0:00:14 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe
Welcome back everybody to the Jewish Inspiration Podcast. Today we're going to begin a new topic and the new topic is going to discuss the laws of charity. Now, charity is a very, very important topic. When we talk about muster study and we talk about all of our activities as people who are growing and trying to connect to the Almighty in the greatest way possible, charity is giving of ourselves to other people. Now the question will always arise what do I give? I give what I have, I give what I'm comfortable with. Well, that's not necessarily what charity is. Many times, and most likely all times, charity is more what they need than, rather, what we are comfortable giving. It's not about the giver, it's about the recipient and it's important to make that distinction.
We're going to see in a few weeks in the Torah portion, in one of the first portions of Deuteronomy, where the Torah discusses Dei machsoro, the importance of giving charity by what is lacking to our fellow. It's in Deuteronomy 15-18, pasuch tiftach esyad chalo, you should open your hand to Him. Deimachsoro, according to their lackings and our say just tell us what does that mean? That means whatever they're lacking, meaning if they come from a culture or an environment or a lifestyle that was of a certain status, and now they lost their money, they lost their job, they lost their business and now they're all the way down at the bottom. So really, the ideal charity would be to bring them back to where they were. That means even though that's more than I can afford myself and that's not the standard that I live by, but you know what? It doesn't make a difference. What we're trying to get them to, or at least understand them, is to get them to a point where they are whole with what they're missing. Everyone is lacking something, everybody's lacking something, and true charity does not necessarily mean just giving something. It means getting them to a point where their lacking is no longer. So the Torah teaches us mitzvah sase'e, a positive commandment. Lethain stakhaleh ne'ayisro, that one gives charity to the poor. Shenema is the verse states in Deuteronomy 15-18, pasuch tiftach esyad chalo. You should open your hand to Him when Nehema. Additionally, it says in Leviticus v'chai achicha imach and let your brother live with you. What does it mean? Live with you? That means that you should. He should feel like you're not doing him a favor.
I was with a friend of mine in Israel and one of the incredible things that he did prior to the trip is he took $1,000 in singles to Israel, $1,000 in singles, and every person that came and there are a lot of people asking for charity every person that he gave charity to, he said thank you for giving me the opportunity to help you, thank you for asking me and giving me this mitzvah, and what we need to understand is that really that's what's going on. I know we think like it's my money and I'm being kind and benevolent and I'm giving them, but that's not really true. They're giving us the opportunity to help. We are the recipients of this opportunity and we brought this before, but the commentaries say that it's really the Almighty. The Almighty that is knocking on our door and asking for that charity, masquerading as this person. So while we think, hey, I'm doing them such a favor, it's not really you doing them a favor. It's them doing you a favor, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your godliness, giving each and every one of us the opportunity to display ourselves as godly creatures. And that's really what we're trying to do. We're trying to demonstrate by giving charity that we are like God, that we're taking an example from God, the whole haroeh ani mevakesh, furthermore, one who sees a poor person requesting a donation. Behel him eno mimeno, and he ignores him and does not give him charity. He violates a negative commandment, as it states you shall not harden your heart and you shall not close your hand against your destitute brother, meaning don't turn away from them when they're in need. Don't look the other way when they're in need. We need to look towards them, look at their lackings and assist in the best way we can.
Our sages also tell us a very important lesson when we deal with charity Is that more than charity is a figure that we give oh, I give them a certain dollar amount More than it is a figure, it's the smile. It's the smile, the white teeth that we show them. Luben shinaim I cholov. The white of the teeth is more valuable to the poor person than the milk that you offer him. You offer him something to eat. You offer them something to drink. That's very important. More valuable than that is the smile that you share with them.
The way, the attitude with which we give charity and charity means every charity, every charity that we support shouldn't just be a giving. I'm giving you something I have and I'm giving you. I'm sharing with what I have, sharing with you something of what I have. That's not what charity necessarily is. Charity means that I am doing a godly act by giving you what God designated for you, and I am that messenger with a smile Making you feel like it's not you asking me, but it's me loving the opportunity that you've brought my way A smile.
The giving of charity is a defining characteristic of the descendants of Avramavino, of Abraham, our patriarch. What was Abraham? Abraham was the ultimate giver. Abraham was the kindest of people, obviously the father of our religion, the founder of monotheism. What Abraham taught us was how to give, and this is the defining characteristic. Kiodativ lemana sheyetzava es bano vlasos tzduko. For I have loved him because he commanded his children to do charity, and this is in Genesis, chapter 18, verse 19. This is referring to Abraham setting the foundation for each and every one of us to become lovers of giving, to love, to give.
