Moses then reviewed with the Jewish people the laws governing employees’ wages, legal justice, consideration for the disadvantaged, resolving disputes, the punishment of lashes, work-animals, the obligation of a brother to marry his childless brother’s widow (“levirate” marriage), compensation for embarrassment, honesty in business, and the duty to remember how the nation of Amalek attacked the Jewish people when they left Egypt. As part of the laws governing consideration for the disadvantaged, G‑d commands the Jewish people to leave over for converts (who did not own any land to cultivate), orphans, and widows any sheaves of grain that they forget to gather during the harvest.
Our Inner Desire
כִּי תִקְצֹר קְצִירְךָ . . . וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר . . . לֹא תָשׁוּב לְקַחְתּוֹ לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה יִהְיֶה לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ:
(דברים כד:יט)
[Moses told the Jewish people,] “When you reap your
harvest . . . and forget a sheaf . . . you must not go back to take it. It must
be left for the convert, the orphan, and the widow, in order that G‑d bless you
in all that you do.”
Deuteronomy 24:19
The innermost desire of every Jew, no matter what his or her
outward level of observance of the Torah, is to perform G‑d’s will in full.
Therefore, even when we perform a commandment unintentionally, or even
“mistakenly,” it is really the result of our deep-seated desire to do it.
Therefore, if a person
loses a coin and a poor person picks it up, G‑d rewards the person who lost the
coin. How much more so will G‑d bless us for intentional acts of charity and
kindness!
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