The Mitzvot of Peia and Shikhcha
Bein Adam Le-chavero: Ethics of Interpersonal
Conduct
By Rav
Binyamin Zimmerman
Shiur #12: The Mitzvot of Peia and Shikhcha
In last week's lesson we introduced the
agricultural mitzvot of the field mentioned in Parashat Kedoshim;
leket and peia, and their counterparts in the vineyard; peret
and olelot. We noted that the first pair of mitzvot is
repeated four chapters later in Parashat Emor, and in Parashat Ki
Teitzei (Devarim 24), we find the additional mitzva of shikhcha.
We discussed the importance of the placement of these mitzvot and
noted that the Torah's mention of these mitzvot in three different
locations seems to underscore the multifaceted nature of these mitzvot,
as they contain three fundamental aspects: an interpersonal element of providing
for others (Ki Teitzei), a ritual element of social justice (Emor),
and a bein adam le-atzmo element that fosters a giving personality (Kedoshim).
In this week's lesson, we will focus on
some of the unique aspects of each of these mitzvot.
Singular of Plural
In Parashat Kedoshim, the various
agricultural forms of charity are introduced with the following statement (Vayikra
19:9):
When you reap your lands harvest, you
shall not completely reap the corner of your field, nor shall you gather the
gleaning of your harvest.
A number of commentators are bothered by
the change in terminology, as the verse begins with the plural you at the
beginning of the verse, and then moves to the singular you.
Rabbeinu Bachya explains that the verse is
focusing on the individual responsibility of providing for the poor even when
society as a whole is involved in the harvesting.
"When you reap your lands harvest" is in
the plural because
it was the custom in those days that many people began the
harvesting process simultaneously, By contrast, the words "you shall not
completely reap are addressed to the individual owner of the field, as
the onus is on the individual owner.
The Or Ha-chayim explains:
The Torah may have wanted to dispel the
faulty notion that when the amount of gleanings does not add up to anywhere near
enough to provide something meaningful for the poor, the law does not apply
The
Torah therefore addresses each farmer individually, telling him that even though
his individual contribution is minimal, he must abide by the legislation. The
Torah uses the singular for each one of the types of gifts for the poor listed
in our verse.
Both understandings seem to focus on the psychology of a blessed individual in a
society that has a number of needs. One is liable to feel that the solving of
the needs of the poor is a communal responsibility, not an individual one, or
that his charity is so insignificant that it will not even make a dent in the
communal needs. Therefore, the Torah states unequivocally that one must focus on
his or her own personal responsibilities to the needy.
Indeed, the Torah may
be stressing that one should not blame poverty on societal mismanagement or lack
of care by the community; even if this is true and even if one has competitors
who are not fulfilling their moral duties, one is still personally accountable.
This responsibility helps both the recipient and the giver, even if the latter
cannot solve the world's problems "It is not incumbent upon you to
finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it" (Avot
2:15).
Rav S. R. Hirsch adds another important
point, explaining that this presentation serves to implant a communal
perspective in the individual who is harvesting his own property and dealing
with his wealth, as he is reminded that the land essentially belongs to
everyone:
Even when the land is divided, it is not
given to individuals for purely selfish purposes; it is still considered
communal land even when it becomes your individual field. Even when you gather
in the produce of your own portion of the communal soil, the Land remains the
possession of the community.
Therefore, do not completely reap what grows in your portion, as though it has
grown for you alone. Rather, leave part of your field untouched, preferably at
the end of the field
Moreover, the Torah's terminology is
striking: You shall leave them in Vayikra, It shall be in
Devarim. The Talmud derives from this that the landowner does not truly give
the gifts to the poor, nor does he even have the benefit of deciding which needy
individuals will receive his gifts. It is their entitlement.
Rav Hirsch points out that this
formulation also adds a positive commandment to the list of prohibitions here;
even if one were to violate the negative prohibition and collect all the produce
of the field, there is still a possibility of fulfilling the positive
commandment ladder.
As the Rambam writes:
The poor man may come and take them even
against the will of the owner; even if the latter is himself a poor man, we take
them away from him.
These mitzvot serve an essential
role in teaching man about the limits of his own wealth. The Panim Yafot points
out that the literal translation is actually You shall not eradicate the corner
of your field by reaping. To pick clean every last spot of ones field is a
destructive act, while leaving a bit for the poor is constructive. Providing for
the needy and allowing God to provide more is the landowners key to unlimited
blessing.
How Much to Leave?
The directive You shall leave them
indicates that these agricultural gift belong to any pauper who takes them, and
the owners are not even given the prerogative to choose the recipient. However,
there is one element regarding the mitzva which is relegated to an individual's
choice, and that is the amount.
