{"id":51463,"date":"2019-03-17T19:12:36","date_gmt":"2019-03-17T17:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=51463"},"modified":"2022-10-09T15:14:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T12:14:33","slug":"forgetfulness-and-righteousness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/forgetfulness-and-righteousness\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgetfulness And Righteousness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In Chapter 24 we are commanded, \u201cWhen you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it. For the sojourner and for the orphan and for the widow it shall be, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.\u201d This commandment, known as <\/span>shichechah<\/span><\/i> is one of many commandments that require us to leave some produce behind in the fields for the poor to collect. It\u2019s also a highly unusual commandment, because it seems to be a commandment you can only fulfill unintentionally due to the requirement of forgetting. <\/span><\/p>\n

A story from <\/span>Tosefta Peah 3:13 <\/span><\/i>seems to support this interpretation:<\/span><\/p>\n

It once happened that one pious person who forgot a sheaf of wheat in his field, and said to his son, \u201cGo and offer for me a bull as a burnt offering and a bull as a peace offering.\u201d \u00a0He (his son) said to him, \u201cFather, why are you celebrating this commandment more than all the commandments in the Torah?\u201d He (the father) said to him, \u201cAll the commandments in the Torah were given for us to do consciously, but this one was not given to be done consciously, because if it was done intentionally, it wouldn\u2019t count for us before God.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The pious person in this story makes clear that <\/span>shichechah<\/span><\/em> can only be fulfilled through genuine forgetting, and is therefore a source of extra rejoicing when the rare opportunity to fulfill it comes into our hands. <\/span><\/p>\n

However in the Book of Ruth 2:15-16, Boaz seems to attempt to fulfill this commandment intentionally when he tells his field workers, \u201cLet her glean among the sheaves and do not harass her, and also drop some of the handfuls for her, and leave them so she can take them, and do not rebuke her.\u201d \u00a0Here it seems that Boaz is trying to fulfill <\/span>shichechah<\/em> <\/span>intentionally. <\/span><\/p>\n

I think the tension between these two texts illustrates an important aspect of <\/span>shichechah<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>The purpose of <\/span>shichechah<\/em> <\/span>isn\u2019t just charity. There are other commandments about charity, and easier, more common and consistent ways to give it. The purpose of <\/span>shichechah<\/span><\/em> is about giving charity in a way that doesn\u2019t create feelings of indebtedness from the recipient: they can feel that they are not taking anything of real worth, and therefore aren\u2019t imposing in any way on the giver.<\/span><\/p>\n

This effect is very difficult to create intentionally, as Boaz tries to do. That\u2019s why genuine forgetting is so important to the pious man from the story.<\/span> He could, like Boaz, try to leave some behind and make it look accidental, but it would be hard to know if the correct psychological effect happened or not. That is why he celebrated his first time truly forgetting so lavishly\u2014it was the first time he knew for certain that he had given to the poor without leaving them with a feeling of indebtedness or inferiority.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

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