I'll share with you my story. When I was in Yeshiva, I was talking about kindness and giving. I've shared the story before. It's a little bit embarrassing, but I think it nevertheless is important for me to share my experience.
So I was giving a class on kindness and becoming a giver, and then I realized that I was a total hypocrite. Because I was an American in an Israeli Yeshiva and I'd bring my American treats to Israel and I would hide them in my cubby, in my closet, in my room, and when nobody was around, I would look down the hallways it's all empty, coast is clear. I would go and I'd have my snacks. And I was like one second, didn't you just talk about loving to give and being a giver? And I said you know what? That's right. I realized that I was being hypocritical. Here I am telling the world, telling my friends, that this is the way we should act. The way Abraham did is to just give and to learn to give and to give. And then here I am, not fulfilling that, I'm hiding from everyone. So I made a commitment that I'm no longer going to eat any of my treats till I give two other people first. And I'd go back to that same hallway and find two guys and say, come here, I bring them into my room and they're like everything, okay, I'm like come, I have something good for you and I'd give them some of my treats and then I would be able to have. And what it did for me was it really transformed my life, that exercise of requiring myself to give before I can take anything, obligating myself, because giving is a muscle and if a person doesn't work on that muscle it's not going to be able to give. Muscles need to be worked on and I once had a group of people around my Shabbos table when they had the big, big, big lottery, the mass of lottery, and we talked about what would people do if they won the lottery.
And everybody said, every single one without fail, said oh, I'd give a million dollars to torch, I'd give 10 million dollars to torch, I'd give 20 million. You're talking about they would win like a billion dollar lottery. Right, they'll give 10% immediately. And then one guy said the actual truth. He said I would give whatever I'm giving now to torch, you know, right now, whatever percentage I'm giving of my income, that's what I would continue giving. It was like everyone was trying to, you know, flatter and say, oh, this is what I would do. And but that's not the truth, because if you're not doing that 10% now, that 20% now, you're not gonna do it when you have a billion dollars.
I had a guy tell me once he says rabbi, I need to meet with you. We meet at Starbucks and he tells me rabbi, I'm about to close a big deal, a really big deal. If this deal goes through, I'm gonna write you a check for $50,000. I just want to meet with you and so that I'm committing it to you and, okay, I want you to pray for the deal, said, no problem, pray for the deal. And I don't hear from the guy. Don't hear from him, not a, not a week, not two weeks, not a month, not two months. Don't hear from the guy. Finally I bump into him. I'm like, no, whatever happened with that deal? He says the deal went through, but, rabbi, did much better, says I decided I'm not gonna give you the 50. I'm gonna invest it for you. Yeah, okay.
Now it's about 15 years later. I still haven't seen a dime from this individual. And I'm telling you that he's not a bad person and he didn't lie to me. He just never worked on that muscle. That muscle has atrophied and that muscle has weakened more and more and more. If people don't practice to give the muscle of giving, it becomes weaker and weaker. You know, one of the wealthiest Jews to ever live was the Reichman family. At least in the last hundred years, the Reichman family were on the front cover of the of the US News and World Report when I was a child, probably about 1986 or so, as the second wealthiest people on planet Earth, just after Rockefeller, was the Reichman family. Two brothers live in Toronto, canada, and it was amazing that they gave, they gave, they gave, they gave non-stop. One day, one of these Multibillionaires calls his son, his young son I think he was 13 years old at the time and he comes, says, come here.
Yeah that a prominent rabbi was collecting money for some institution. He says to, calls a son in, tells the son here, I want you to write the check. So okay. He says, yeah, write a hundred thousand dollars. A 13 year old child writing out a check for a hundred thousand dollars. And Both the child and the rabbi are wondering why does he have his son refill this out? And explained he one day is going to inherit this money. If he doesn't learn now how to be a giver, he'll never give. Yes, to learn by actually doing it, by actually writing out that check, by actually by being trained and and. Just like when we want to grow our muscles, we need to work on them. So, too, the muscle of giving needs to be worked on, and the more a person works on it, the more more person practices to give, even, by the way, when it's not comfortable. It's an amazing story that's told.
