wealth endows him with security and power. He imagines that he is the בעל הבית. He is נבהל להון and he cannot focus or even see the needs, anguish and suffering of other people. But when he loses his money, his obsessive self-centeredness will evaporate because he will begin to understand that HaShem – and not he - is the בעל הבית. This man will realize that his wealth never really endowed him with security or power. He will recognize that the feeling of security and power that that was generated by his wealth was only a mirage. HaShem is the בעל הבית. HaShem is the source of all existence and we all are only beneficiaries and recipients of the infiniteחסד of HaShem. This man will then begin to focus on the suffering of other people and he will become sensitive and responsive to their misery and torment and he will become an
איש חסד.
The mitzvah of tzedakah is not merely in his assisting others but in the חסרון כיסthat is entailed in his supporting others. If one contributes to others and he receives financial benefits from his contribution (For example, someone makes a major contribution to a Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and he receives in exchange from the charedi mayor of Yerushalayim special municipal permits for lucrative building investments) so that he sustains no חסרון כיס, he does not fulfill the mitzvah of tzedakah. This is because the mitzvah of tzedakah is fulfilled when one overcomes his בהלה and obsession for money by giving up and sacrificing his money for the needs of unfortunate people.
The Megaleh Amukos then explains the קרי and the כתיב in another way.
The gemara in Kesubos says that רבי יוחנן בן זכאי found the daughter of נקדימון בן גוריון searching in hunger and desperation for grains of wheat in piles of dirt. רבי יוחנן בן זכאי asked her what happened to all the wealth of her father. She responded: מלח ממון - חסר!. Her response was that if one wants to preserve his money he must sacrifice a portion of his money for tzedakkah. Her father did not give enough tzedakah, and that is why he became impoverished. There is another version in the gemara according to which she responded: מלח ממון - חסד!. The meaning seems to be that if one wants to preserve his money he should do chessed. But then, there is not any substantive difference between the two versions. Her response according to both versions was that if one wants to preserve his money he should perform acts of tzedakah and chessed.
The Megaleh Amukos says that the two versions in the gemara correspond to the קרי and כתיב in the pasuk in Mishlei. The קרי is: נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסר יבואנו. But the כתיב is: נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסד יביאנו. The meaning of the קרי is that the איש עין רע did not realize that the only way to preserve his money was to be חסר part of his money by giving it to tzedakah. This is the response of מלח ממון - חסר. But the meaning of theכתיב is that when one preserves wealth through the giving of tzedakah in an ideal way then he will be blessed with more wealth because he will be endowed by HaShem with a חוט של חסד by being an איש חסד.
This idea of acquiring a חוט של חסד by being an איש חסד is based upon the gemara in Taanis:
עשר בשביל שתתעשר
Give ma’aser in order that you become wealthy.
What is the meaning of עשר בשביל שתתעשר? Is the desire to acquire riches a sublime goal? Is the pursuit of wealth and riches a superior endeavor?
The Megaleh Amukos cites the words of Avraham Avinu to his nephew Lot, prior to Lot’s choice of Sodom as his ideal place of residence: הקדמונים הליצו פסוק אם הימין ואשמאילה ואם השמאל ואימנה. The Megaleh Amukos explains that riches of an individual are symbolized by the right side – עשר, osher. The sharing of wealth through tzedakah is symbolized by the left side – מעשר, ma’aser. The reason is because the שי"ן in the word עשר is on the right side and the שי"ן in the word מעשר is on the left side. לוט was מסיטרא דנחש. לוט sought riches and wealth because he pursued power and glory. This is symbolized by the right side because the שי"ן in the word עשר is on the right side. But, the idea of sharing wealth for the purpose of creating social and economic equality is symbolized by the left side because the שי"ן in the word מעשר is on the left side.
הקדמונים הליצו פסוק אם הימין ואשמאילה ואם השמאל ואימנה שאברהם איש חסד אוחז תמיד במעשה הצדקה וצדק מלאה ימינך כי מעשר שהוא נותן ש'בשמאל אזי זוכה להיות לו ש'בימין שהוא רמז לעשירות שהשי"ן בימין
This idea corresponds remarkably to the political categorization and delineation that developed approximately one hundred and eighty years later, in the French Revolution of the year 1789. In the general assembly in the year 1789, the supporters of the king sat to the right of the president and the supporters of the revolution sat to the left of the president. This categorization and delineation has dominated politics since then. The political ideology that favors individual freedom and free enterprise, which leads to the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a select minority, is associated with the political right. And the ideology that advocates the sharing and distribution of income for the purpose of eliminating poverty and creating social and economic parity in the society is associated with the political left. But the Megaleh Amukos, who lived approximately one hundred and eighty years earlier, already spoke of this delineation in explaining Avraham Avinu’s words to Lot - הפרד נא מעלי, אם הימין ואשמאילה ואם השמאל ואימנה.
לוט was מסיטרא דנחש. לוט sought to accumulate riches and wealth because he pursued power and personal aggrandizement. אברהם אבינו says to לוט: הפרד נא מעלי. I do not want to be influenced by your ideas. אם הימין ואשמאילה. If HaShem grants me riches and wealth, I do not want to use it for the purpose of power and personal aggrandizement. I rather want to share the wealth with others who are poor and are in need of financial assistance. In other words, if I find myself placed on the right side, I will not identify with the ideology of the right because the ideology of the right in its unadulterated form is מסיטרא דנחש. אם הימין ואשמאילה. If I find myself placed on the political and economic right, I will move to the ideology of the left which advocates tzedakah - the sharing of income. But I will not identify with the ideology of the political and economic left, either. I will then move back to the ideology of the right. אם השמאל ואימנה. If I will share my wealth with others in the way that HaShem expects of me then I will acquire even more wealth and even more riches. As the Torah says that אברהם אבינו did acquire afterwards even greater wealth. וה' ברך את אברהם בכל.
