Congregation Shema Yisrael

Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. -Deuteronomy 25:4

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” -1 Timothy 5:17-18

According to 2001 IRS income tax statements, (990 forms): “Paul Crouch, president of California-based Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, received $403,700. His wife, Janice Crouch, earned $347,500 as the vice president for the organization, which broadcasts sermons nationally on the Trinity Broadcasting Network”. -From inplainsite.org.

Not to hammer on televangelists, but unfortunately, they tend to carry something of a “reputation”, certainly in the secular world, and sometimes in the world of faith, and that reputation isn’t always kind. Actually, I was reading some commentary on Bava Basra 110 and was considering the Biblical and traditional perspectives on “Torah teachers” or others who spread the “Good News” and earning a living while doing so. While both the Torah and Paul’s commentary on Deuteronomy 25:4 support the concept of a teacher deserving his or her wages, how are people charged by God with teaching the Bible, supposed to balance their responsibility from Heaven with making a living?

Rambam writes that one who chooses to collect tzedaka in order to be able to learn desecrates the name of Hashem (The Lord. Hebrew: “The Name”), disgraces the Torah, and brings evil upon himself and the entire world. The reason is that it is prohibited to benefit from Torah and any Torah that is not supported by a livelihood will eventually fail and will ultimately bring a person to sin. Tashbatz disagrees with this conclusion and writes that there is an obligation on the Jewish People to provide financial support for their Torah teachers and judges who make Torah study their occupation. This obligation stems from the practical consideration that people who want to pursue Torah study at the highest levels must be able to dedicate all of their time towards that pursuit. Beis Yosef notes that scholars for generations have not followed Rambam’s approach. One reason is that the proofs of Rambam are not so compelling and secondly if Rambam’s approach were followed the Torah would become extinct since people no longer have the ability to balance these two pursuits.

Beiur Halacha cites Teshuvas Dvar Shmuel who asserts that even Rambam would agree that in our times it is permitted for those who study Torah to be supported by tzedaka funds since nowadays it is impossible for a person to be fully engaged in his Torah study while trying to balance that with a career. Although in earlier generations it was possible for people to balance Torah study with an occupation we see that in our times it cannot be done. We know that even during the time of the Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem) there were those who were supported from the Beis Hamikdash treasury. Accordingly, in our times it is clear that out of necessity Rambam would agree that scholars should be supported from tzedaka funds. Bach adds one qualification to this lenient approach. One is only permitted to take money for his needs but may not take more than is necessary.

-From Daf Digest
Bava Basra 110
Halacha Highlight
Accepting tzedaka to be able to study Torah full time

While the bias in traditional Jewish thought is that it is permitted for full-time Torah students and teachers to accept charity to continue their work, it is by no means a unanimous opinion. Even reflecting the current practice of supporting Torah scholars, Bach’s commentary is plain that such scholars and teachers are not to become rich from public funds, but rather to subsist modestly, only accepting the amount of income necessary to supply the most basic of needs. The debate goes on, as reported by Israeli news agency Arutz Sheva in their recent story, Torah Study or Profession? The following quote from this story is illuminating:

This was indeed the practice of the great Torah scholars from the Talmudic era. No less an authority than Hillel the Elder, before being appointed to the position of president of the Great Sanhedrin, would earn a meager salary as a woodcutter. When he took his position as president, however, the community bestowed great wealth upon him. This was the rule. Whoever was appointed to a position of authority, such as president of the Sanhedrin or deputy to the president, would be made wealthy by the community.

The idea, at least as far as someone in such a high position of authority as Hillel is concerned, is that a person of authority must live a lifestyle that pays him the honor which is his due and to communicate to the general populace the level of distinguished accomplishment his position holds. I guess that’s why the President lives in the White House and the Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace. Is this also why some Christian pastors as previously referenced at inplainsite.org earn such weighty salaries?

Paul’s commentary seems to, on the surface, agree that workers deserve their wages, but nevertheless, his actual practice was more in line with Rambam:

As apostles of Messiah we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. -1 Thessalonians 2:6-9

A general reading of the letters of Paul doesn’t give the impression that he lived lavishly, so even if he had agreed to accept funds from the various Messianic faith communities in the diaspora, he most likely wouldn’t have set himself up to live in high style. As it was, he worked an ordinary job, some say weaving fishing nets, in order to meet his material needs while also “preaching the Good News” of the Messiah who suffered and died to defeat sin and who will return to be King of Creation.

