Parshas Be'ha'alosechah - the correct intention in giving tzedakah

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (10:35 – 36)

וַיְהִ֛י בִּנְסֹ֥עַ הָאָרֹ֖ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֑ה קוּמָ֣ה ׀ ה' וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙ אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃ וּבְנֻחֹ֖ה יֹאמַ֑ר שׁוּבָ֣ה ה' רִֽבְב֖וֹת אַלְפֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

And it was when the aron ha’kodesh travelled that Moshe said, “Arise Hashem and may your enemies be scattered and may those who cause You to be hated flee from before You.” And when it rested he would say, “Return Hashem to the myriads and thousands of Yisrael.”

The Zohar comments on this passuk

וַיְהִי בִּנְסוֹעַ הָאָרוֹן. אֲמַאי אִתְהַדָּר לְבָתַר כְּגַוְונָא דָּא. תָּא חֲזֵי, נ בְּאַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְבֵי בֵיתֶךָ לָא אִתְּמַר, בְּגִין דְּהִיא בְּגָלוּתָא. וְהָא אוּקְמוּהָ חַבְרַיָּיא דִּכְתִּיב, (עמוס ה׳, ב׳) נָפְלָה לֹא תוֹסִיף קוּם בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹ'.

Why is there a backwards nun before this passuk? Come and see, in Ashrei we do not have a nun because the benei yisrael are in galus, and the nun stands for נפילה (falling) [, and so would be a bad סימן]. However, the chachamim have returned [the nun to good], as the passuk says

נָפְלָה לֹא תוֹסִיף קוּם בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

[Which literally means, “She has fallen and will not rise, the maiden of Yisrael.” However, the chachamim said that we can read the passuk differently, “She will not continue to fall, arise maiden of Yisrael.”]

The Vilna Gaon explains this Zohar as follows:

שהנו"ן הוא סימן נפילתה בגלות כמש"ו ולכן לא נאמר באשרי. והענין כמ"ש אריאל כו' (משנה ספ"ד דמדות)  מה הארי צר מאחוריו ורחב מלפניו, נמצא צד הרחב הוא רישא דילה ובגלותא רישא שכיבת לעפרא וזנבא מדבר כמ"ש בזוהר במדבר, ולכן כאן בנסוע הארון ויאמר קומה ה' אז אתהפך הנו"ן רישא לעילא וזהו טעם על הפיכתה למעלה ואז ויפוצו אויביך [וינוסו משנאיך מפניך כי צד הרחב הוא פניך]. וכיון דנפלה ואסתלקת נ' אז נתחברו מ' וס' שהן אחוריים דבינה שמשם נאחז סמאל, וכיון שקם הנו"ן ביניהם אתבדרו ס"מ זה לכאן וזה לכאן

The letter nun is a siman to the benei yisrael falling in galus and therefore it is not stated in Ashrei. This idea refers to the mishnah in Middos (4:7) which says

וְהַהֵיכָל צַר מֵאַחֲרָיו, וְרָחָב מִלְּפָנָיו, וְדוֹמֶה לַאֲרִי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה כ"ט), הוֹי אֲרִיאֵל אֲרִיאֵל קִרְיַת חָנָה דָוִד, מָה הָאֲרִי צַר מֵאַחֲרָיו וְרָחָב מִלְּפָנָיו, אַף הַהֵיכָל צַר מֵאַחֲרָיו וְרָחָב מִלְּפָנָיו.

The Heichal was narrow behind and broad in front, resembling a lion, as it says, "Ho, Ariel, Ariel, the city where Dovid encamped" (Yeshaya 29:1): Just as a lion is narrow behind and broad in front, so the Heichal was narrow behind and broad in front.

So, it comes out that the broad side is its head, however in galus the head is bent down, and the tail is the leader.

Therefore, when the aron ha’kodesh would travel, Moshe would say, “Arise Hashem.” Then the fallen nun would be reversed, and the head would be upright (because we associate the broad base of the nun with its head, according to the analogy of the lion, whose broad side is its front).

Then will be נתקיים the passuk of וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙ אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ. This is because when the nun has fallen and is removed, then this allows the mem and the samech which are on either side of the nun, to be joined, which are the opposite of understanding (בינה) from where סמאל gains his foothold. However, when the nun re-arises between them (and splits the samech and the mem), then the powers of סמאל are scattered to either direction.

