The Child and the Slave - Tales from the Past

Turnusrufus asked Rabbi Akiva: "If your G-d loves the poor, why doesn't He feed them?"

Said Rabbi Akiva to him: "So that we should be saved from purgatory (in the merit of the charity we give)."

Said he to him: "On the contrary: for this you deserve to be punished.

"I'll give you an analogy. This is analogous to a king who got angry at his slave and locked him away in a dungeon, and commanded "If your G-d loves the poor, why doesn't He feed them?" that he not be given to eat or to drink; and a person came along and gave him to eat and to drink. When the king hears of this, is he not angry at that person? And you are called slaves, as it is written (Leviticus 25:55) 'The Children of Israel are My slaves.'"

Said Rabbi Akiva to him: "I'll give you an analogy.

"This is analogous to a king who got angry at his child and locked him away in a dungeon, and commanded that he not be given to eat or to drink; and a person came along and gave him to eat and to drink. When the king hears of this, does he not reward that person?

"And we are G-d's children, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:1) 'You are children of the L-rd your G-d.'"

Talmud, Bava Batra 10a

About the artist: Sarah Kranz has been illustrating magazines, webzines and books (including five children’s books) since graduating from the Istituto Europeo di Design, Milan, in 1996. Her clients have included The New York Times and Money Marketing Magazine of London.

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May 3, 2012

i don't understand

Ha'Shem put some people into this world just to make others feel good? I do not think this is true or wise or even Jewish...but then again who am I compared to Rabbi Akiva ( if these are really his words) If someone understands better please explain

Anonymous
Fresno, Ca

October 23, 2010

A different view

I feel that G-d does feed the poor. In the Torah He made specific provisions for us to always remember the widow and the fatherless. Even our fasts are an opportunity to feed those in need (something I would like my family and I to start doing).

In my opinion, the problem lies not with our Creator but in the fact that most people choose to ignore the solution the Creator provided for us.

Torah is an owners manual for our lives. Sure, we can choose to ignore the warning lights in our life and eventually we will break down or we could listen to the One that actually created us and maintain our life by following the required maintenance schedule given us.

Louis Stoll

October 22, 2010

to tora

I think you're right, but I don't think that the purpose of the poor here is to suffer since their suffering can be alleviated by the kindness and charity of others.

Alexander Braverman
Westfield, NJ

March 5, 2006

tora

I belive that we need to help each other, i do believe that God reason for not feeding the poor is due to him giving the pooor or the pepole who suffer in this life an easier life in their next lives or upon thier departure.
i also think that we all need to do many good things in our lives as doing good gets us all closer to each other and closer to God

Rivka Avitan
Vancouver, canada
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