ז"ש אברהם ללוט, שהוא מסיטרא דנחש ארור מן אינון מלטטיא - הפרד נא מעלי, אם יתן לי הקב"ה עושר שיהיה אצלי עושר אזי ואשמאילה, ויתן לו מעשר מכל וכו'. ולא גבר עליו לוט לשמוע לו רק ואשמאילה שנתן מעשר. ואם השמאל שאתן מעשר כדת וכדין אזי בלי ספק ואימנה מזה יגרום לי להיות עושר יותר מזה עד שה' ברך את אברהם בכל.
But it will not ח"ו be for the purpose of accumulating power. It will not ח"ו be for the purpose of personal aggrandizement. The political right in its unadulterated form advocates through the system of free enterprise the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the select few. It is an ideology that justifies personal aggrandizement under a mask ר"ל of the rich being providentially blessed to fulfill this role. It is referred to ר"ל as the Protestant ethic. But all this is מסיטרא דנחש.
One must move to the left and recognize that the accumulation of wealth for the purpose of self-aggrandizement is bad and immoral. אם הימין ואשמאילה. HaShem grants wealth to individuals for the purpose of sharing this wealth with destitute and indigent people. But also the political left becomes bad and immoral, because in their quest to create social and economic equality, they trample upon individual rights. It ultimately leads to totalitarianism and obliterates individual freedom. The Torah advocates human freedom and individual rights and, therefore, justifies the accumulation of wealth as expression of HaShem endowing the individual who is an איש החסד with a חוט של חסד. This חוט החסד enables him through his chessed to convert דין to רחמים. ואם השמאל ואימנה. אברהם אבינו says that if he will succeed in sharing his wealth with others, then HaShem will bless him with even greater wealth. וה' ברך את אברהם בכל. This even greater wealth is a manifestation of a חוט של חסד. HaShem endows אברהם אבינו who has become an איש החסד with a חוט של חסד, through which אברהם אבינו is able to convert דין to רחמים.
ז"ש ר' יוחנן עשר בשביל שתתעשר והוא הקרי והכתיב עשר ר"ל מלח ממון חסר שתתן ותחסר בענין מעשר, בזה יהיה מלח ממון חסד בד' בשביל שתתעשר, שתזכה להיות חוט של חסד עליך ותהיה איש חסד כי העני הוא מסיטרא דדינא והעושר הוא מסיטרא דחסד ז"ש ולא ידע כי חסד יבואנו לידי חסד כי כמו שהעני משפיע למטה כן מדה"ר משפעת למעלה ובשעה שהעושר שהוא מדת החסד נותן לעני שהוא מדה"ד אז גם למעלה מדת החסד משפעת למדה"ד ז"ש ונתן לך רחמים וריחמך כדאיתא בגמרא (יבמות ס':) המלוה לעני בשעת דחקו עליו הכתוב אומר, אז תקרא וה' יענה, ר"ל כשם שהעשיר נותן לעני כן למעלה מדה"ד מקבלת ממדת הרחמים וכו'
This idea of the חוט של חסד developed here by the Megaleh Amukos has a parallel in the Zohar in פרשת וירא. The Zohar says that HaShem said that He loves אברהם אבינו and He, therefore, wants to give a מתנה to אברהם אבינו. And what מתנה would be appropriate for אברהם אבינו? HaShem said that he will send an עני to אברהם אבינוso that אברהם אבינו would fulfill the mitzvah of חסד and הכנסת אורחים. And when אברהם אבינו fulfilled the mitzvah of חסד and הכנסת אורחים HaShem endowed אברהם אבינו with a חוט של חסד which enabled אברהם אבינו to survive, succeed and flourish even in times of דין ר"ל. And לוט was saved from the destruction of סדום only in the זכות of the חוט של חסד with which אברהם אבינו was endowed. All the accumulation of wealth and self-aggrandizement of לוט meant nothing when the זמן of דין came. לוט and his daughters were saved from annihilation only in the זכות of the חוט של חסד of אברהם אבינו. And in this זכות, Mashiach was born, because רות descended from לוט. And רות exemplified חסד as it says in מגילת רות: ורות דבקה בה. And רות was ready to marry the גואל merely because of the mitzvah of חסד להקים זרע למת.
This is the meaning of the קרי and the כתיב in the passuk in ספר משלי. And this is the meaning of עשר בשביל שתתעשר. נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסר יביאנו. The איש רע עין did not realize that tzedakah and ma’aser would preserve his wealth. The daughter of נקדימון בן גוריון said: !מלח ממון - חסר. The mitzvah of tzedakah is fulfilled only through חסרון כיס. The mitzvah of tzedakah is fulfilled only when a person deprives himself of part of his wealth by sacrificing that portion of his wealth for the needs of impoverished people. And the mitzvah of tzedakah preserves wealth. But the כתיב is: נבהל להון איש רע עין ולא ידע כי חסד יבואנו. The meaning of the כתיב is that when one fulfills in an ideal way this mitzvah of being חסר for the purpose of helping indigent people, he will then not only preserve his wealth but he will receive great חסד. His wealth will even increase – עשר בשביל שתתעשר – because, as a result of being an איש חסד, he will endowed by HaShem with a חוט של חסד. This will enable him to convert דיןto רחמים. עשר בשביל שתתעשר. ולא ידע כי חסד יבואנו. חיים של עושר וכבוד.
