This portion was very personal for me, when going over the "7th year release" of debts. I can look back over my own life and the excessive help I received crippled me from being able to stand on my own, and being accountable for the choices I made in my life. While I am so thankful for the times I was "bailed out", it taught me to manipulate others, and to remain crippled. This is my struggle, now that I am a middle age woman-could I really stand on my own if it came right down to it? I didnt learn to do so as a young adult, as my family took my "burdens and mistakes" upon themselves, and it caused them hardships.
Can we help a person TO MUCH, so they are never able to stand on their own and be accountable for their own lives and affairs? Where do we draw the line? The idea of the Torah, when a person did have to go into "bondage" was the one whom they were serving, was to teach them Torah, so that when that "7th year release" came, they could then go out free and "hopefully" not repeat the same circumstances that caused them to have to go into service in the 1st place. Yes, we are commanded to help our families, poor, brothers when there is a true need, but we should not be "carrying them" to the point we are taken advantage of, and then it places a burden on us, because we are carrying that person's burden. When we do that, we are not helping that person be accountable for his or her own life and the choices they have made. Just my own 2 cents on this very touchy subject.
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