FMT (5 minute Torah) – Ki Teizei 5781 – כי תצא – Your Neighbor’s Vineyard

There Are 74 Mitzvot In This Parasha and

One of the Mitzva is in Deuteronomy Chapter 23:25 דְּבָרִים

כִּי תָבֹא בְּכֶרֶם רֵעֶךָ, וְאָכַלְתָּ עֲנָבִים כְּנַפְשְׁךָ שָׂבְעֶךָ; וְאֶל-כֶּלְיְךָ, לֹא תִתֵּן

If you are working at your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat as many grapes as you like while you are working for you to enjoy with pleasure; but you may not place any in your pocket, bags to take them home, that would be stealing. The owner cannot expect you to work hard without eating some fruits, but he does not want you to take any produce home, and that is his right, because that is his business, he sells produce for his living.

In Gemara Baba Metzia 87:B

The Gemara asks: From where do we know these matters, that a laborer may eat from any type of produce attached to the ground, where is this derived from?

The Gemara answers: As it is written: “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you have enough at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your vessel” (Deuteronomy 23:25

Rov Mosh Avigdor Amiel, (he died in 1946 he was the chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and he wrote a book called El – Ami) and in his book, he writes:

In the fifth chapter of Isaiah that Isaiah compares Hashem to an owner of a Vineyard.

Isaiah Chapter 5:1 יְשַׁעְיָהוּ

אָשִׁירָה נָּא לִידִידִי, שִׁירַת דּוֹדִי לְכַרְמוֹ:  כֶּרֶם הָיָה לִידִידִי, בְּקֶרֶן בֶּן-שָׁמֶן

1 Let me sing a song for my beloved, Hashem, a song of my beloved who has A vineyard. And Isaiah describes how the owner, Hashem, worked in this Vineyard preparing it for the season. The entire world is one large vineyard and it’s Hashem’s Vineyard. Everything we see and everything we have belongs to Hashem and He invites us to come and eat in His Vineyard as our heart desires, it’s all for us to enjoy! In order that we can serve Him Better.

However, we must keep in mind that, YES, we can eat as much as we want but only when we work at the Vineyard.

Not everyone is allowed to just walk in and grab and eat, NO NO NO in order to live in Hashem’s world and enjoy his world we have to serve Hashem.

We have to keep and safe guard His Mitzvot all 613 of them, we need to do Chesed, give charity, and thank Hashem for everything we have.

Otherwise, we would be stealing. And remember, you can’t put anything in your pocket or bags and you can’t take anything with you.

Some people work and work, collect materialistic things, and make lots of money, but they can’t take anything with them.

 When we leave this earth,Ad Meah V’esrim, (after 120 oears) we take nothing with us except our Chesed and Mitzvot!

By Rabbi Yamin Goldsmith

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