This past week’s parasha, Emor lists all the holidays. But in the middle of the list, after Shavuot, and before Rosh Hashanah, it inserts the topics of leket, shikcha and pe’ah , which are laws for the farmer harvesting his fields, namely, He has to leave a corner untouched for the poor, if he forgets bundles in the field, he has to leave them for the poor, and there are certain amounts that if he drops, he has to leave for the poor. Rashi, quoting from the Torat Kohanim, questions why the topic of food for the poor is inserted in a discussion of holidays. Rashi answers that from this we see a principle: Whoever gives food or money to the poor, it’s as if he built the Bet Hamikdash and brought all the Korbanot. In discussing the Bet Hamikdash and the Korbanot that are brought on the holidays, there is yet another way to bring a korban- by giving to the poor. (It is interesting that this topic is brought up near the holiday of Shavuot, and the rabbis say that it is a hint to the story of Megilat Ruth, as Ruth met Boaz through the gleanings) Rav Wolbe asks how we connect the Korbanot with the giving to the poor, if a korban is given to God, and giving to the poor is for a person. Rav Wolbe answers with a mashal : When a person is in a room with the windows shut, the shades down, and no light coming in, it’s dark. He can’t see anything . When he finally opens the window and some light comes in, he begins to see. Now he doesn’t only see people outside, he can see birds and flowers and everything. He says it is the same thing here: There are two kinds of people. One person‘s heart is closed, so he doesn’t see anything . He doesn’t see people and he doesn’t see God. The other person‘s heart is open, so he sees people and he sees God. When a person gives to the poor, that means his eyes are open. He is aware and sees the needs of people. When you see the needs of people, and you are concerned about them, then you will also see God. You will see that you owe God and that you need God, which brings you to bring a korban to Him. That is the connection between the two. There are two sides to the Ten Commandments: Man to God and Man to his fellow. The Mabit points out that there are many more words on the right side ( Man to God) than there are on the left (Man and his fellow). The ones on the left are mostly two words each: Don’t murder, Don’t covet, etc… On the other side is Shabbat, Avodah Zara…those are much longer. He says that if you look at the commandments, the ones on the right side were small print, and the ones that were on the left were large and bold. They filled up the page, so to say. Between man and man was like a size 40 font, and between man and God was like a size 10 font. The reason for this is that people need the laws of man-to-man to be bold and large. We don’t always focus on those, we don’t we realize that it’s a package deal. If you aren’t seeing your friends, then you really aren’t seeing God. You might be acting religious, you might be doing things that are seemingly religious, but your heart is closed. When your heart is open, you will have to see people as well. Have a wonderful day.