What is interesting is noting some of the times that our tradition does NOT compel us to recite a beracha. One of those moments appears in this week’s parasha:
If there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsmen in any of your settlements in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. Rather, you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs. (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)The Torah very clearly commands us about the mitzvah of helping those who are in need, until dei machsoro, until we have helped them receive everything that the person needs. So why do we not recite a beracha before performing an act of chesed, of loving kindness, or tzedaka, charity?
Various rabbis explain this phenomenon from different perspectives. One particular rabbi, author of Itturei Torah, comments, since you can only give tzedakah to someone who is in great need, it is improper to recite a blessing at another person's misfortune.
We at Anshe Emet do a great deal to try and support those who are in trouble in our community. And while it might seem appropriate to bless that moment, the blessing lies in the work itself – in making a difference through the responsibility that we take on and the change that we strive to make.
Over the next month or so, our community will be doing various projects to help those in need in our community. We will deliver food baskets through Maot Chitim, supporting those Jews in our neighborhood who need help as they celebrate Rosh Hashanah and the holidays with their families (for more information, contact Amy Karp at akarp@ansheemet.org). We will have a book drive on Rosh Hashanah for Real Men Read, a program that promotes literacy on the south side of Chicago (for more information, contact Aaron Kamel at akamel@ameritech.net). And on Yom Kippur, we will do our annual collection of food for the Ark (for more information, contact Kim Carter at kcarter@ansheemet.org). Please join us in these critical endeavors – because through this work, you will bring more blessings to our world.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Russo
