Lessons from a Slurpee
This week my wife and I took our children on an overnight vacation to Punderson State park. On our way home, having treated them to boating, horseback riding and a fun stay in a nice cabin, I told them I was going to cap off the trip with slurpees from Speedway. They were only too happy to take me up on the offer and so we made a stop at the nearest Speedway to pick some up.
The kids chose their slurpee flavors and we left the store to continue our drive. After a few minutes I asked my children if anyone would give me a sip of his slurpee. My two-year-old promptly replied with an emphatic “No!” (which I was truthfully grateful for). My 15-year-old son was more gracious and allowed me to have as much as I wanted.
This got me thinking. How can my child not give me some of his slurpee? I am the one who bought it for him in the first place, so how could he refuse to give me back some of it when I ask him to?! Of course the answer is because he is two and doesn’t have the mental capacity to make that logical connection. My older son, fortunately, has the maturity and intelligence to recognize that it’s only right for him to share with me since I am the one who bought him the drink, not to mention all of the other fun things we did that day, and I should be entitled to, at the very least, a small portion of it.
This week’s Torah portion lays out the mitzvah of tzedakah (charity) and ma’aser (tithing). “You shall tithe the entire crop of your earning” (Deuteronomy 4:22) and “You shall surely open up your hand to your brother, to your poor and your destitute” (ibid 5:11) are the foundations for what is one of the hallmarks of the Jewish people – a legacy of charity.
The Torah has no problem with people amassing wealth but it does require that we share what we have with others. If one can make his own ends meet he is obligated to give a tenth of his profits to charity to help out those less fortunate.
Admittedly, it can be hard for people to part with their hard-earned money:
Morris and Irving were out on the lake enjoying a day of fishing in a rowboat. Suddenly, the weather took a turn for the worse and the boat was tossed violently from side to side. Irving was thrown from the boat and, despite Morris’ attempts to pull him on board, Irving drowned.
Devastated, Morris was left with the unenviable task of telling Irving’s wife that she was now a widow. Morris knocked on the door of Irving’s home and with a heavy heart told her how he and Irving were in a boat on the lake when the weather got nasty. “Irving fell out of the boat and I was yelling at him to give me his hand but he just stared at me with a blank expression and eventually he drowned,” Morris said.
“You idiot!” Irving’s wife told Morris. “You should never have asked Irving to give you his hand; you should have told him instead to take your hand. You see, Irving never gave anything to anyone!”
So how can we combat the temptation to shy away from our tithing and charity obligations? The answer is quite simple; it’s the “Slurpee Doctrine.” As Jews it is incumbent upon us to recognize that all of our earnings and wealth come from G-d. No matter how smart we are or what skills we may have, it is only due to G-d’s blessing that we have what we have. Everything comes from Him. And after giving us all that we have, He asks us to “give him a sip” in the form of taking a tenth off of our profits for charity.
Many people are like my two-year-old in terms of spiritual maturity so they balk at such a demand. “No!” they cry. “It’s my money that I earned!” failing to recognize that everything that we have comes from G-d alone. Those who have worked on themselves and have matured in terms of spiritual growth know the true source of their wealth and are like a more developed 15-year-old who realizes that if his father gave him a 22-ounce slurpee, it is only right to give him back a small amount of it.
So the next time you are approached by someone less fortunate seeking a donation remember the "Slurpee Doctrine.” It will make it a lot easier to reach into your wallet and part with some of your money (plus, there’s no brain freeze!).
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Yosef Koval