The Michtav Me’Eliyahu explains the commentary of the Vilna Gaon as follows:

The gemara says in Bava Basra (10b)

אמר להן רבן יוחנן בן זכאי לתלמידיו בני מהו שאמר הכתוב (משלי י"ד, ל"ד) צְדָקָה תְרוֹמֵם גּוֹי וְחֶסֶד לְאֻמִּים חַטָּאת?

נענה רבי אליעזר ואמר צדקה תרומם גוי אלו ישראל דכתיב (שמואל ב' ז', כ"ג) וּמִי כְעַמְּךָ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל גּוֹי אֶחָד בָּאָרֶץ, וחסד לאומים חטאת, כל צדקה וחסד שאומות עובדי כוכבים עושין חטא הוא להן שאינם עושין אלא להתגדל בו כמו שנאמר (עזרא ו', י') דִּי לֶהֱו‍ֹן מְהַקְרְבִין נִיחוֹחִין לֶאֱלָקּ שְׁמַיָּא וּמְצַלַּיִן לְחַיֵּי מַלְכָּא וּבְנוֹהִי...

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai said to his talmidim, “My sons, what does the passuk mean when it says, ‘צְדָקָה תְרוֹמֵם גּוֹי וְחֶסֶד לְאֻמִּים חַטָּאת’ – ‘Charity elevates a nation, but kindness for the people is a חטא’?”

Rabbi Eliezer said, צְדָקָה תְרוֹמֵם גּוֹי – the word גוי (a nation), refers to the benei yisrael, as the passuk says - וּמִי כְעַמְּךָ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל גּוֹי אֶחָד בָּאָרֶץ. וְחֶסֶד לְאֻמִּים חַטָּאת – this refers to the nations because any charity and kindness which the nations do is a חטא because they only do it to aggrandise themselves through it as the passuk says, ‘So that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the G-d of Heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.’

• If it is a חטא for the אומות העולם to do either צדקה or חסד (as the gemara saysכל צדקה וחסד שאומות עובדי כוכבים עושין חטא הוא), then why does the passuk mention צדקה in the beginning of the passuk and חסד in the end of the passuk.
  
• Apparently the passuk could have said צדקה תרומם גוי, וצדקה לאומים חטאת. Or the passuk could have said חסד תרומם גוי, וחסד לאומים חטאת. Either way, both צדקה and חסד elevate the benei yisrael because they do them לשמה, and both צדקה and חסד are a חטא for the אומות העולם because they do both in order to aggrandise themselves?
  | Why is the allusion to the benei yisrael made through a היקש to the passuk of גוי אחד בארץ?

The Michtav Me’Eliyahu explains as follows:

The mishna says in Pirkei Avos (3:7)

רבי אלעזר איש ברתותא אומר, תן לו משלו, שאתה ושלך שלו. וכן בדוד הוא אומר (דברי הימים א' כ"ט) כי ממך הכל ומידך נתנו לך

Rabbi Elazar from Bartusa said, “Give to Him from His, because you and what belongs to you are His. And so too with Dovid it says, ‘Because all is from You, and from Your hand we have given to You.’”

This means that when we give tzedakah we should do so with the understanding that we are merely the shliach of Hashem to provide this tzedakah to the needy person.

Similarly, when the benei yisrael give tzedakah, they are aware that they are the shliach of Hashem to do so and that it is Hashem who has provided for the עני. On the other hand, when the אומות העולם perform חסד, they think that it is their strength that saved the needy person, and they do חסד with the intention that they should be perceived to be the person who helped the עני.

Generally speaking, people aggrandise themselves more through giving צדקה than by doing חסד, because in the case of צדקה they have given money, whereas in the case of חסד they have merely done a kind deed. Therefore, the passuk says that even when the benei yisrael give צדקה, they do so לשמה, and even when the אומות העולם perform חסד, they only do so in order to aggrandise themselves.

Since the אומות העולם give צדקה and do חסד in order to prove that they are the provider of the עני’s shortfall, it comes out that their intention is not to bring עני to an even footing with themselves but is rather to continue to supply the עני with his needs, while the עני remains an עני. Therefore, by giving צדקה and doing חסד, the אומות העולם accentuate the difference between the עשיר and the עני.

