Rabbi's Blog

About fifteen years ago I met a Jew from Arizona who spent his vacations in San Diego. Over the years if he had Yahrzeit he would come and daven at Beth Jacob. My first encounter with him was on a Shabbos, and he heard me speak at the first minyan. Later, he told me that he liked me “as a rabbi because I didn’t speak too long.” (This is the ultimate Rabbinic compliment.). Ever since then he would come by once or twice a year and we’d chat, exchange pleasantries and a few times a year I would call him before Rosh Hashana and Pesach to wish him well. Through a former business partner of his, he would get me tickets to a few baseball games when the Yankees were on the West Coast.

A few months ago this individual called me and asked if I knew what the eight levels of giving charity were. I didn’t know them off-hand, plus I was driving at the time so I told him I would look it up and get back to him. Unfortunately, because I was driving I didn’t have a chance to write this memo down and I completely forgot about it. A few months later  for some reason his name popped into my head which jogged my memory, causing me to remember that I had totally forgotten to get back to him. Not only did I forget to call him back,t I totally could not remember what information he was looking for. I was so embarrassed that I called his office and initially asked his secretary to tell him that I called and asked what I was supposed to research for him. The secretary was a bit confused and I decided to bite the bullet and speak to him directly and apologize for my not getting back to him. I was very nervous and before I could even say one word he gave me his usual open, caring, and friendly greeting. I then proceeded to tell him why I called and apologized up and down for not getting back to him. He is such a nice person (a true mentsch), he did not even for a second think about that and told me he had already gotten the information and apologized to me for asking a favor like that, knowing how busy I am.

A few days later I received a printed 3x8 card from his office. At the top it read “Bob* has asked to share a piece of wisdom with you which guides him… The card continued with the heading ‘Maimonidies’ Levels of Charity’ and then went on to list the eight levels of charity in the order of highest value. I wrote him a thank you note, adding the source of the Rambam in Mishneh Torah, Laws of Charity 6:7-14. This person is a true “Baal Tzedaka” - loosely translated as an ‘owner of charity’ because he knows how to give. Not every person who gives money to charity is a Baal Tzedaka, rather they are a Baal (owner) over their own money who are not quick to let it go. A true Baal Tzedaka realizes that he or she is only the guardian of money which belongs to God. The Baal Tzedaka understands that he is entrusted to distribute it. But above and beyond that, is the special treatment, dignity and honor he makes the solicitor feel. The solicitor isn’t made to feel bad; rather the solicitor is genuinely viewed as a partner and an avenue for him to give charity.

The Torah often speaks of different methods of kindness and charity that is part and parcel of what is expected of us as Jews.  We are not to think that we are doing someone else a favor by giving that person money.     

The Torah in this week’s double parsha of Behar/Bechukosai states in Vayikra 25:25: “Ki Yamuch Achicha U’Machar MeiAchuzaso, Uva Goalo Haarov Eilav, V’GauAl Eis Mimkar Achiv” - “If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his hereditary land, a close relative can come and redeem what his kinsman has sold”.  **Reb Zalman Sorotzkin in his commentary Oznayim LaTorah points out that the words ‘Ki Yamuch Achicha’ is repeated in verses thirty-five and thirty-nine. He explains the reason for the three instances is that each deals with three different situations in which a person might find himself.  The Torah is teaching derech eretz regarding how a relative, a brother,  meaning a fellow Jew, should react and treat another Jew in need. First, if your kin becomes impoverished,, he is still your brother and you should not embarrass him. One might think, for example, that if he did not come to you for help, but you notice that he sold his land, you should step in and redeem land for him. Secondly, if he loses the ability to support himself and does not have any more land to sell, you should come to his aid, because at that time he is still your brother. Lastly, even if he is not your relative, (definition: not even Jewish) but rather a Ger V’Toshav, a good gentile living in Israel, he is also considered to be your brother! Even to the extent he needs to sell himself as a slave and you buy him and are now his master, he is still considered your brother!

Perhaps another fantastic lesson and insight is the phrase ‘when opportunity strikes, open the door’. This notion only comes to remind us of what Chazal have already said,  particularly with regard to this situation. The word ‘Imach’ - ‘with you’ -  teaches us that when a poor person is with you it is because Hashem has sent him to you. It is not the human being who is making the request, it is Hashem asking you to give. The place to deposit or to give it to is the person who came to see you. This is another example where there are three partners involved: God, who is making the request, the wealthy individual who is there to give, and the poor person to whom it is given.

Let us all be blessed two-fold with enough so that we will never need, and when blessed with plenty to have the foresight to give when Hashem asks for it.

*Name has been changed

**Zalman Sorotzkin, also known as the Lutzker Rav ( 1881–1966), was a famous Orthodox Rabbi who served as the rabbi of Lutsk, Uraine. Sorotzkin was born in Zagarine, Lithuania in 1881. Initially, he studied with his father, Rabbi Ben-Zion Sorotzkin, who was the town's rabbi. He then studied in the yeshivas of Volozhin and Slabodka.

Sorotzkin was a son-in-law of the Telzer Rav and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon. When Rabbi Gordon died in 1910, Sorotzkin was offered the position as rabbi and rosh yeshiva in Telz. He did not accept the position and was shortly afterwards appointed as Rabbi to Voranava, Belarus (near Vilna). This position enabled him to establish a close relationship with Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski. In Voranava, Rabbi Sorotzkin established a yeshiva ketana. After two years in Voranava, Rabbi Sorotzkin moved to Dziatlava, where he served as rabbi for eighteen years. As Zhetel was the birthplace of the Chofetz Chaim, the Chofetz Chaim would affectionately refer to Rabbi Sorotzkin as "my" rav.

In 1914, due to the German invasion, Rabbi Sorotzkin moved to Minsk and became a close friend of the Chazon Ish, who rented a room from Rabbi Sorotzkin. At the the end of World War I, Rabbi Sorotzkin returned to Zhetel.

In 1930, Rabbi Sorotzkin was appointed rabbi in Lutsk, where he remained until World War II. During the early days of the war, when many yeshivas had to relocate, Sorotzkin served as the head of the Vaad Hayeshivos, at the behest of Chaim Ozer Grodzenski. Sorotzkin managed to flee the war and escape to Palestine.

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky

Rabbi Bogopulsky’s new book “Developing A Torah Personality” is available for purchase directly from him or Amazon