There was a group of people that were visiting in Hungary and they come to some cemetery and there's the oddest thing there. The oddest thing they're these two brothers that are buried one next to the other and they both have Half of a verse from Asia trial. Asia trial is the woman of valor. It's the song that we sing for the women of our households every Friday night. It's from chapter 31 in Proverbs, but that's a verse that should be written for on the tombstone of a woman, not of a man. These are two brothers and they both had half the verse, which was also odd. Shouldn't they have the full verse? So what was this verse? The verse was copper porcelain. He talks about the woman that she, she Gives over the spoon to the poor, the Odeh. She'll call Avion, and she outstretched her hand to the poor person. So the individuals touring wanted to figure out what's really going on over here. Why do they, these two men, have a verse from the woman of valor, from the song from the woman of valor, from the chapter in in Proverbs, and why do each have a half a verse? So the rabbi tells them.
Let me tell you who these people were. These were very, very wealthy Jews, and Every person who came to them, they gave it with such a beautiful, enlightened countenance. They would give them with a smile, they would welcome them in and they'd say come, do you want to eat something? Do you want to drink something? Do you need a place to sleep? And they'd give them all as much charity as they could. They gave a lot but sadly they lost their business, they lost their livelihood. But people didn't know that yet and people would still come from far and wide and the they would continue to come and ask for charity. So what were they gonna do? They can't turn people away, their givers. So they gave one person a cheer and they give another person a cheer, and they give another person the table and another person the Plates, and then whatever they had they gave.
Eventually people found out that they had nothing left and there the two brothers are sitting in one of the homes on the floor and there's nothing left to give. There's nothing left to give. So a poor person knocks on the door. He comes from traveling from a distant place, a different land, distant land, and Knocks on the door to collect for charity. He had not known that. They lost their wealth. And they look at each other. What are they gonna do? They want to give, but they literally have nothing left to give. So one of the brothers looks behind him and he sees a little silver spoon. He sees a little silver spoon, so he takes the spoon and he cracks the spoon in half and he gave the cup part of the spoon to his brother and together the brother gave the cup, half of the spoon to the poor man and he gave the handle part of the spoon to the poor man. And that's Kapo Parseleoni. He gave the spoon part to the poor person, his brother, so that he can do the mitzvah of Zadaka, and he gave the handle to the poor person. And that's why, after this story became famous, they put half the verse on one brother and half the verse on the other brother, that he was the brother who gave the cup, part of the spoon to the poor person and he gave the hand part of the spoon to the poor person.
But a person can only get to such a point of giving when they really really work on being a giver, when they're devoted to being a giver, when they're committed to giving. And there are many people I know this from experience, many people who have wanted to have success in a business deal where they committed in advance. They say part of this business deal, a percentage is going to a charity, and they write it into the contract so that the Almighty looks at this deal and says, should they succeed at this deal or not, look, it's the benefit of charity. It's the benefit of charity. Of course we're going to make the deal go through. It's already embedded into the deal but this doesn't happen without a desire to be a giver.
So the giving of charity is a defining characteristic of the descendants of Abraham and our patriarch. Moreover, the seat of Israel, the Jewish self-governance, is not established, nor does the law of truth, the Torah law, stand through any merit other than charity, as it states in the verse in Isaiah establish yourself through charity. We know that every community needs to have a charity to support the poor. They need to have a charity to support the sick, the elderly, the infirmed. We're responsible for one another, the God of the law, oset Stokker, yosef Mikhail Akarbonos. And an act of charity is greater than all of the sacrificial offerings. So you can go to the temple and you can bring all the offerings in the world, and it doesn't come close to the mitzvah of charity. All offerings, bringing an offering on the temple to the Almighty and showing your closeness and your devotion to God. Giving charity is more precious and more valuable than all of those offerings.
What do you mean? But I don't have a lot of money. It's not about the amount. It's about the heart. It's not about the amount, it's about the heart. That's what charity is. Charity is not a numbers game. Charity is a heart game. How much heart can you give? And you can be like one of my friends and you can say well, he came here for money, right, so let me give him money and send him on his way. My friend told me he would open the door, throw the money at the poor person and close the door so that he doesn't waste his time for even a second. He says this is it he's going to get. So why sit with him and hear the whole story and do the whole spiel? Why should I do that? Let me just give him the money and goodbye. He said no, you're missing the whole boat. That's not what charity is. Charity is not about the money. Charity is about the heart. All he needs is a listening ear. And you know what? I guarantee you that if you listened and cried with him and felt his pain and felt his anguish and understood his situation, even if you didn't have a penny, he'd feel better, because you know someone is there with him, someone feels his pain.
