Leviticus 19:9-10

 

ויקרא יט:ט-י

Original Text:

בְקֻצְרְכֶם אֶת קְצִיר אַרְצְכֶם לֹא תְכַלֶּה פְּאַת שָׂדְךָ לִקְצֹר וְלֶקֶט קְצִירְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט: וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תְעוֹלֵל וּפֶרֶט כַּרְמְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט לֶעָנִי וְלַגֵּר תַּעֲזֹב אֹתָם אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:

Translation:

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the corners of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Adonai your God.
[JPS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions:

1. How is the system of leaving the corners and the gleanings and the fallen food for the poor different than donating food?
2. What practices or values from these laws could we integrate into our modern lives and societies?

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Related Texts:
Related Sourcesheets:Sustainable living, Feeding the Hungry, Top Ten List of Best Economic Justice Jewish Texts (AJWS), Welcoming the Stranger, Jewish Hunger Resource, Sparking Some Elements of the Discussion: What do these texts mean? , A Quick Study of Our Obligation to Feed the Poor, Hunger and Passover, If There Is No Heaven or Hell, Why Should We Keep the Mitzvot?, Hunger Research sheet , Biblical references to tzedakah

Comments on this Text

Do you think that there is a difference between leaving the corners
of your field unharvested and not returning to pick up what was left
or forgotten? If so, what is the difference? According to these verses,
how much of any harvest belongs to the “owner?” Why? What does
this tell us about who really “owns” the land? the trees? the labor?

Is leaving this portion of the harvest tzedek or tzedakah?

Maimonides teaches us that tzedakah is about assisting those in immediate
need. But tzedakah is not just about the transfer of money from donor
to beneficiary. It is also about the attitude of the donor and the dignity of
the recipient. Maimonides’ levels help us understand that the donor is not
superior, nor the recipient inferior, and that tzedakah should not contribute
to the aggrandizement of the former nor the denegration of the latter.
Judaism teaches that poverty is not a stigma and it should not define the
social status or worth of an individual. It is a condition, somewhat like hunger,
that with proper social structures and individual determination can be
overcome. It is also a condition that, but for the grace of God, might occur
to any one of us.

What is the value of having the needy come to harvest their own
portion?

We do not live in an agricultural society today. Do you think this text
has contemporary relevance? How might we apply this sense of
mandatory sharing of our earnings to the world we live in?