Pemikiran Yahudi Amsal 25:28: Akeidat Yitzchak

Money can be used in four different ways. There are those who will employ their own funds, but will not use other people's money even as a loan. There are those who will employ other people's funds both willingly and reluctantly, if forced by circumstances. When such people use other people's money willingly, this can involve gifts, exchanges by means of barter, and other services. The first method is called shurat hadin, strict law. This is so, since such person will automatically impose on others restraints he has imposed upon himself. For this reason, he will not make his money available to others for whatever purpose. Such people fit the description of the first category mentioned in our Mishnah. The first method (in the Mishnah), being by far the most common, is called that of the am ha-aretz, the common people, the average person. The third method, involving complete disregard for other people's property, is labelled "wicked," and the last method stemming from a generous heart is described as the way of the pious, the devout. All commentators agree that the reason the first method is called "average" is because it represents a point midway between the two extremes possible. On the one hand, by not fulfilling the commandment to be helpful to our fellow man, people practicing this approach to life deny themselves the uplifting experience that fulfilment of such mitzvot entails. On the other hand, the fact that they scrupulously avoid infringing on other people's property, is insurance against their ever becoming guilty of theft, robbery, a whole register of transgressions. The minority opinion, viewing the lifestyle of the first category as like that of the Sodomites, bases itself on the verse in Ezekiel 16,49, "This then was the sin of Sodom your sister; surfeit of bread, undisturbed peace were hers and her daughters, but the hand of the poor and the needy they did not support." According to this, one may be puzzled at the fate of Sodom, seeing that they acted in a manner described as "average." Rabbi Nathan, who is normally the author of sayings in a Mishnah which contains such a statement as "there are some who say," tells us that "the golden mean," normally the path in life to be chosen, in this instance led to the destruction of those who were content to follow it. Aristotle in Ethics Book four, classifies as "the liberal man," i.e. as the average type, the one who shares his wealth with others who deserve it at the proper time and at the proper place and for the proper purpose. Such a person would also not be averse to accept help under similar conditions. This is no doubt acceptable behavior, and makes the problem of understanding the author of our Mishnah, who describes the "What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" principle as an average attitude, even harder to understand. Furthermore, even though on rare occasions the desire not to touch other people's money may be motivated by the fear of violating someone else's property rights, in the vast majority of cases, the reason is simply that one does not want to be called upon to reciprocate on future occasions. Although in some cases the desire not to become a burden to others may be the reason one does not want to share, in the majority of cases it is simply an inability to give, to share with others, to extend help. How then can two combinations of negative attitudes be called "average?" It also seems hard to understand why a person who freely gives but refuses to receive help from others when the need arises, can be described as pious. Anyone who pursues such a course persistently will become insolvent and, at one stage or another, a burden on the community. The person who practices the principle of "he who hates gifts will live" (Proverbs 15,27), raises the suspicion that his attitude is really anti social, negative. After all, how can there be “giving" unless there are people willing to "receive?" In fact, however, this method is not one of refusing to accept anything, rather the pious person is generous both in heart and in spirit. He does not view his property as really his to dispose of. On the other hand, he does not view what is generally called "his generosity" as a basis entitling him to use someone else's property in return or exchange. In that respect he differs greatly from the am ha-aretz, the ignorant, whose willingness to share is based only on the realization that he will be likely to benefit from such behavior sooner or later in at least equal measure. To understand the meaning of "average" or "median," we must not assume that it is necessarily a halfway mark between two extremes. Let us assume that a very greedy individual aims to amass ten million dollars. On the other extreme of the scale, let us assume that a modest individual is content with amassing one hundred dollars. The "average" or "median" then is not an amount approximating five million dollars, which would be equivalent to the "golden mean.” Everyone realizes that such a definition of the "golden rule" would be quite erroneous. From this it follows that in matters of giving and taking, the median can only mean "not to take" (i.e. accept) while at the same time "not to to give." This is the halfway mark between greedy possessiveness and generous largesse. Still, this does not yet explain why on the frequent occasions when Israel seemed guilty of far greater sins than the ones quoted from Ezekiel above (as compared to those of Sodom), it was not punished, despite constant warnings by its prophets. Lamentations 4,6 makes it clear that Israel's sins were far greater than Sodom's. Moreover, why did Ezekiel ignore the behavior of the Sodomites described in our Parshah, surely a far more serious crime than merely refusing to share one's wealth? It is also puzzling that the Israelites who went to avenge the crime of Givah and made war against the tribe of Benjamin (Judges Chapter 19), suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the people of Benjamin. As a matter of fact, the Benjaminites had perpetrated their crime on a fellow Jewess, not on aliens like the men of Sodom in our Parshah. Also, whereas the men of Sodom never had a chance to carry out their evil designs, the men of Givah had executed their heinous deed. Clearly then, Israel had sinned more grievously than the men of Sodom. Concerning the opinions offered that the other tribes retaliated against Benjamin illegally, there are only two possibilities. If indeed the tribes acted illegally, why did the tribe of Benjamin not emerge victorious? If, on the other hand, the attack by the tribes was legal, why did Benjamin succeed in inflicting such tremendous losses on the other tribes on two separate occasions? We may find the answer in Aristotele's Ethics Chapter 7 Section 10. We know from Abraham's prayer that G-d does not punish the innocent together with the guilty. His ways are always perfect. The difference then lies in the distinction between someone called rasha, evil, and someone called chote, someone committing an isolated sin. The latter merely lacks self-control, his body having become somewhat corrupt, whereas his mind and spirit have not been perverted. The rasha, however, is corrupt both in body and in mind. From this there follow two other distinctions. 1) The rasha is not subject to having remorse, since his corrupt mentality does not allow him to be reminded of the error of his ways. The chote, however, once his passions have cooled, will be reminded by his mind of the wrong he has done and is afforded an opportunity to repent and mend his ways. 2) The chote, because of his unimpaired mind is curable, whereas the rasha due to his perverted mind, is already incurable, since there is nothing left to start the process of the cure, the healing of mind and body. The problem of Sodom was that theirs was not just a crime of unbridled passion which ignored existing laws that should have restrained the people. These people had legislated the kind of laws which would prevent those laws from acting as a restraint against their evil inclinations. They legislated penalties against those who would breach the principle of "What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours." If someone were to step out of line and extend help to outsiders, he would be in defiance of the local laws and face death, even if his crime had only involved offering benefits to a third party at no cost or inconvenience to the donor. This is what really put them at the wrong end of the two extremes of greedy possessiveness and kind hearted generosity (Baba Batra 12). Our Torah has bent over backwards to include a host of legislation regulating our conduct in matters of extending help to others, both of a financial or physical nature. Tzedakah, loving kindness, interest-free loans, redeeming the property of an impoverished relative that has been sold to satisfy debts, are all part of this legislation. Even assisting an enemy when loading or unloading his donkey or taking into one's yard livestock lost by some neighbor at one's own expense to safeguard it on behalf of the absentee owner, are all examples of how not to emulate the behavior practiced by the Sodomites. Sodomite legislation prohibiting hospitality was designed to frighten off would be visitors and to ensure undisturbed life for its inhabitants.

