6th Grade at the Braun Religious School: Feed those in need

MISHNAH, PEAH, 1:1
אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר. הַפֵּאָה, וְהַבִּכּוּרִים, וְהָרֵאָיוֹן, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה. אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאָדָם אוֹכֵל פֵּרוֹתֵיהֶן בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְהַקֶּרֶן קַיֶּמֶת לוֹ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. כִּבּוּד אָב וָאֵם, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וַהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּם!:

A) These are the things that have no fixed limit:
·       The Pay’ah/Corners of the field set aside for the poor ;
·       The Bikurim/First-fruits donated to the Mikdash;
·       The Re’ayon/”Being Seen” offering on pilgramage to the Mikdash;
·       Gemilut Chasadim/acts of loving kindness; and
·       Talmud Torah/Torah study.
B) The following are the things for which a person enjoys the fruits (the interest) in this world while the principal (the act itself) remains (invested) for that person in Olam Habah/The World to Come:
·       Kivud Av Ve’Eym/ Honoring one’s father and mother,
·       Gemilut Chasadim/acts of loving kindness,
·       Hava’at Shalom Beyn Adam Lechavero/the making of peace between a person and their fellow,
·       And the study of Torah is equivalent to any of these!

LEKET, SHIKHHAH, AND PE’AH

(Heb. לֶקֶט, שִׁכְחָה, וּפֵאָה; "gleanings, forgotten produce, and the corners of the field"), are the Talmudic designation of three mitzvot of the harvest where the farmer was commanded to leave food for the benefit of the poor and the stranger. These mechanisms to fight poverty are among the mitzvot that work to build a more just food supply. Pe'ah ("corner") and leket ("gleanings") are commanded in Leviticus 19:9–10:

ט וּבְקֻצְרְכֶם אֶת-קְצִיר אַרְצְכֶם, לֹא תְכַלֶּה פְּאַת שָׂדְךָ לִקְצֹר; וְלֶקֶט קְצִירְךָ, לֹא תְלַקֵּט.	9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you will not fully harvest into the corner of your field, neither will you gather the last little bits of your harvest.
י וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תְעוֹלֵל, וּפֶרֶט כַּרְמְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט: לֶעָנִי וְלַגֵּר תַּעֲזֹב אֹתָם, אֲנִי ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם!	10 And you will not pick bare your vineyard, neither will gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you will leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am Adonai your God!

Shikhḥah ("forgottens") is a mitzvah found in Deuteronomy 24:19–21:

יט כִּי תִקְצֹר קְצִירְךָ בְשָׂדֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר בַּשָּׂדֶה, לֹא תָשׁוּב לְקַחְתּוֹ--לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה, יִהְיֶה: לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ. {ס}

19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and you have forgot a sheaf/bundle in the field, you will not go back to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow; that Adonai your God may bless you in all the work of thy hands. {S}

Corresponding to leket in grain is peret in the vineyard. So if during the grape harvest one or two grapes fell to the ground, they constituted peret for the poor (Pe'ah 6:5). The olelot ("small clusters with few grapes") in the vineyard also belonged to the poor (Lev. 7:4), in accordance with the verse, "You will not pick bare your vineyard, neither will you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you will leave them for the poor and for the stranger." The word for vineyard, kerem, includes orchards as well, which means olives were also covered by these mitzvot.

Professor Rabbi Moses Maimonides of the University of Fez in Morocco notes: Similarly, with regard to leket: If one transgresses and gathers them - even if ground them into flour and baked them, one must give it to to the poor, as it states there: "Leave it for the poor and the stranger." If this produce is lost or consumed by fire after one gathered it, but before one gave it to the poor, one is liable for lashes! Similarly, if a person is binding sheaves of wheat into bundles, and one transgressed and gathered it - even if one ground it into flour and baked it, one must give it to the poor, as it states: "They shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow."

Foods that are not seasonal and do not grow from the ground are not obligated in these mitzvot, and do not apply outside the land of Israel. FurthernmoreThe challenge for us today is this: how do we insure a more just and accessible food supply to those in need?

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