parshaמפרשי הפרשה

כלי יקר — וחדלת מעזב לו עזב תעזב עמו

What is the difference between 'וחדלת מעזב לו' and 'עזב תעזב עמו' — they seem to contradict, with one telling us to refrain and one to help?

וחדלת מעזוב לו עזוב תעזוב עמו. לומר לך דוקא שרוצה להיות עמך במלאכתו ורוצה להקים עמך אז אתה מחויב לסייע לו, אבל אם יושב לו ואומר הואיל ועליך מוטל הדבר חייב אתה להקים לבד, על כן אמר 'וחדלת מעזוב לו' כי מלת 'לו' אין במשמעותו עמו כי מותר לך לחדול מלעזוב לו כשאינו רוצה להיות עמך במלאכתו.

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כלי יקר

כלי יקר על שמות כ״ג:ה׳

Kli Yakar on Exodus 23:5

Mishpatim

Q — What is the difference between 'וחדלת מעזב לו' and 'עזב תעזב עמו' — they seem to contradict, with one telling us to refrain and one to help?

A — Kli Yakar resolves them via the Mishnah in Bava Metzia 32a. The obligation to help unload is conditional on 'עמו' — *with him*, i.e., the owner's own participation. If the owner sits aside and says 'since the mitzvah is on you, you do it,' then 'וחדלת מעזב לו' — you are released. The verse encodes the Mishnah's distinction in its own words. Kli Yakar uses the principle to deliver a sharp social critique of his time: עניים who refuse to work and 'throw themselves on the public' while expecting full support are misapplying the very framework Torah builds here. Tzedakah obligation kicks in only after a person has done what he can — 'העני יעשה כל אשר ימצא בכוחו לעשות.'

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