The mitzvah that I feel mostly connects to my ideals in life is "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. 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." The way I feel this connects to modern life, is with money. In today's society, the majority of the jobs are business type jobs with agricultural based jobs being a minority of the income of the general population. So, what the mitzvah means today, is that you should not pocket all of your money after receiving a paycheck. Rather, leave some aside for charity or in general to help any less fortunate than you. As a 17 year old kid, I do not have a paycheck yet, but, every chance I can, I give change for the homeless or even go visit a soup kitchen to donate my time instead.
I took this photo last year in New York City, when the weather was hitting 30 degrees and lower. I approached this young man, and asked him what he was doing. He told me how it was always his dream to travel around America with his last stop being New York City, but unfortunately he ran out of funds for a hotel. I gave him 20$ and wished him well along his journey. Even if that couldn't buy him a place to sleep, it at least took away some of his nerves from traveling.
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