it wasn’t a great song. it wasn’t a great video. despite that, the music video has over 1 billion views. yes. one billion! the video’s concept and production, however, were a hit. the video production provided real people and their reactions to what occurred. their reactions were priceless. the video’s concept was to take the monies dedicated for the music video’s production and give it to people in need.
it is reported that drake’s “god’s plan” video had him donating a million dollars around miami. the video shows giving in the form of “telling all the shoppers in a sabor tropical supermarket that everything on the shelves are free, by presenting a scholarship check to an unsuspecting student, by giving gift cards to women at a shelter,” etc. an article in the atlantic goes into full detail.
the concept of “giving” or “tzedekah” is something that was not foreign to drake.
as part of religious school and studying for bar mitzvah, the notion of charity or tzedakah is something that is taught. as a religious school teacher, we would have a tzedakah box in the classroom and children would be encouraged to bring in money to place in the box.
drake, bar mitzvahed. apparently enjoyed it so much that re-bar mitzvahed himself in the form of a birthday party.
the song’s name, god’s plan is of interest. leviticus 19:9 provides ” when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not fully reap the corner of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. and you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you collect the [fallen] individual grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. i am the lord, your god. ” god’s plan, in the torah, is that those who have are to provide for those in need.
it is important in these times that when people throw out terms such as “god’s plan” that they are educated about or reminded of the source material for such assertions. yes. thousands of years ago, the concept of helping those in need was documented in the torah. the torah was used to teach this concept and make it part of society. likewise, from generation to generation, the lesson has been taught. with god’s plan, drake succeeded in showing the powerful and transformative effect of charity to over a billion pairs of eyes. perhaps, he has inspired and educated individuals to carry on the master of the universe’s mandate.
be well!!
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