THE AGREEMENT of a donor to allow his gift to be publicised is doubly
advantageous to a charity fund-raiser. The offer of wide publicity is often a
potent weapon in his vast armoury to encourage the donor to scale heights of
generosity which even he was not previously aware he was capable of. The details
of the “transaction” can often then be utilised with telling effect as a
powerful inducement to extract similar promises from others.
Thus, Reuben’s partially successful intervention to save Joseph from the evil
designs of his brothers is revealed by the Almighty for what it truly was – an
honest and full-hearted attempt “to return him [Joseph] to his father”, which
ended in disaster as he was led away to slavery by the Ishmaelites.
The Torah is concerned to point out that Reuben’s failure may perhaps be
measured in terms of bungling inefficiency, but in strength of resolve and
motivation he lacked nothing.
In fact, the Midrash remarks that had Reuben been aware that the Torah would
highlight the full extent of his failure by revealing that it was his intention
“to return him to his father,” and not merely to save him from murder, his
embarrassment would have prompted him to leave nothing to chance and to carry
Joseph home on his shoulders. Reuben’s blushes could not be spared in the face
of the overriding need to reveal a noble plan sadly unfulfilled.
The Chatam Sofer observes that it was precisely this concern shown by the
Almighty to reveal the deeds of man in their full glory that prompted the rabbis
to requite him in like measure by decreeing that alone among the mitzvoth, the
menorah should be kindled outside the home, on the left hand side of the
doorpost, and by so doing proclaim the miracle of the oil, which might otherwise
have long remained fossilised in the memories of the few priests who witnessed
it in the confines of the Temple.
For this reason also, the Shulchan Aruch recommends that the name of the donor
should be appended to any article given to a charity to “open the door” for
others to follow.
Natural diffidence and the desire for anonymity are laudable traits, but we must
never lose sight of the fact that the value of our deeds is considerably
enhanced when they are performed in a manner which allows them to become the
prototypes for others.
