Honest acceptance of a limitation brings a person closer to transcending the limitation than stubbornly denying that there is one.  On a psychological level this is because we cannot work and grow to the fullest extent if we defensively deny the problem.  

On a spiritual level, when we take things as far as we can, and then we give it over to God, He will close the gaps for us.  But if we just keep thinking, “I’m fine, I have no problem, I can do this without anyone’s help”, when we are woefully flawed, then we leave no room for God to assist us.  So, we remain empty and delusional, angrily raising our fists at the universe.

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the mitzvah of Peah, that is the Biblical requirement to leave a section of your field’s produce over for the indigent and to not harvest it. 

The verses state (Vayikra 19:9-10)

וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶם֙ אֶת־קְצִ֣יר אַרְצְכֶ֔ם לֹ֧א תְכַלֶּ֛ה פְּאַ֥ת שָׂדְךָ֖ לִקְצֹ֑ר וְלֶ֥קֶט קְצִֽירְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תְלַקֵּֽט׃ 

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

וְכַרְמְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תְעוֹלֵ֔ל וּפֶ֥רֶט כַּרְמְךָ֖ לֹ֣א תְלַקֵּ֑ט לֶֽעָנִ֤י וְלַגֵּר֙ תַּעֲזֹ֣ב אֹתָ֔ם אֲנִ֖י ה אֱלֹקְיכֶֽם

You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Hashem your God. 

Yismach Moshe Kedoshim 7:1 notes that the pasuk uses Hashem (the Tetragrammaton), and then Elokim.  This connotes that Peah has the ability to turn the Middas Hadin into Middas Harachamim, divine justice into divine mercy.

Midrash Rabbah (Vayikra 29:2) quotes a verse in Yirmiyahu (30:11): “I will finish off the nations that I have driven you to”.  The nations of the world will be “finished off”, because they “finish off their fields.”  However, the Jewish people who do not finish off their fields, will ultimately be saved.

The Maharal (Netzach Yisrael 20:8) explains this Midrash, relating it to the role of the Jewish Nation in comparison to the other nations of the world.  This Midrash is not merely referring to the merit of the act of charity, but rather to an orientation.  The other nations, whose pursuits are devoted to their own personal needs, finish off their field.  Their mentality is not toward the eternal but rather mere physical accomplishments.  On the other hand, the Jewish field owner who leaves one part of his field for the poor in service of God, ends up partnering up with the infinite.  This is why he will merit an eternal existence.

Though the case in point is charity, I think a greater idea is operational.  Incompleteness is itself a quality of eternity.  The human who sees himself as a work in progress, and never “finishes” is closer to eternity than the smug person who feels complete.  The act at harvest of leaving part of the field for the poor in dedication to God is also symbolically saying that I can never finish my work, I can never complete a harvest, kick my feet up, and say that I am done.  Ironically, by accepting the truth and lack of wholeness, that are his flaws, the human gives himself the greatest chance at obtaining wholeness.  Instead of pretending to be a God for himself, like the pagan, he knows he cannot be God but can become attached to God by inviting Him to the field and letting Him make it complete.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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