It is customary to compare the unknown to the known in order to better understand the unknown. G-d is referred to in scripture as possessing limbs, although He is purely spiritual, in order to make some of His actions more comprehensible. "As a shepherd leads a flock" (Isaiah 40,11), or "Your heavens are the work of Your fingers" (Psalms 8,4). Rabbi Yudan stated, "Great is the power of the prophets who have described the power of the Almighty in human terms, as it is said in Daniel 8,16, "I heard a human voice" (a voice sounding like the voice of man). The right to describe the creation of man as a fusion of dust and spirit, a joining of matter and form, is also based on such considerations. The known is described in order to make it easier to understand the unknown or the less well known.

The shemittah sabbatical agricultural year legislation, referred to in the Torah in several places, (Parshat Mishpatim, Behar, Re-ay) is therefore of extreme importance. Disregard of it brings in its wake a host of punishments including national exile. This is somewhat difficult to understand, since if the purpose of the legislation is agricultural, i.e. teaching us that working the soil in rotation restores the earth's fertility, non observance would produce poor crops and be a punishment in itself. On the other hand, it is difficult to fathom why G'd should be more jealous of the state of the earth, than of sins which appear far more serious. It seems therefore, that the shemittah legislation is to alert us to the important truth that ownership of the land is an asset to our development towards our national and individual spiritual goals only, when such ownership is used in the way the Torah wishes it to be used. Just as the week, i.e. six working days plus one Sabbath testify to the fact that there is one Creator, so do six years of work on the land plus one year of rest, shemittah, remind us that ownership rests with G'd, and that we have to fulfil His commandments. Once one accepts that creation had been ex nihilo, it follows that the Creator is entitled to be the lawgiver. The Torah spells out that the purpose of shemittah is "for G'd," and that our function in taking advantage of the land is basically le-ochlah, to fulfil our physical needs, not as in the case of the gentile, our greed. Chamor, the king of Shechem refers to the purpose of land, when he describes it as "being capable of accomodating all the requirements of the sons of Jacob." (Genesis 34,21). This is an attitude which is quite different from the Torah viewpoint. The requirement in that year to release all monetary debts, is a further clear indication that material wealth must never be allowed to become an end in itself. The seven times seven years yovel legislation is representative of an entire "world," a complete cycle. "He shall serve him le-olam, means until the completion of the cycle, until the yovel year. This is a reminder to man that just as he has to return to the earth at the end of his life, so the idea of a rejuvenation of the land, restoring it to original ownership, keeps alive the idea that we ourselves are not on this earth litzmitut, permanently. The commandments concerning treatment of "slaves" who had become such due to having lost their financial independence, is stated here to enlist our empathy. Once we have realised that our own hold on life is tenuous, that our possessions are transient, we can appreciate better that the "slave" deserves humane treatment from us. The same applies to the laws governing unfair financial dealings, overcharges etc. The fact that G'd is prepared to demonstrate that He supervises our welfare by providing excess yield by our fields in the year preceding the shemittah, is further encouragement to observe the commandment. Ignoring the shemittah, legislation then, expresses disregard of our entire philosophy. This is why the consequences are commensurate, not disproportionate to the sin committed. The Talmud Erchin 30, draws our attention to the fact that the consequences of disregarding even regulations that are only peripheral to the actual shemittah observance, can be most severe. If someone deals in produce that has been grown illegally during the shemittah year, he may wind up having to sell himself into slavery to keep body and soul together. Our long national exile is due to our having failed to observe the shemittah legislation.