A time for charitable giving

Said Rabbi Jose the son of Kisma … at the hour of man’s departure (from this world) ‘ein melavin lo – there does not accompany him’ silver, gold or precious stones, but Torah and good deeds alone” (Ethics of the Fathers 6:9).

Indeed Rabbi Jose’s words long preceded the expression so often heard today: “You can’t take it with you.”

Our sages tell us that one who states a matter in the name of the one who said it, brings redemption to the world. In that context I must once again precede a statement that cast a very different light on the issue of “not taking it with you”, by acknowledging its source.

Rabbi Tobias Silverman, formerly of Sydney’s South Head community, subsequently retired to the Gold Coast where he spent many years. A bonus that I received each time in past years when my family spent a holiday in Surfers Paradise was the possibility of “shmoozing” with – and learning from – one of the insufficiently appreciated and most unpretentious senior rabbis of the Australian community.

And on one occasion Rabbi Silverman responded to the words of Rabbi Jose with a characteristically original interpretation of a verse in Parashat Mishpatim (Shemot 22:24).