All that said, we are used to the idea of church Pastors and synagogue Rabbis drawing a salary in exchange for their services and don’t have a problem with this practice. In ancient Judaism, the Priests in the Tabernacle and later in Solomon’s and Herod’s Temples, were completely supported by the people in their duties, as recorded in numerous Torah passages, including Deuteronomy 18:1-8, so there is a precident. Most of today’s Messianic communities on a local level are still pretty grass roots and are driven by volunteerism, so anyone in leadership in a Messianic group most likely has a “day job” to pay the bills, and all funds collected by the congregation go to paying rent, utilities, and helping the truly poor.

It wasn’t so long ago that Richard Roberts, son of the late evangelist Oral Roberts, resigned from the Board of Regents of Oral Roberts University as a result of a lawsuit which alleged in part, that he misused university funds to back a political candidate and to pay for his daughter’s trip to The Bahamas. The impact of the 1980s Jim Bakker/PLO scandal is still held up as the model for greed and excess in evangelical Christianity. Of course, these are some of the worst examples and do not reflect the many Pastors and lay-leaders in the church who toil anonymously and in modest circumstances for the cause of Christ. It’s important to remember that it’s those who have fallen and fallen far who get the attention of the media, not those who work continuously for the glory of God and who have crowns awaiting them in Heaven.

I try to imagine what those church leaders who promote the Prosperity Theology must be thinking. According to such a “Christian” viewpoint, if God loves you and you find favor with Him, He’ll make you rich materially in this life. This seems to fly in the face of Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) own words:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:19:21

Yet, many very well known evangelists support the idea that the rich are favored and conversely, the poor among the faithful are not approved of by God. This is rather a slap in the face to everyone who clings to the robes of the Messiah and to those who daily seek to do his will, while not making a six-figure income, a five-figure income, or for some, any amount of income at all. Scroll to the Prosperity gospel teachers section of the Wikipedia page I previously referenced and see how many names you recognize. Were you aware these Christian leaders supported such ideas?

Putting all this together, it seems like we can reasonably conclude that even if a Torah scholar, Rabbi, Pastor, or Preacher deserves his or her wages, they don’t necessarily have to accept them, preferring to not burden the larger faith community. Even upon accepting such support as a sole income, that income should not be so excessive as to confer a lavish and extravagant lifestyle, unless perhaps you have achieved the highest levels of distinguished learning and position, but even then, that should be rare. On the other hand, we have this lesson to consider:

When a certain wealthy German Jew was in Poland, he decided to visit Rav Michel Zlotchover, zt”l, one of the many famous students of the Baal Shem Tov. The wealthy man figured that Rav Michel must live a very comfortable lifestyle, but when he entered the tzaddik’s small, run-down apartment, he was shocked to find that this was not so. Rav Michel received his many visitors while sitting on a dilapidated chair, which stood next to a broken-down table.

The wealthy German could not prevent himself from blurting out, “Why doesn’t your honor have a nicer house with nice furnishings as befits someone of your stature?”

“And where are you staying while you visit our town?” Rav Michel asked.

The wealthy man mentioned a certain kosher inn.

“But how can a wealthy man of your stature stay in such quarters? Surely it is inferior to your home?”

“You are definitely correct.” the wealthy man agreed. “At home I have such beautiful furnishings and accouterments that it is truly pleasing to the eye to visit my wonderful abode. Even from the outside, my home is truly magnificent. But for now I am travelling through a strange country and could not bring my beautifully appointed home with me.”

“But I am just like you,” Rav Michel answered. “I too have many rooms, filled with the most beautiful and prized possessions, beyond anything we could possibly imagine. I have built a magnificent palace in heaven from the many mitzvos that I have done. But that is all hidden away in another plane. For now, I am travelling in a land that is strange to my neshamah. Like you, I do not have my wealth with me and make do with what is available…”

When the Kedushas Tzion of Bobov, zt”l, recounted this story, he added that we see a similar thing in Bava Basra 11. There we find that King Munbaz emptied his treasuries during two years of famine. He explained that while his fathers had amassed their treasures below, he had amassed his on high. His fathers had left their wealth where it could be stolen but he had sequestered his in a place where no one could reach it.

“We see that through tzedaka and mitzvos, a person is building his home in the next world. These are eternal, where no other person can reach them.”

-From Daf Digest
Stories off the Daf
Bava Basra 11

It seems as if the esteemed Rav Michel Zlotchover, zt”l is echoing the words of the most esteemed Rabbi of them all, our Messiah Yeshua, who is the final authority on where our treasure lies. As servants of the Master, especially those of us who work in some form of Congregational leadership, and regardless of how much our regular work provides, are we here to build up our coffers in this lifetime, or to build our home in eternity?

Afterword: More information about the Temple Priesthood can be found at cohen-levi.org.