Q:
What does the gemara mean when it says that כל מי שאין בו דעה אסור לרחם עליו – it’s forbidden to have pity on a man if he has no sense?
A:
It doesn’t mean it’s forbidden for us to have pity – we should have pity on him. But Hakodosh Boruch Hu gives an order to all of nature not to have pity on him. I’ll explain that.
The whole world is made for chesed and rachamim. Everything in this world has pity on Mankind. The sun has pity on you. Do you know how? The sun shines on you and it creates vitamins as it shines on you. When the sun shines it creates vitamins in you. People that don’t have enough sunshine get rickets, they become bow-legged and they’ll have skinny feet. The sun helps the bones to develop.
The sun also kills germs – you have to know that. If you have germs on your hands, most germs are destroyed by the sun. In most cases, if you have germs on your hand, the sunlight kills the germs in about twenty minutes. That’s the effect of sunlight – the sun has rachmanus on you.
However, when Hakodosh Boruch Hu sees a man with no sense – he’s not careful; he says, “I don’t believe in germs,” so Hashem tells the sun not to have pity on him. So the sun gives him skin cancer instead. The sun shines on him and gives him skin cancer.
A person when he goes through the streets he should know that the streets are a big benefit for a person. It’s exercise – it’s very good to take walks. Walk fast through the street and breath deeply — fill your lungs; that’s very good. And the sun is shining too – it’s healthy for you. So the whole briyah is having rachmanus on you.
But if a man has no dei’ah, if he’s not careful with his health, so Hashem tells the briyah, “Have no pity on this man and see to it that when he’s breathing, that he happens to breathe in from someone who is passing by – let’s say someone is walking by and ah-choo, he sneezes on him. And now you get a lung full of germs.
So the whole briyah is made for the purpose of rachamim. Wherever you look, there’s nothing without rachamim – everything is for the benefit of mankind. But if you have no dei’ah – if you’re not careful and you don’t take precautions – then Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “I give My order – the whole briyah should be against him now.”
But that’s the briyah, not you! You have bechira; you have free will, so you should have rachmanus on him and you should teach him dei’ah. As much as possible you should teach him how to not be foolish and how to be careful in this world.
TAPE # E-8