"There but for the grace of God go I"

In this week’s Torah portion, we learn the laws of the yovel (Jubilee year) “If your brother becomes poor, and has sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin comes to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.” (Lev. 25:25).  This law teaches that property returns to its original owner in the 50^th year, and teaches us compassion for the poor.  Vayikra Rabbah on our parasha teaches:

"The merciful man does good to his own soul; but he that is cruel troubles his own flesh." (Prov. II, 17). R. Alexandri explained that this applies to one who has a festivity and does not associate his relatives with him because of their poverty. R. Nahman observed: It is written, “You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because (bigelal) for this thing the Lord your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to.” (Deut. XV, 10), which means: Fortune is a wheel  (galgal) that revolves in the world. Accordingly Moses exhorts Israel, saying: If your brother becomes poor, and has sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin comes to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.” (Lev. 25:25).

In this midrash, we are taught that there are two reasons that we might want to give to the poor.  After all, it is human nature to find it difficult to part with our wealth, so we need some motivation other than knowing it is simply the “right thing to do.”  One reason is found in another verse in the Torah about a related mitzvah- that of releasing debt on the shmita (sabbatical) year.  This verse teaches that we should give to the poor with a full heart because we should rest assured that we will receive a reward from God for doing so.  The second teaching in the midrash is from Rabbi Nachman who teaches that the verse about shmita actually alludes to the fact that fortune is a wheel-or as some put it “There but for the grace of God go I,” and that when we give to the poor we are best reminded that we could be on the other end of the receiving line a year from now. 

I first heard the phrase “There but for the grace of God go I” when volunteering at a soup kitchen in college.  One of the other volunteers used that phrase and it stuck with me.  What grace means to me is that God’s love comes in ways that we don’t always deserve—it is not really related to doing good deeds or not doing good deeds.  It is rather, as Rabbi Nachman would put it, like a wheel of fortune.  A quick Google search shows that we do not really know who coined the phrase “there but for the grace of God go I” but I think it is very much in line with our midrash.  The two reasons given in this midrash for giving to the poor are essentially competing ideas.  This first reason, as stated in the Torah, is that we will be rewarded.  The second reason, which Rabbi Nachman derives from the Torah is actually the opposite—we should give because we have no control over our own future wealth—our good deeds are no insurance that we will escape harm.

Whether we are thinking about helping those who are poor in wealth, health, intelligence, talent, status, or happiness, I think it behooves us to take the big view of Rabbi Nachman—that while we can and should give with an open heart to those in need, we should also remember that there are no promises in life—there are no guarantees that we will be rewarded for our mitzvot or that we won’t switch shoes with the person we are helping in weeks or months to come.  Looking at the large picture can help instill humility and hakarat hatov (gratitude).