In his beloved children’s book, The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein paints a picture of a boy who loves a tree, and a tree who loves a boy. In the boy’s youth, he would play with the tree, asking nothing in return except for the company of a friend under the shade of her branches. But, as time goes by, the boy grows older and the two companions drift apart.
Many years pass and the boy returns to the tree. “Come, Boy, come and climb up my trunk…” she begs. But the boy is no longer a boy, and he no longer wants to play. Now, as a young man, he has responsibilities and needs to support himself. And the giving tree wants nothing more than to help. So, the boy, now too big to swing on the tree’s branches, comes time and time again and takes from the giving tree. First her apples, then her branches and eventually her trunk. “And the tree was happy,” goes the refrain; “…but not really.”
Shel Silverstein famously said very little about his best-seller, merely that, “It’s just a relationship between two people; one gives and the other takes.” Henceforth, children, who over decades have been raised on the words of this wise and quirky poet, believe in a world where they have the choice to be a giver or to be a taker.
God, in Deuteronomy, seems to speak of a very similar world.
אֶ֕פֶס כִּ֛י לֹ֥א יִֽהְיֶה־בְּךָ֖ אֶבְי֑וֹן כִּֽי־בָרֵ֤ךְ יְבָֽרֶכְךָ֙ ה’ בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹֽתֵן־לְךָ֥ נַחֲלָ֖ה לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃
Yet, there will be no pauper among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is about to give you in estate to take hold of it.
(Parshat Re’eh, Devarim 15:4)
Like the tree, God promises to provide God’s people with all of their needs. Indeed, God’s people will not starve nor will they lie destitute. Rather, like the boy, all of their needs will be met.
However, the Torah continues,
כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה֩ בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן מֵאַחַ֤ד אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ בְּאַ֨רְצְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֗ וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹּץ֙ אֶת־יָ֣דְךָ֔ מֵאָחִ֖יךָ הָאֶבְיֽוֹן׃… נָת֤וֹן תִּתֵּן֙ ל֔וֹ וְלֹא־יֵרַ֥ע לְבָבְךָ֖ בְּתִתְּךָ֣ ל֑וֹ כִּ֞י בִּגְלַ֣ל ׀ הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה יְבָרֶכְךָ֙ ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכל־מַעֲשֶׂ֔ךָ וּבְכֹ֖ל מִשְׁלַ֥ח יָדֶֽךָ׃ כִּ֛י לֹא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹ֠חַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃
Should there be a pauper among you, from one of your brothers within one of your gates in your land that the Lord your God is about to give you, you shall not harden your heart and clench your hand against your brother the pauper… You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be mean when you give to him, for by virtue of this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your doings and in all that your hand reaches. For the pauper will not cease from the midst of the land. Therefore I charge you, saying, ‘You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your pauper, in your land.’
(Devarim 15:7, 10-11)
Though at first God guarantees abundance for all, just a few verses later God clarifies that indeed there will be those in need. This obvious contradiction highlights the society the Torah wishes to create. While God will be the giver and the people will be takers, not everyone will be dealt the same hand—while some will prosper, others will unfortunately suffer. It is at this very juncture where the taker is charged with the responsibility to become the giver.
Unlike The Giving Tree, the world is much more complex than givers and takers. The tree, though kind, does not know the true meaning of giving. To give does not mean to sacrifice for another; to give means to pass goodness forward.
God does not simply bless people with sustenance, God blesses people with responsibility. It is easy to take, to be handed wealth and do with it what one pleases. Far more difficult is learning how to give—how to share blessings with others in a healthy and loving way.
Commenting on an earlier verse in this week’s Parsha, the Amora Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, asks what the Torah teaches when it says, “אַחֲרֵ֨י ה’ אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶ֛ם תֵּלֵ֖כוּ” “You shall walk in the ways of the Lord your God” (Devarim 13:5)? The meaning, he teaches, is that one should imitate the attributes of God (Talmud Bavli Sota 14a).
Just as God gives to us, so shall we give to others. Recognizing these blessings and learning how to share them with the rest of the world is our Divine responsibility. For we do not meet the Divine in the sole act of accepting God’s blessings, we encounter God by sharing these blessings with others.
May we learn to see and accept God’s blessings all around us, and merit to walk in God’s ways as we give.
And may we be happy.
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Daf of the Day