The Mishnaic tractate of Peia
begins by listing mitzvot which have no measure, peia first and
foremost. Essentially, though the Torah forbids one to harvest one's
entire field and requires that some of it be left for the poor, there is no
quantification. One stalk would satisfy the obligation, but the more one gives,
the more one realizes that charity is not an obligation as much as a delightful
opportunity to provide for others.
Still, the Sages of made the choice a
little easier by requiring that one leave at least one-sixtieth of the field as
peia. Although there is now a minimum, there remains no maximum. The
landowner chooses the amount, expressing that a significant percentage of the
harvest belongs to those in need.
The Lesson of Shikhcha
Let us consider the differences between
the different lists of these mitzvot. In Kedoshim, the Torah
states (Vayikra 19:9-10):
When you reap your lands harvest, you
shall not completely reap the corner of your field, nor shall you gather the
gleaning of your harvest.
And you shall not pick clean the vineyard,
nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of the vineyard; you shall leave them for
the poor and for the stranger: I am Lord your God.
In Ki Teitzei, the
Torah states these mitzvot again along with the additional mitzva of
shikhcha
(Devarim 24:19-22):
When you reap the harvest in your field
and you forget a bundle in the field, you shall not turn back to take it; it
shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again:
it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow.
When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not pick it clean
afterwards:
it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt;
therefore, I command you to do this thing.
Regarding leket and peia,
the Torah states that they are to be given to the poor and the stranger, while
regarding shikhcha it states that the beneficiaries are the stranger, the
orphan, and the widow, reminding us that we were slaves in the land of Egypt.
Halakhically, the eligibility requirements are the same, but the Torah clearly
chooses to emphasize different aspects. In Kedoshim, the landowner plays
a socioeconomic role; in Ki Tetzei, where shikhcha is introduced,
the landowner seems to play a familial role, stepping in to the shoes of the
lost father or husband. Why is this?
The Uniqueness of Shikhcha
The mitzva of shikhcha requires
that a harvester who forgets one or two sheaves in the field not return to pick
it up, but instead leave it for the needy. What is particularly interesting
about the mitzva is that the pauper may take them before the owner realizes the
sheaves have been forgotten! This implies that one may fulfill a mitzva without
being aware of doing so.
The Tosefta (Peia 3:8) relates the
following:
An incident occurred with a pious man who
forgot a sheaf in his field. He told his son: Go out and sacrifice on my behalf
a bull for a burnt-offering and a bull for a peace-offering.
The son said: "Father, what makes you want
to rejoice in this mitzva more than other mitzvot in the Torah?
The father responded: The Omnipresent has
given all other mitzvot to be observed consciously, but this one is
unconsciously observed. Were we to observe this one of our own deliberate
freewill before the Omnipresent, the mitzva would never come into existence. But
we are guaranteed
a special blessing. Moreover, isn't it an a fortiori
argument? If when a man has no deliberate intention of performing a good deed it
is nevertheless reckoned to him as one, one who deliberately performs a good
deed, how much more so!
Shikhcha
is a mitzva which defies
intent, yet it carries with it a guarantee of tremendous blessing. How are we to
understand its unique nature? The Ibn Ezra writes about this blessing:
Because you gave of yours in thought, God
will give you of His own in truth.
What thought is the Ibn Ezra referring
to? The mitzva of shikhcha is accomplished specifically when one does not
intend to leave something; indeed, one may realize the gift only ex post
facto!
A similar idea is found in Rabbeinu
Bachyas commentary:
God assigns a blessing for people who have
the right thoughts. The Sages (Sifrei 283) expound: even if the gift
becomes the property of the poor without deliberate intent by the farmer who has
forgotten it, he will be blessed; how much more will he be blessed if he has
arranged it!
Rabbeinu Bachya seems to be saying that
the basic mitzva is to leave the forgotten sheaf, but the greatest blessing is
reserved for those who provide for the needy willfully and willingly. Still, as
he notes (based on the next verse and the Sifrei ad loc.),
self-aggrandizement diminishes from ones act of charity.
The moral lesson is that one should not
publicize the kind acts one performs.
Thus, the mitzva of shikhcha
teaches us much about the nature of charity. Shikhcha does not require an
action and may be fulfilled without the givers knowledge; the real test is
ones reaction when the act is realized. After all the hard work, will one
rejoice in providing unintentionally for the needy? Moreover, the giving of
charity may be undermined by braggadocio. Charity is a state of mind: having the
proper thoughts, being content and delighted to have provided for others by a
happy accident.
