Parashat Re’e

By: Rabbi Moshe Yakoby

One of my students recently was discussing with me how much he should spend on his wedding! At the course of the conversation I realized that he had no concept of money.
This issue in my opinion is a result of our modern day innovation called Credit Card.
I remember the good old days when I was growing up, what you spend at the registrar  was what you had in your pocket. The amount you could purchase was commensurate to the extent of the money you can spend right here right now. That concept however is long gone. With the swipe of a card everything and anything could be yours regardless of how much it costs.
In this weeks Parasha while discussing the bringing of vow offerings and freewill offerings the Torah states: (Devarim 12:7) You shall eat (the offerings) there (Bet Hamikdash) before Hashem, your God, and you shall rejoice with your every undertaking, you and your households, as Hashem, your God, has blessed you.
Rashi quoting Sifri takes issue with the seemingly superfluous words at the end of the verse “as Hashem, your God, has blessed you” and explains that the Torah is trying to impress upon us that the amount of your vow offerings and freewill offerings should only be in accordance with the blessing that Hashem your God has bestowed upon you.
If the Torah talking about spiritual matters such as vow offerings and freewill offerings warns us not to spend more than what we can afford, how much more so in the physical mundane matters should we be particular to spend only to the extent that we can readily afford. Chovat Halevavot (Sha’ar Habitachon) discussing the idea of our basic Believe and Trust in Hashem writes that one should not go in debt in order to spend that which God has not given to him. He explains that the fact that Hashem has held these funds from him is a clear testimony to the fact that Hashem does not want him to have it.

SHABBAT SHALOM

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