On the other hand, when the benei yisrael give צדקה and do חסד they do so as a shliach of Hashem. Just as Hashem provides for the עשיר so too He provides for the עני, albeit through the medium of the עשיר. Therefore, when the benei yisrael give tzedakah, both the עני and the עשיר are on an even footing. Therefore, we deduce that the passuk says צדקה תרומם גוי refers to the benei yisrael from the passuk which says ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ, because it is through giving tzedakah that the unity and equivalence of all members of klal yisrael is emphasized.

Similarly, the gemara and Rashi say in Shabbos (104a)

גמ': מ"ם פתוחה מ"ם סתומה מאמר פתוח מאמר סתום נו"ן כפופה נו"ן פשוטה נאמן כפוף נאמן פשוט ס"ע סמוך עניים

רש"י ד"ה מאמר פתוח ומאמר סתום: יש דברים שנתן רשות לדורשן ויש שאתה מצווה לסותמן כגון מעשה מרכבה

רש"י ד"ה נאמן כפוף: אדם כשר צריך להיות כפוף ועניו וסופו להיות פשוט וזקוף לעולם הבא

“The mem and the final mem represent the open and the hidden aspects of the Torah.

The nun represents the faithful servant of Hashem who is bent over in olam hazeh, but who will be upright like a final nun in olam habah.

Samech ayin stands for סמוך עניים – support poor people.”

In other words, the letter mem represents someone who has achieved greatness in Torah. The letter nun shows that he does not aggrandise himself. And the letters samech and ayin represent his support of עניים.

However, if the nun is missing and does not divide between the mem and the samech, that means that a person may achieve greatness through the wisdom that he has acquired and he may also support עניים, but he does not do so as a נאמן כפוף – a humble bent over servant. Instead he may support עניים in a way of וחסד לאומים חטאת, in order to aggrandise himself.

This is what the Vilna Gaon means when he says

וכיון דנפלה ואסתלקת נ' אז נתחברו מ' וס' שהן אחוריים דבינה שמשם נאחז סמאל, וכיון שקם הנו"ן ביניהם אתבדרו ס"מ זה לכאן וזה לכאן

And once it is fallen (the benei yisrael go into galus) and the nun is removed (because the humble servant of Hashem is no longer respected as a leader) then the mem and the samech are joined (because people will misuse their ability to provide (represented by the letter samech) for עניים as a proof of their greatness (represented by the letter mem). Which is an opposite of the true understanding and from there springs the yetzer hara (because then the purpose of giving צדקה becomes subverted). However once (mashiach arrives and) the nun arises again (because now the humble servant of Hashem is respected as a leader) then the samech and the mem are split (, because people understand that a person should provide צדקה in humility as a shliach of Hashem) and the yetzer hara is split in two (because the letters mem and samech which spell his name (סמאל) are now no longer joined, so that people will drive away the yetzer hara by performing צדקה in the correct manner).

Concerning the כלים in the heichal, the gemara says in Bava Basra (25b)

אמר רבי יצחק הרוצה שיחכים ידרים ושיעשיר יצפין וסימניך שלחן בצפון ומנורה בדרום

Rabbi Yitzchak said, “Someone who wants to become wise should daven facing slightly south and someone who wants to become rich should daven facing slightly north and the sign for this is that the menorah was in the south (of the heichal) and the shulchan was in the north (of the heichal).”

We see from this gemara that the light of the menorah represents the light of chachmah and that the shulchan, which held the לחם הפנים, represents wealth.

The aron ha’kodesh, on the other hand, represents humility and self-abnegation before the רצון ה', as the בעל הטורים says (Shemos 25:10) - כל מדותיו היו שבורות בחצאי אמות ללמד שכל מי שלומד תורה צריך לשבר ולהשפיל עצמו – “All of the measurements of the aron ha’kodesh included half amos to teach you that anyone who learns Torah must abnegate and lower himself.”

Thus, the aron ha’kodesh represents the ideal combination of chachamah (represented by the menorah) and of wealth (represented by the shulchan) in which the chachmah and the wealth which are given by Hashem are used together to provide for עניים in a humble and discrete way.

Subsequently, when the direction of the benei yisrael was determined by the aron ha’kodesh, then the benei yisrael were able to proceed on the path that combines chachmah, wealth and humility in the service of Hashem. In this zechus the אומות העולם, who use their chachamah and wealth to perform צדקה in a way of self-aggrandisement, fled before the shechinah that rested on the deeds of the benei Yisrael.