For there will never cease to be אביון — needy within the land. Therefore, I command you, saying, you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor one, and to your needy one in your land. (שם שם יא)

At first glance there seems to be a glaring contradiction between these two verses. Are we destined for inevitable poverty or is there hope of one day eradicating this plague?

The Sifrei tells us that it depends. If, as indicated in the second verse of the first quotation, 'we do the will of the Omnipresent' we will not be subject to poverty, but if we fail to, then we are doomed to that fateful scourge, and will thus necessitate the goodwill of others to provide the poor their needs.

Simple. Or is it?

The Talmud (Taanis 21) brings a fascinating tale, regarding two great sages who quote these conflicting two verses in a totally different context.

Ilfa and Rabbi Yochanan studied Torah together, and as a result they became very hard-pressed for money. They said: Let us get up and go and engage in commerce, and we will fulfill, regarding ourselves, the verse: “However, there will be no needy among you” (Deuteronomy 15:4), as we will no longer be complete paupers.

They went and sat under a dilapidated wall and were eating bread, when two ministering angels arrived. Rabbi Yochanan heard that one angel said to the other: Let us knock this wall down upon them and kill them, as they abandon eternal life of Torah study and engage in temporal life for their own sustenance. The other angel said to him: Leave them, as there is one of them whose time of achievement stands before him, i.e., his time has yet to come. Rabbi Yochanan heard all this, but Ilfa did not hear the angels’ conversation. Rabbi Yochanan said to Ilfa: Did the Master hear anything? Ilfa said to him: No. Rabbi Yochanan said to himself: Since I heard the angels and Ilfa did not hear, I can learn from this that it is I whose time of achievement stands before me.

Rabbi Yochanan said to Ilfa: I will return home and fulfill regarding myself the contrary verse: “For there will never cease to be needy within the land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

Rabbi Yochanan returned to the study hall, and Ilfa did not return, but went to engage in business instead. By the time that Ilfa came back from his business travels, Rabbi Yochanan had been appointed head of the academy, and his financial situation had improved. His colleagues said to Ilfa: If the Master had sat and studied, instead of going off to his business ventures, wouldn’t the Master have been appointed head of the academy? Ilfa went and suspended himself from the mast [askariya] of a ship, saying: If there is anyone who can ask me a question concerning a baraisa of Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Oshiya, and I do not resolve his problem from a mishna, I will fall from the mast of this ship and be drowned. Ilfa sought to demonstrate that despite the time he had spent in business, he still retained his extensive Torah knowledge.

It seems that these sages understood the verse that states 'there will be no needy among you', not as a promise but as an imperative — to fend for one's financial needs.

When Rabbi Yochanan discovers his destiny to head a Yeshiva, he switches gears by now quoting the second verse 'the poor shall never cease from the earth', expressing his obligation to now forsake his pursuit of income and 'fulfill' his role of being numbered among the unavoidable needy.

This passage would seem to be diametrically opposed to the earlier quoted Sifrei.

Ilfa who chose not to pursue the seemingly more 'G-d willed' task of heading an academy of Torah, epitomizes the notion of 'no needy among you', with the newly appointed Rosh HaYeshiva, Rabbi Yochanan, aligned with the verse that bespeaks a fate associated with those who 'do not do the will of the Omnipresent', as the Sifrei taught!

Perhaps the resolution lies in a more careful reading of the verse.

The Torah promises freedom from poverty with the phrase — 'there will be noאביון בך — needy 'within you''. The word אביון, Rashi instructs, refers to someone who is תאב —   one who yearns for everything.

One who pursues a career, seeing it as a means for survival, as well as an opportunity to implement the myriad of details of Torah values that are manifest in the interactions of a material world, thereby promoting the beauty of Torah and sanctifying His name, — but absent of personal 'yearning' for material needs and success — is one who in his profession is עושה רצונו של מקום — 'doing the will of the Omnipresent'.

When one succeeds in eradicating the nature of אביון — material yearning for material's sake itself, בך — from within 'you', from within oneself, he is guaranteed, the broader implication of the verse — the blessing of being free from poverty.

The verse is not simply promising a reward of a poverty-free life if you 'hearken to the voice of the Lord, your G-d, to be careful to do all this commandment, which I am commanding you today'. Rather it means to assert that if your investment in a career reflects a mission to portray the 'voice of the Lord, your G-d', you are deemed an עושה רצונו של מקום — 'one doing the will of the Omnipresent'!

Rabbi Yochanan upon realizing his role as Rosh HaYeshiva, knowing that his destined role would not find itself in the material realm, noble as it may be, would then be subject to 'fulfilling' the second verse, a life removed from physical success, immersed fully within the matters of spirit. In that realm, it is incumbent on others to provide the needs of those who couldn't, or as in the case of Rabbi Yochanan, 'shouldn't' be engaged in that realm.

Rabbi Yochanan was not suited for that role as Ilfa was, and thus categorized, not derogatorily, as a אינו עושה רצונו של מקום — not fulfilling the will of the Omnipresent in that capacity.

Rashi in fact adds that Rabbi Yochanan was provided his needs as is appropriate for one who attains such a leadership position, through the dictum that calls for גדלהו מאחיו — the community, his 'brethren', to provide the material needs to elevate him to his proper stature.

There is a mystical allusion to the month of Elul, surprisingly in Megillas Esther.

Embedded in the verse discussing the various mitzvos on Purim, איש-לרעהו-ומתנות-לאביונים, the first letters in these consecutive words spell out אלול.

Perhaps איש לרעהו, literally a man to his friend, refers to G-d, who is also termed איש — as in the title, איש מלחמה, a Man of battle — Who reaches out as the ultimate 'Friend' of every Jew, and distributes מתנות — gifts, roles in life for each of us to reach our purpose and greatness, לאביונים — to those in need, whether those destined to sanctify His Name in their worldly professions, or those in the realm of Kodesh.

Ilfa demonstrated how his career did not diminish his personal spiritual greatness or devotion to Torah and was a fulfillment of his unique mission, no less worthy than that of Rabbi Yochanan, just the one he was suited to. He flourished.

As we enter a month of self-reflection may we each contemplate our mission in life and measure how much we are yearning to fulfill and promote His will against the extent we are absorbed in our own personal needs and goals.

If we do not want to live poorly, we must enrich the gift of our lives, defining it by His will!

באהבה,

צבי יהודה טייכמאן