Every evening when we count the Omer, we feel a step closer to Shavuot, the holiday that traditionally is the time of receiving the Torah at Sinai.
In the Torah, the holiday is called , the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to Hashem . In the book of Shmot there is another name for Shavuot, the festival of the Harvest.
All these names of the holiday reflect the essence of the idea that the fruit of our labor is granted to us by the blessing of Hashem and it does not belong to us only: we are commanded by the Master of the land to share it with the poor and the weak.
“When you reap the harvest of your land you shall not remove completely the corners of your field as you reap and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest, for the poor and for the convert shall you leave them: I am Hashem your God.”
It is not charity we are giving. Hashem, who is the real owner of the land and its fruit, commands us to leave the corners for the poor to harvest, to work for the food. This way the recipient is not losing his dignity, he earns his livelihood by work. In our prayer of òîéãä we start with the praise of Hashem:
The great, mighty and awesome God, the supreme God, who bestows beneficial kindnesses…
kindness by definition is good, beneficial- why add "good kindness"?
We are given to understand that there may be acts of kindness that are not beneficial to the recipient. It can wound his self esteem, shame or embarrass him or make him dependant on charity or welfare and lose any interest in earning a living.
Emunah women practice good kindness , educating young and less young to earn a trade or a profession. Giving scholarships to girls who continue their studies means that there are more productive citizens and less destitute families.
We are living in difficult times. The number of unemployed is rising. We have to look to our úåøú çñã, the Torah of loving kindness to learn how to share our blessing in a way that our society can live in dignity.
Chag Sameach
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