Ki Teitzei: Sharing The Burden

Aug 15th, 2010 by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in 613 Concepts, Holidays, Portion of the Week, Relationships

2 Comments

I was a Shabbat lunch guest of Rabbi Sol Berman. A group of us were climbing the stairs to his apartment, and Rabbi Berman stopped at each floor to talk and share a thought on the Parsha. I was wondering why he stopped so often, until I realized that another of his guests was quite overweight and was struggling to walk all the way up the steps. Our host was pausing to allow the guest to catch his breath. Rabbi Berman is a master of Chesed with sensitivity, and this is just one of numerous examples of this one area of his greatness.

“You shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling on the road and hide yourself from them; you shall surely stand them up, with him. (Deuteronomy 22:4) We must help other load their burdens. (Concept 497) We may not leave them distraught with their burdens, but must help them to either load or unload. (#498)

We don’t have to wait until we see someone’s donkey suffering under a burden in order to fulfill these commandments. We don’t even have to wait until the next time we see someone trying to load a car. Rabbi Berman fulfilled this Mitzvah when he shared the burden of his suffering guest. We too, can fulfill this Mitzvah when we are willing to listen to someone pour out his heart and share his “burden” with him. We can offer our time and attention to someone who wants to restore a relationship with us. (See ‘What I Have Lost‘) We can offer our ear to someone who wants to share the burden of his heart as he reflects on what he wants to repair in his Teshuva. We can share the burden of another’s heart as they face a new year with fear and anxiety. We can share the burden of another just as God listens to us as we share our burdens with Him.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

• 

2 Comments

• moshe stepansky Aug 15, 2010 at 8:17 pm

  G-d is indefinable.
  One of the ways we do not define G-d is the recognition that G-d is the Master of Time (v’Hu Hayah v’Hu Hoveh, v’Hu Yihyeh b’Tif’arah)Past beyond human knowledge, Present, and forging Forward to a future beyond human ken.This is so beyond human comprehension it it indefinable.
  G-d’s infinite kindness to Ahm Yisrael is manifest (amongst many things)in making us assistant masters of time.”HaKhodesh hazeh la’chem Rosh Khodashim”==>God empowers us to set the Jewish calendar based on eyewitness reports verified and ratified by the highest court in the Land – the Sanhedrin in the Temple Mount.They are empowered to add another month in the calendar if needed to maintain Pesakh’s springtime requirement.So many commandments are contingent upon the calendar-obviously the holidays but also many agricultural mitzvot in the Holy Land are determined by the calendar (e.g.which year is it for ma’aser sheni/oni, second tier tithing).

  Another aspect of being assistant masters of time involves the concept of emulating G-d.
  Everyone is familiar with the concept of ‘Khessed shel Emet’==> the most basic level of lovingkindness – that you can not expect to be ‘repaid’- taking care of a deceased person’s burial arrangements – after, all, the dead person cannot repay the kindness.
  But not everyone runs into or ’sees’ dead people.!!!
  Actually, that last statement is not so correct….
  So many of us know individuals who are the ‘walking wounded’, people who are carrying around within themselves a little piece deep deep deep inside of something that deadens them. People who are marvelous folks, nut one little mah’she’hu of spiritual or mental khometz puts a cloud on their entire being.
  And this is where we can apply a little khessed shel Emet.We can give of our time and listen to people,just being there for someone,letting them expunge some of that ‘dead’ weight that sinks their entire being.
  This time that we give of ourselves is a true khessed shel Emet because once given,you’ll never get that time back.

  Being a Master of Time means you don’t always let Time be your master.
• moshe stepansky Aug 15, 2010 at 8:18 pm

  R’ Shlomo said “One of the greatest crimes in the world is to kill Time.”