[Avodah] This is mine

[Yitzchok Levine]

RSRH comments on Vayikra 19

10 And you shall not pluck the unripe grapes from 
your vineyard, neither shall you gather up the 
fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave 
them for the poor and for the stranger; I, God, am your God.

At harvest time, a person surveys what nature has done for him and
what he is about to take home as the fruit of his labor. At this time he
utters the proud and momentous words: “My own.” Precisely at this
time, every member of the nation must bear in mind and signify in deed
that anyone who can say “This is mine” is obligated to care also for others.
His field and his vineyard did not yield their produce for him alone.
In the labor of his hands he is not to work for himself alone
For in the state governed by the Law of God, the care of the
poor and the stranger is not left to feelings of sympathy; it is not dependent
on property owners’ fears of the threat posed to them by the
despair of the poor. Rather, it is a right that God has given to the poor
and a duty that He has assigned to property owners. And over all of
them God proclaims: Ani HaShem Elokechem, thereby assuring all of them of His
personal care, encompassing all with equal love and justice, and obligating
all equally to be just and loving toward others. Thus He unites them
all to form a holy community that is sustained by justice and charity.

The foundation for a holy life (Kedoshim Teyu) starts with the fundamental
laws of the family and the individual, namely, with Kibud av v'em
and Shabbos; and this foundation is completed with the fundamental law
of society, namely, the mitzvah of tzedakah — the right to receive it and
the duty to give it. It is significant that the social foundation is woven
into one group with laws pertaining to the service of God — laws of
Shlamim and Pigil. For, in Jewish life that is sustained by God, there is no
antithesis of “religious” and social; they are not even separate, coexisting
parts of one higher whole. Rather, they are interrelated in organic unity
— like root and stock, blossom and fruit. Judaism says: Oheiv es Ha Makom
v'oheiv es Ha Brios (Avos 6:1), for the love of God includes the love of His
creatures. The foundation of the Shlamim-joy of our happiness is also the
foundation of our responsibility for the happiness of others. 
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