R'eih: Just help.
What does the Torah mean when it tells us to help other people? Or perhaps more specifically, WHO does the Torah mean that we should help? This is not a minor question, because it speaks to our philosophy as a society. When we can't help everyone in the entire world, and we have
to make choices, whom does the Torah want us to help? Some people think this is a no-brainer. We help other Jews, of course! We help our own first, and only later (as if we're SO close to solving all the problems in the Jewish community...) we'll help others outside our community. Other people might say we should help where it's needed the most. Focus on the places and people who are the most desperate, or put your money and effort where it will make the greatest difference. And yet other people might respond that it's up to the individual. It's YOUR money, you decide where to use it, if at all. So I return to my original question; what does the Torah say about all of this?
As you can imagine, the answer is: "It's complicated." In this week's Torah portion we read: "There shall be no needy among you" (Deuteronomy, chapter 15, verse 4). Simple enough, right? Except, who is the 'you' we're talking about? Is it your Jewish congregation? The entire Jewish people? The city you live in? The country? Or
humanity??? We're back where we started!! A few verses later, the Torah helps us out (somewhat...), by clarifying that we're talking about the needy 'among your kinsmen.' So it's referring specifically to fellow Jews. Except in other places in the Torah, we learn about helping the poor, the orphan, and the widow. And we're taught to love our neighbors (and again, we can ask what the Torah means by 'neighbor'...) as ourselves. So sometimes it seems insular and particularistic, and other times the Torah is open-minded and universal. I'm so confused!
Sadly, we see that same confusion all around us in society, in the form of disregard for those outside our own groups. I myself experienced this lack of kindness during my vacation in Israel last week. Rebecca and I attended a wedding where the Orthodox Rabbinate badgered the couple for weeks, trying to force them to conform to a harsh, unyielding Orthodox standard. They even threatened to send a spy to observe
the wedding, to really make sure everything was done according to their expectations! And on our way back to Ben Gurion airport, our cab driver was pulled aside at a checkpoint and forced to wait for 20 minutes for no reason other than the fact that he was an Arab. No one checked our car or our credentials, they just made us sit and wait, purposely trying to inconvenience the driver, deter his passengers from choosing an Arab taxi, and deliberately keeping him from returning home to conclude Ramadan after a full day of fasting. Where is the care for 'the other' in either of these stories?
I think the Torah gives us conflicting advice to COMPEL us to think more consciously and intentionally about these crucial issues. Giving us one, authoritative answer doesn't kick our brains into gear, and we MUST use our brains, our hearts, AND our souls when we're talking about helping make the world a better place. Sometimes we need to
devote our resources to our own community, or Jews somewhere else in the world. But sometimes we need to focus on Delaware County, or people in Africa, or animals, or the environment. There isn't ONE answer for everyone, and there isn't an answer that applies all the time. But when we think in absolutes, bad things happen. We need to remain open to learning new things, to seeing the pain and the need in others, and to the nuance that permeates our world. We ask the Torah, 'whom should we help?' And the response back is, 'It doesn't matter. Just help. And be filled with kindness, mercy, and compassion while you're doing it. The rest is commentary.'
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