The Hidden Rewards of Helping Others: Forgotten Sheaves and Divine Credit

Full Summary

Rabbi Zweig begins by expressing his long-standing confusion with a teaching from Chazal found in Rashi (רש"י): when a person loses money and someone finds it and benefits from it, the original owner receives divine reward (bracha). This seemed counterintuitive - how can one receive credit for something they didn't intentionally do? The source for this teaching comes from Parshas Ki Seitzei (24:19), regarding the mitzvah (מצוה) of shikcaha (forgotten sheaves) - when harvesting, if you forget something in the field, don't go back for it but leave it for the poor, convert, orphan and widow, and Hashem (ה׳) will bless you. Rashi's commentary initially seemed contradictory to Rabbi Zweig. Rashi states that even though the mitzvah came without intention, 'kal v'chomer' (how much more so) if done intentionally, and derives from this that if money falls from your hand and a poor person finds and benefits from it, you receive blessing. Rabbi Zweig questioned why Rashi interrupts his flow to mention the kal v'chomer about intentional giving before returning to unintentional benefit. Through careful analysis, Rabbi Zweig distinguishes between two types of divine rewards. First, there's the reward for the act of giving itself. The Torah (תורה) in Parshas Emor teaches that one who gives leket, shikcha, and pe'ah receives reward equivalent to building the Beis Hamikdash and offering sacrifices - an enormous reward. This is greater than regular charity because it involves allowing others to use your property without your control or direction. When you give charity, you feel good about being generous and maintain control over who receives it. But with leket, shikcha, pe'ah, anyone can come take from your field - you exercise no control and allow yourself to be 'used,' which requires greater self-effacement. The second type of reward, which is the focus of our passage, is the credit received when someone else benefits from your property. This is what the Torah refers to when it says 'and Hashem will bless you' - a separate reward from the act of giving itself. Rashi's kal v'chomer establishes that this reward for others' benefit is greater when done intentionally than unintentionally. Rabbi Zweig explains why Rashi specifically mentions 'money' rather than any lost object. The Gemara (גמרא) teaches that when you lose money, you know immediately, unlike other objects. Therefore, with money, you always have the option to go back and retrieve it. The reward comes not from mystically benefiting someone without knowledge, but from choosing not to go back when you could have, thereby allowing someone else to benefit. This teaching has profound practical applications, especially as preparation for Rosh Hashanah. When we serve as role models - davening properly, learning seriously, acting with integrity - and others benefit by learning from our example, we receive credit for their benefit, provided we're happy that they should benefit from us. This multiplies our spiritual impact exponentially. The Rambam (רמב"ם) supports this understanding in Hilchos Teshuvah, where he states that everyone has sins and 'zechuyos' (merits/credits). Rabbi Zweig suggests that zechuyos refers not just to mitzvos performed, but to the benefits others have received from us, whether we intended it or not. This explains why the Rambam says only God can measure these accounts - we cannot fathom our full impact on others. As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, when God judges our avonos versus zechuyos, the most valuable thing we can do is help others, especially in Torah learning. When we help someone grow in learning, we receive credit for all future benefits they receive from that growth. A kind word, encouragement, or teaching moment can have ripple effects far beyond what we imagine, creating zechuyos that stand in our favor on the Day of Judgment.