As the verse states in Proverbs, doing charity and what is just is preferable to Hashem than all offerings. The Aene, nisraeli, nigolian, elabit Stokko and the Jewish people will not be redeemed from exile through any merit other than the merit of charity giving. As the verse states, zion be mishpo tifteh v'shoveel bit stokko. Zion will be redeemed through justice and those who return to her through charity that's us returning to Zion through charity. A person will never become poor. Listen to this promise.
The halacha says a person will never become poor as a result of giving charity. We had a gala dinner about 10 years ago. We stopped doing it because they became uneconomical, but the honoree, a local doctor in Houston, got up and he said my dear friends, I want you to know something you will never regret the money you give to charity. You will never miss it. You will never regret it, and that's the truth. This is a promise given by our sages in the halacha. Not only that, nor will any evil or damage befall him. It's a promise no evil or damage will befall a person who gives charity as a result of giving the charity.
Shenemar, as the verse states, v'hoi yama'aseh tzitokko shalom, the product of charity shall be peace. And then what does it say? Call hamerachem meraachemim olav, one who shows mercy to others, god will show mercy to him. When we show mercy to another person, and that other person again, it's not about the amount. You show mercy, not by giving. You show mercy by feeling. When we show mercy appropriately, god says I will show my mercy upon you. When you are selfless, I am going to be selfless for you. When we want unbelievable bounty, you know what we need to do. Open up our hearts for other people, and the more we do that Hashem repays us tenfold what we do for others. Any mercy that we show to others merits that. God will be merciful to us as well, as the verse states in Deuteronomy, and he will give you mercy and be merciful to you and multiply you. Vechol mi shuachzari.
And if God forbid, someone is cruel, someone is mean to another person, there is reason to be suspect of His Jewish lineage. The Jewish people are not cruel people. There's a lot of things you can say about Jews. Cruelty is not one of our traits. If someone acts with cruelty, it's not a Jewish trait and it's one of the things that the halach here tells us. And why does it say that in the laws of charity? Why does it say that in the laws of charity. The laws of charity is where it tells us that it's not a Jewish trait to be cruel Because in charity there could be a lot of cruelty the way in which we act, the way in which we give the charity. It's not again, we'll say this anytime we talk about charity it's not about the amount, it's about the heart, the way in which it's done To give charity in a way that's dignified, to give charity in a way that is uplifting, not keeping people poor, but rather elevating them and giving them a feeling of love, a feeling of value.
The sages continue teaching us that the Holy One, hashem, blessed is he. Hashem is close to the entreaties of the poor, as the verse states, and he hears the cry of the poor lefikach tsarachli z'erb tzakosim. Therefore, one must take heed to be attentive to their cries. Why? Because there is a special covenant that has been made with them. You know. Think about it like this. Why does there need to be poor people in the world? Why does there need to be causes to give money to? Hashem could have made it that everyone just has enough and that's it. And there's no wealthy people, there's no poor people. There's no wealthy people, no poor people. There's just communism. Everyone has equal and nobody has anything more than the other.
Why did Hashem make it that there should be people who are Wealthy people and people who are poor people? Toma tells us, for one reason alone, and that is to give the wealthy an opportunity to give charity. You know why Hashem gave you success? So that you have the opportunity to give. So if a person doesn't give when they have that opportunity, what is that saying? Oh, it's mine. Therefore, I decide no, you're getting it all wrong. You're forgetting the purpose. You're forgetting why Hashem gave it to you. Hashem gave it to you so that you can give it, and this is a very important lesson for us, as the sages in the Talmud, the Talmud in the Jerusalem Talmud says A gate that is not open before the poor will eventually be opened before a physician, a person meaning someone who's compassionate for others, someone who's caring for others.
By the way, that's a huge, huge, huge area of unbelievable charity that I've seen, where I know doctors who will go to their office on their day off to meet with a patient who's in need. I've had an eye doctor like this. I've had a dermatologist like this. I've had many a heart doctor that go into their office to go help another person who's in need, without billing them, without charging their insurance, anything, just to help them. I've seen unbelievable. I grew up. We had neighbors, many neighbors, who were doctors, and anytime we had any type of medical issue we'd go to our neighbor, save you a doctor visit, and he would tell us immediately whatever was needed. He'd call the prescription unbelievable, 24 hours a day. And you think we were the only neighbors, right? No, we had a whole neighborhood who would utilize this Unbelievable love, unbelievable compassion, unbelievable charity that they were performing with their neighbors.
