Nason titein lo v'lo yeira livavcha...ki biglal ha'davar ha'zeh yivarechicha Hashem Elokecha (15:10)
R' Ben Tzion Aba Shaul questions whether this is a havtacha that if you give, Hashem will see to it that you are taken care of, or whether it it is issur, i.e. you are not permitted to feel bad when you give.
He quotes from Minchas Chinuch 479:3 that the schar mitzvah Hashem gives is for giving with joy, which implies that this is not a havtacha but a command.
"not a havtacha but a command"
ReplyDeletea doubly challenging command, at that: 1) to give gladly when repayment is not required, and 2) to do so in an atmosphere of significant disobedience to the Divine Will, in an environment of >ceaseless< poverty (15:11) owing to >ceaseless< rebellion* (Rashi, 15:4a).
maybe this double challenge is why Hashem gives two rewards: ...b'chol-ma'asecha U'b'chol mishlach yadecha (15:10)?
*rebels from day 1 (Moshe, Devarim 9:24)