Re'eih: Onions and Garlic

The Torah makes it clear: when a fellow Jew is in need, you don’t shut your hand or harden your heart. You open your hand generously (Deut. 15:7-8). It’s simple enough, really. If your brother is poor, help him out. But, as is often the case with matters of charity, the real challenge isn’t understanding the commandment—it’s acting on it.

One day, the Maggid of Dubno went out to collect money to redeem Jews who had been thrown into the debtors' prison. He paid a visit to a wealthy Torah scholar, hoping to make a good start in his goal. The Maggid started by discussing the laws of tzedakah, but the wealthy man, a scholar in his own right, began expounding on his own novel insights into these laws. Not quite what the Maggid was hoping for, but he let it slide.

Then the Maggid switched tactics. He moved on to the mitzvah of redeeming captives—surely this would hit home. The scholar responded, naturally, with a lengthy homily on the very same topic.

At this point, the Maggid subtly hinted that his visit was not about theological discussions—it was about a very tangible, practical matter: money needed to rescue an imprisoned man and his family. But the scholar, as sharp as he was in Torah, seemed rather dull on the subject of generosity. So, the Maggid decided to switch gears entirely. He spun a story:

The Two Visitors

A young traveler once arrived in a land where, to his surprise, there were no onions. Now, anyone with half a taste for cooking knows that onions are the unsung heroes of any decent dish. So, the traveler dug into his bag and pulled out a string of onions—real delicacies, these onions—and handed them over to the locals.

The locals, having never seen such a marvel, were floored. They tried cooking with the onions, and—surprise!—they were hooked. Everything tasted better with onions. They were so impressed by the gift that they decided to repay the traveler with gold and silver.

Not long after, another visitor arrived in the same land. This one, noticing that there was no garlic, pulled out a bunch of garlic bulbs from his own stash and gave it to the locals. The garlic, too, added a delightful flavor to their meals. The locals, pleased once again, deliberated on how to repay their benefactor. After a brief discussion, they came to a unanimous decision.

They decided to reward the garlic-giver… with a few of their highly-prized onions.

The Maggid turned to his scholarly host. “You see? I bring you garlic, and you give me onions! That was not my intent! I was expecting silver, not vegetables!”

(Adapted from Meshalim ve-gam sippurim pp. 273-274)