This week’s parsha continues Moses final address to the Israelites before God ‘gathers him to his fathers’. This portion contains 74 of the 613 commandments (as numbered by Maimonides).
Let’s read from the parsha:
Deu 24:19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Deu 24:20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
Deu 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
Deu 24:22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Based on an article by Rabbi Dr. Darrell Ginsberg
Forgetting something is not usually considered a useful experience. In general, we are upset about forgetting anything from simple tasks to important events. Without question, there are certain times in life we desperately want to forget, yet, in general, failure to remember is just that – a failure. That is true, until we come across the commandment of the forgotten sheaf.
The Sages make an extremely important observation. They tell us that this command is different than all the other commands in the Torah. Every other command is based on remembering the commandment, and so forgetting it removes the opportunity to perform it. The command of the forgotten sheaf is the exact opposite. One cannot perform this mitzvah without forgetting.
How is this possible? Let’s be clear – forgetting here means a genuine forgetting. An individual cannot “set up” a situation where he conveniently forgets some wheat in the field. The entire phenomenon must be honest and sincere.
There is a story found in the Tosefta concerning this. It seems a certain individual, after he forgot about some produce in his field, instructed his son to bring an abundance of offerings. His son inquired as to why he was so overly ecstatic about this particular command versus any other. His father responded that all other commandments were given for us to know, while this command was not intended for us to know, since it only came about through the will of God.
But wait a minute, doesn’t the Torah say not to go back and get the sheaf that you forgot? That implies remembering. Something that we forgot is completely out of our mind. That implies that forgetting isn’t complete until we remember what we forgot. Only then do we realize that we forgot.
So what does this all mean? How are we to understand the concept of the forgotten sheaf today? At least for me, I don’t have any grain to gather together in sheaves growing in my yard. And honestly, I can’t think a a thing that I might forget about that would be a direct help to the poor (and I thought about that a lot this week). Maybe you have some ideas.
But, we can learn to have the correct attitude about our ‘things’. If a person is a miserly type there is no way they will forget one of their sheaves, but if their attitude is one where things are not the driving force in their life they could easily overlook a sheaf because grasping everything there is to grasp is not how they live life. We should live the same way. When God does bless us with material things, we need not hang on tightly to every single thing. It wouldn’t be a problem at all if we forgot about a few of our things once in awhile. Maybe forget where your phone or ‘I’ thing is occasionally and be able to live without it.
We also learn how God Himself cares for the poor. Perhaps if a farmer wasn’t being generous enough on his own and not leaving a large enough corner of his field unharvested, he would forget a sheaf or two during the harvest time. He wants us to be generous to the poor, but apparently He will step in when necessary.
I just want to leave you with the idea that while forgetting something is usually a negative thing, in the hands of God, the thing you forgot could be a great benefit to someone else.
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