A person should take to heart that he constantly requests his sustenance from the Holy One, from Hashem, and just as he seeks that the Holy One heed his entreaty and prayer, so should he pay heed to the entreaty of the poor. A person should also take to heart that fortune is a wheel that turns within the world. You know, one of the most important things I think that we can learn ever in this world is that everything Hashem created is round. You look at the globe is round the world, all of the constellations, all of the stars, the moon, the sun I know the pictures show them as stars with. You know, with edges they don't. They're all round. Everything Hashem created. The trees are round, the stumps are round, human beings have all round parts.
So you think about it. You don't find anything which is square in Hashem's world. Everything is round all the fruits, all the vegetables. Why? Because there's a constant reminder that everything comes and goes. Every time you look at a bagel, now you know I Jews love bagels Because it's a constant reminder that one day you're on top and one day you'll be on bottom. And of course we hope and we pray that we'll always be on top, but that's not the reality.
How many people do we know grew up in abject poverty and made it all the way to the top and vice versa? We see it all the time. All the time the world is a fortune wheel and sometimes we're on top and sometimes we're on bottom, and the way we treat people when we're on top is the way they'll treat us when we're on bottom, when we're in need. On bottom doesn't mean that we'll be sitting beggars on the under a bridge asking for food. That's not what it means.
We'll be at a time of need and a person can be in a time of need when they need medical assistance. A person can be in a time of need when they need assistance, with someone to help them move furniture. You just need that hand. Someone comes there to help you. Even small things. You're in need of someone else's help. You're in need of someone else's assistance. The way we assist others is the way we will be assisted when that time comes and ultimately it may come. It may come about that either he or his child or his grandchild will have to be the recipient of charity. So, although this is not what we like to hear all the time, sometimes we like to hear that oh kidding, I'll never need someone's charity, I'll never need someone's assistance.
One should not allow himself to think and say how can I diminish my funds by giving them out to the poor? For he must know that the money is not his own. The money that we have, the money that we earn, the money that we hold on to, doesn't belong to us, elohim. They are given as a deposit to us with the requirement that we use it to execute the will of Hashem. Who deposits it with us? Vizel Chalco, in fact. It is this, the charity that he gives. That is his portion.
Truly, we call them all about the Mosaic, for it alone remains. After all is toil in this world is gone. So a person accumulates a massive amount of money, and then what do they have when they leave this world? Money doesn't go with you, but you know what does go with you? The beautiful charity that you performed with it. That is with you forever.
As it says in the verse, your charitable deeds will precede you and, moreover, a person should know that the merit of charity suspends all evil decrees from Mosephes Chaim and extends one's life. So we have ingredients here In this basic one, halach. By the way, there's many, there's actually 16 different halachas that we're going to go through in the coming weeks, but this is just one of them. How much we learn about the importance of being a giver, loving to give, the way in which we give, and recognizing that how we give is the way we will receive, and that when we give with love and we give with kindness and we give with a compassion, that's when we that's how it'll be given to us as well. I, we all love good stories and there are many good stories to share, but my favorite stories are the ones when someone did a kind deed and later benefited from his kind deed without knowing that he would be the recipient of it. And we see I see this all the time People who are doing acts of kindness for others not knowing that it's going to be they themselves who are going to benefit.
You know there's a they say that Michael DeBakey, who was the one of the great heart surgeons. He created the heart pump, which is what they use today when they do open heart surgery that keeps the circulation. He created that pump. You know that that same pump saved his own life. He created it to save other people's lives. It ended up saving his life.
So the charity that we give is the charity that we will receive. The way in which we give is the way in which we will receive. Hashem has a covenant with the poor. Don't worry, the poor will be taken care of. The question is whether or not each and every one of us will merit to be the messenger of the Almighty, to give to those poor, to those who are in need. Hashem should bless us all that we should all merit to be among the givers, because when we are the proper givers, hashem says you know what? I'll give you more so that you can continue giving because you're such a good representative. Hashem should bless us all. We should merit to be among the givers, not among the recipients, and we should always give with a full heart. We should give with a loving heart and we should give with a smile, with a countenance and with a compassion, with a heart. And Hashem should bless us all with all good things. Amen.
0:38:52 - Studio Narrator
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