Drash on Re’eh

Cantor Michel Laloum

Temple Beth Israel, Melbourne

Parashat Re’eh, tzedakah

Parashat Re’eh is one of those parashiot that always reminds me of the end of the day when lights are about to be turned out and there is suddenly a list of things that urgently need to be said before bedtime.  Parashat Re’eh covers everything from kashrut to false prophets to idolatry and then swings back around to a helpful warning about obedience to the commandments. But tucked into that list is also the commandment of tzedakah.

Father’s Day is fast approaching and already in our house, there are whispers and goings on that seem to be related to small hands making treasures for the big event.  What’s really lovely to see as our children get older is how much joy they get from giving gifts rather than receiving them. Don’t get me wrong, Emily’s birthday ‘wish list’ would still fill a semitrailer, but they really are learning the joys of giving too. Emily immediately halves any treat she is given, saving half for her sister and is always enormously excited when we remember to find a gold coin on Fridays for the tzedakah box at their school Shabbat.

Last week, Elena, feeling sorry for a girl in her class who is to go without pocket money for two weeks for reasons unknown, felt compelled to smuggle treats in her lunch box to make up for her friend being banned from tuckshop.

It’s not quite tzedakah from the Torah but it’s at least the beginnings of it, with a healthy dose of empathy, from which only good things will grow.

So important is tzedakah that the Talmud tells us it is equal in importance to all other commandments combined (Baba Batra 9a).  And in its importance, throughout the Torah and Talmud, Jews are given instructions not just on the requirement to give but reminders to give with a generous heart:  “Your heart shall not be grieved when you give” (Devarim 15:10). Further again and contrary to the social media trend of filming oneself when giving food to the homeless, we are told that when you give, you must ensure not to humiliate the person to whom you are giving.

Maimonides wrote about the eight levels of giving, with the highest being to “support a fellow Jew by endowing him with a gift or loan, or entering into a partnership with him, or finding employment for him, in order to strengthen his hand so that he will not need to be dependent upon others.” But while few of us have that opportunity very often, we can try to emulate the next highest level of charity, which according to Maimonides, is to “give to the poor without knowing to whom one gives, and without the recipient knowing from who he received.”

In parashat Re’eh, it is implied that giving in this manner is not only a holy obligation but that it brings the giver closer to God.

Whether thousands of years ago in the desert or today on Chapel street, there’s no shortage of reasons tzedakah will never go out of style: “For there will never cease to be needy within the land” (Devarim 15:11).

But giving tzedakah is not just about alleviating poverty; it is about restoring dignity, building community, and drawing closer to God. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his commentary on Parashat Re’eh, emphasizes that tzedakah is not merely charity—it is justice. He writes, “Tzedakah is not what we give out of kindness. It is what we owe out of justice.” This reframing shifts our understanding: giving is not optional generosity but a sacred obligation.

When we give, we emulate the divine attribute of chesed—lovingkindness. We become partners in creation, agents of healing in a broken world. Tzedakah transforms both the giver and the receiver. It softens our hearts, expands our empathy, and reminds us that holiness resides in human connection.

The dichotomy of Re’eh may feel remote when faced with real-world brutality and injustice. Yet even amid the ongoing trauma of hostages and wars in too many places bringing with them immense human suffering, we are commanded to choose compassion over indifference. In small interactions and acts of solidarity, we can pursue the blessings Parashat Re’eh envisions, continue the work of tikkun olam and preserve our shared humanity.