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When the Torah (תורה) rewards one who forgot sheaves in his field (shikhchah), what earns the reward—the forgetting, or the poor person's benefit? Rashi (רש"י)'s cryptic language reveals two distinct rewards: one for allowing yourself to be "used" (greater than directed charity), and a separate reward—with a kal vachomer—for the benefit the recipient actually received. This second reward applies even when you lose money unintentionally, provided you're happy someone benefited and chose not to retrieve it.
Rabbi Zweig addresses a longstanding difficulty with Rashi (רש"י)'s understanding of the mitzvah (מצוה) of shikhchah (forgotten sheaves). Rashi derives from Devarim 24:19 that if a person loses money and a poor person finds it and benefits, the original owner receives Divine reward—even though he did nothing intentional. This seems to contradict the principle that mitzvah performance requires conscious action and effort. Moreover, the pasuk itself says "do not go back to take it," implying that the person knows he forgot something and could retrieve it, yet Chazal seem to say reward comes even when one is completely unaware. Rabbi Zweig works through Rashi's language carefully. Rashi states: "Even though the mitzvah came to you without intention, kal vachomer if you do it intentionally. Derive from here that if money fell from your hand and a poor person found it and benefited, you receive a blessing." The question is: why does Rashi interrupt his point with the kal vachomer about intentional giving, only to return to the case of unintentional loss? And why does the Torah (תורה) in Parshas Emor (cited by the Sfra) say that one who gives leket, shikhchah, and pe'ah receives reward as if he built the Beis Hamikdash and brought sacrifices—an extraordinarily high reward—while in our parsha the reward is merely "a blessing in your business"?
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Devarim 24:19
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