The Weekly Shtikle Blog: The Weekly Shtikle

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my Oma, Chaya Sara bas Zecharia Chaim, a"h.

This week's shtikle is dedicated for a refuah sheleimah for my father.

Please include Reuven Pinchas ben Yehudis in your tefillos.

In perek 19 (9‑10), we are taught four different mitzvos with regard to the poor: peah, leket, peret and olalos. The required quantity for these mitzvos is quite small. For instance, the mishna in Peah (6:5) teaches that one or two stalks constitutes leket, shichchah, etc. but three do not, i.e. if one dropped as few as three stalks, it is still considered too much and may be retrieved by the owner.

R' Moshe Mintz of Ner Yisroel asks why the Torah commanded us a number of mitzvos of such small quantity instead of perhaps commanding us one mitzvah of greater quantity. He answers that perhaps we can understand this with Rambam's interpretation of a mishnah in this week's perek of Pirkei Avos, perek 3. Mishnah 19 teaches "hakol l'fi rov hama'aseh." Rambam explains that it is better for a person to give a little tzedakah at a greater frequency than to give a larger amount of tzedakah less often (assuming the total amount is the same.) For example, he explains that giving one donation of 1000 gold coins, meritorious as it may be, does not have the same effect on the giver as giving one gold coin a thousand times. Doing mitzvos more often has a more profound impact on a person, even if the quantity of the mitzvos is small. Therefore, the Torah specifically commanded us to do many different acts of tzedakah in the field in smaller quantities, rather than less acts in larger quantities.

It is ironic that this lesson be taught in parshas Kedoshim. Although it is certainly among the smaller parshios, at 64 pesukim, it actually boasts the highest rate of mitzvos per pasuk.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: A Revealing Note
Dikdukian: Stand up, goat!
Dikdukian: Mitum'os: Watch that plural

Dikdukian: Qualification of the AHOY rule

Dikdukian: Sukas David

Daily Leaf:

.ב Deliberate טומאה

:ד Need to Know Basis

:ו A Slight Correction

:ח Sprinkling on Day 3

:ח A Sprinkling Every Day... Almost

:ט Let the Building bear witness

ירידת הדורות ט