26 Mar TZAV: USING OUR BLESSINGS TO UPLIFT

One of the mitzvot that
apply on Purim
ismatanot l’evyonim –
the requirement to give
charitable gifts to the
poor.
This obligation differs from the
standard mitzva of tzedakah, in several
ways. First, even a poor person who
himself relies on charity is required to
give matanot l’evyonim. Strange as it
sounds, this means that after a pauper
receives charity, he needs to take some
of the money and give it to another poor
person. Why?
Another surprising feature of matanot
l’evyonim is that we give to anyone
who asks. Normally, we check to ensure
that people who request charity are
truly in need. On Purim, however, the
halachah is that we give to everybody,
without asking questions – and even to
non-Jews who approach us and ask for
assistance.
Of course, on Purim we also spend a

great deal of time giving mishloah
manot – food packages to other
people. We know that the people we
give to have no need for yet another box
of wafers or another bottle of wine.
Yet, we give package after package.
Together, these two mitzvot have the
effect of turning Purim into a day of
giving. We give and give. We generate
so much joy, excitement and friendship
by giving, by sharing what we have
with other people. And this is why
everyone has to do it, and why we give
to everyone, and even give things that
people don’t necessarily need.
When we think of materialism, we
tend to think of greed, of an insatiable
lust for money. But Purim shows us that
our material blessings can be used to
uplift people, to inspire people, to bring
people joy, to spread happiness all
around us.
One of the sacrifices which the Torah
speaks about in Parashat Tzav is the
korban toda, the thanksgiving offering,

which one would bring to
express his gratitude to
Hashem. This sacrifice
has several unique
features – such as a
limited timeframe for
eating the food. Normally,
when the Torah allows
the person bringing a
sacrifice to eat its meat
(as opposed to allowing
only the kohanim to eat
the meat), the sacrifice
may be eaten for two
days. The korban todah,
however, may be eaten only the day it
was offered, and that night.
The reason, it has been explained, is
that when somebody celebrates a festive
occasion, he is encouraged to invite his
friends and relatives to join him. He
should not celebrate alone. He must
invite lots of people to join him – and so
the Torah limits the timeframe when the
meat can be eaten, to ensure that this
individual’s personal celebration

becomes a large festive gathering.
We all, baruch Hashem, have received
many blessings, of different kinds. The
Torah teaches us that all our blessings
can and must be used to uplift others, to
bring joy to other people, to make the
world a better and happier place. Just as
we celebrated the Purim miracle by
giving, so should we celebrate all the
blessings in our lives by giving, sharing,
and spreading happiness to as many
people as we can.