This understanding of shikhcha
jibes well with the comments of the
Chinnukh regarding the nature of this and other agricultural gifts of the
field.
Building Character
Both Rav Hirsch and the
Chinnukh explain that shikhcha is not a social mitzva, but a
character-forming one, educating man's conscience. How does this work? How may
one acquire a generous nature through the performance of a mitzva one had no
intention of performing? Certain elements are definitely instructive: giving
without knowing whom one gives to, abdicating ownership of one's field and
eschewing boastfulness (as ones generosity was unintentional) allow one's
charity to be purer. Is there more to shikhcha than this? Rav Hirsch
seems to indicate just that, explaining why this mitzva appears in Devarim,
Moshes final speech to the Jews as they prepare to cross the Jordan:
Here the Torah says that the harvest gifts
bring blessing to those who give them; they constitute an acknowledgment of the
redemption from Egyptian bondage. It is self-evident that this is relevant to
the people who are about to enter the land, who will dwell there in
independence.
He points out the additional law here of
shikhcha and the mention that peia applies to trees.
The verse focuses on ownership: "you
reap, your field." You are now standing on your soil, where nature has served
you. You worked your land, and yours is the abundance that you are about to
reap, either by your own effort or by the labor of the persons in your employ.
Rav Hirsch stresses how the various
mitzvot of the field contribute to the unique forms of tzedaka that
"counter the pride of ownership" while providing the means for the poor to
support themselves. It reminds man that he shouldn't view the whole harvest as
being his alone; he should not exploit the field down to the last stalk, but
leave to the poor at least whatever falls.
To the foregoing is now added the mitzva
of shikhcha. The mitzva serves to purge your thoughts of possessiveness
and greed. It teaches you that your mind, too, which works at increasing wealth,
must not be focuses solely on your own welfare. Rather, whatever has once
escaped your attention at harvest time must be left for the poor. The mitzva of
shikhcha serves to uplift harvest thoughts, just as the mitzva of
leket serves to uplift harvest labor
The harvest gifts don't actually provide
for the poor as much as they remind us of our duty to provide for the poor.
Remembering that which grows in our fields is chiefly for us but also for our
needy brethren.
The
Chinnukh (216) explains how the
mitzva of peia develops one's character:
God wished His chosen people to be graced
with every good moral quality, that they should be generous in spirit and
blessed in soul. I have already written that actions mold the character,
improving it and making it receptive for divine blessing. There is no doubt that
by leaving a portion of his produce and declaring it free to everyone so that
the needy may enjoy it, man's spirit will become more unselfish and he will
enjoy divine grace. But he who gathers in everything into the house, leaving
nothing for the needy who saw the field full of standing corn and hoped to
satiate their hunger, will no doubt do harm to his character, breeding
selfishness, ill-will and miserliness.
This same reason suffices to explain the
laws of leket, shikhcha, peret of the vineyard and olelot.
Regarding shikhcha, the Chinnukh
adds:
What lies at the root of the precept? The
poor and the needy, in their want and their penury, set their eyes on the crop
of grain when they see the owners of the fielding bringing in sheaves from the
field according to Gods blessing. "If only I might be granted to gather in
sheaves to my house! If only I had one, I would rejoice in it! It was therefore
part of God's beneficent will to fulfill their desire and yearning when it
happens by chance that the owner forgets a sheaf.
It is also beneficial to the owner of the
field, as he acquires a generous nature, since the generous soul doesn't concern
itself with the forgotten sheaf, leaving it for the poor. On those with a
generous nature, Gods blessing will rest in perpetuity.
From the words of the
Chinnukh, it would seem that all the agricultural mitzvot
serve an essential purpose in transforming the harvester from a greedy
individual counting all his crops to one who realizes that his wealth can also
be used as a means of providing for the poor. Shikhcha helps one foster
this spirit by realizing that the things he has forgotten are probably not
important at all, allowing him to put himself in the shoes of the needy,
realizing how important and precious the ability to pick up sheaves is for them. With this in mind, it is not
surprising that the Malbim quotes the
Chinnukhs reasoning, explaining that through this mitzva, God
allows man to be the conduit for taking care of the needs of the indigent not
only feeding them, but allowing them to feel important as well.
The Connection to the Land of Israel
At this point, we must consider the
following question: are these agricultural mitzvot limited to the Land of
Israel? If they are so essential for ensuring that one who is involved in
planting a field develops and fosters a holy character, why should they not
apply throughout the world?
In next week's lesson, we will analyze the
nature of agricultural mitzvot of the Holy Land and the template they
present for the world as a whole.
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