Ancient Wisdom in Modern Application

Rabbi Melanie Aron

May 5, 2001

Several years ago, shortly after we moved into the renovated office building and installed our new furniture, the drawers in my file cabinet collapsed. We called the store from which we had purchased the furniture and a repairman came out. He fixed the drawers, and while doing so glanced my files. He was very upset to find files that went back 10 years. "What do you need with that old stuff ?, he said "Anything that old is of no value at all."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that ten years old was nothing. My office was full of books with texts that are a thousand, two thousand or even three thousand years old.

There's a major difference in attitude between contemporary America and classical Judaism. In Jewish life we have treasured the ancient and that which was handed down to us, while in America we want the newest, the most contemporary. Americans often question whether anything old can be of value, whether we can learn anything from things that are not right up to date.

This weeks Torah portion, Kedoshim, has some agricultural laws which seem very remote from modern society. Very few Jews are farmers, and even if we were, our farms would be very different from the small subsistence farms described in the Bible. That raises questions then about many of the mitzvoth of the Torah. The laws of peah, for example, leaving the corners of our field for the poor: what possible relevance could they have to us today?

It has been argued that the relevance of Peah comes from the respect these laws show for the poor. Indigent members of society were not shamed, nor were they set aside. When the farmers who owned land brought in their harvest, the poor were given a harvest of their own. They too came out into the fields with the community, and thus were able to share in the life of their society. The mitzvah of Peah is thus a social mitzvah, one which improves life for the poorest in the community.

This year I read a new commentary, prepared by Rabbi Natan Fenner in honor of Jewish healing month. He argues for a personal, rather than a political, contemporary understanding of this mitzvah. He notes that what is significant about peah is that the farmer is leaving un-harvested a portion of the field that he has spent an entire season cultivating. The produce on those stalks could have been sold at a profit in the marketplace or used to feed his household. Isn't it counter-intuitive for him to leave them in the field?

That is exactly the point for Rabbi Fenner . The mitzvah of Peah can prompt us to ask ourselves: In what areas of my life do I constantly strive to extract every single morsel or reap every last bit of profit or advantage from my efforts? What are the impacts of this constant striving for myself, my loved ones, and those in my community?

There are times when we mobilize all of our resources, when we push ourselves, as it were, all the way to the edge of the field. But the Torah comes to remind us that there is also some good that can come about from leaving a few corners. A little bit of relaxation, a leaving of some responsibilities to others, can in certain circumstances be a way to create sustenance and wholeness in our lives.

As we celebrate Shabbat, we recognize the wisdom of past generations in providing a time of rest and refreshment in our everyday lives. In learning about Peah, we can consider other ways to bring healing and peace to ourselves, our families and our communities.