To Earn the Blessing of Wealth
Boruch Twersky
The Torah tells us (Deuteronomy 15, 7); 'If there shall be a destitute person
among you…you shall not harden your heart or close your hand against your
destitute brother. Rather you shall open your hand to him, you shall lend him
his requirement, whatever is lacking to him. Beware lest there be a lawless
though in your heart… and you will look malevolently upon your destitute
brother and refuse to give him...You shall surely give him, and let your heart
not feel bad when you give him, for in return for this matter, G-d will bless
you in all your deeds and in your every matter…
The Torah promises that if we support the poor, G-d will bless us and bring
us success in all that we do. This is a rare promise. Amongst the 613
commandments (mitzvos) of the Torah, rarely does the Torah tell us exactly which
reward we will receive for keeping the mitzvos. Charity however is an exception.
G-d so strongly desires that we give charity and help the poor, that he
encourages us to give by promising us wealth and success in compensation of the
charity we give. (There are many other benefits which we earn whenever we give
charity. However emphasized in the Torah is the reward of wealth and success.)
It is a common Jewish custom to go to a tzaddik, a righteous leader, and to
ask him for a blessing. It is believed that the recipient of the blessing will
earn success and good fortune because of the blessing he received from the
saintly man, who has the power to bless people. When one gives charity however,
he will earn the very best blessing; he will be blessed directly from G-d, and
what could possibly be a better blessing than that?!
'The blessings of G-d bring wealth'. When a person gives money to charity, he
should not feel as though he is loosing. On the contrary, he is investing
towards muchgreater wealth, because he will be earning G-d's blessings for
wealth and success.
There is a phenomenal excerpt from the Talmud which emphasizes this point
(Tanis 9); "Rabbi Yochonon met with the child of his dear friend, Reish
Lakish.
'What phrase of Torah did you learn today?' Rabbi Yochonon asked the child.
'Assar Ti'asser' (Deuteronomy 14) the young boy replied.
Although the young lad had learned the phrase, he didn’t know its meaning,
so he asked Rabbi Yochonon; 'What does 'Assar Ti'asser' mean?'
'It means give a tenth of your money to charity, so you will turn out to
become rich'.
'How do you know?' asked the child.
'Test it, and see for yourself' Rabbi Yochonon answered.
'May we test G-d' the young child asked. 'Doesn’t the Torah commands us;
'do not test G-d'?
Rabbi Yochonon replied; 'Charity is an exception, as it is written by the
prophet Malachi (3, 10); 'Test me if you will, says G-d, the Master of the
Legions, see if I do not open up for you the windows of the heavens and pour out
upon you blessing without end.'
We follow G-d with sincerity, and we do not test His ways. We trust that G-d
only means our good, and whatever happens to us, and whatever G-d asks for, we
know it is just and good and it is for our benefit, and we do not test this
fact, to prove that it is true. However in regards to G-d's request that we give
charity, G-d gives us the permission to test Him, and to see for ourselves the
truth of G-d's promise that those who give charity will be blessed with wealth
and success.
Rabbi Chaim Voloziner, one of the great students of Rabbi Eliyahu Gaon of
Vilna, said; 'Although there are exceptions, however in every generation there
are several testimony to the fact that charity brings wealth...'
The contrary is also true. If someone does not give charity, he will loose
money, and his wealth will diminish.
The Talmud teaches; 'The salt of money is to lessen'. Years ago, foods, such
as fish and meat, were preserved from spoilage by covering them with salt. The
Talmud says 'the salt of money', in other words, the preservation of money, 'is
to lessen', to give charity. This will preserve one's wealth from loss.
Money comes and money goes. One can be rich today and poor tomorrow. A
business miscalculation, a failing investment, theft, or G-d forbid health
problems, or other factors can finish off a person's wealth in a short time.
Charity however, preserves our wealth from vanishing. The money we give to
charity brings a blessing into all our money which remains, and the money is
protected from loss.
Many years ago there lived a wealthy man, whose field produced one thousand
kur (a large measurement of crops) annually. Every year he would separate one
hundred kur, a tenth of the produce, and he would hand it out to the poor. When
he took ill with his final illness, he called for his only son and said; 'My
son, the field which I am leaving for your inheritance produces one thousand kur
yearly. Be careful to give one tenth of this to the poor, as I have always
done'.
The wealthy man died, and his son inherited the field. The first year the
field produced one thousand kur, as it had every year, and the son divided one
tenth of the field's crops to charity. The next year, the son realized that a
tenth of the produce was a large amount, so he decided not to give any charity
at all. On the following year, only one hundred kur grew; one tenth of the
fields annual growth.
His extended family heard about this, and they came to him and said; 'We are
sorry for you, because you caused your own troubles. Why didn’t you give a
tenth of the crops to charity? Do you understand what happened? When you first
inherited the field, the field was yours, and you gave away one tenth for G-d's
sake, for the poor. But now that you do not want to give the poor, G-d took over
the field, and therefore He gave one tenth to you, and the rest He took for
Himself.'
The best investment a person can make in life is charity. In consequence of
his charity he will earn G-d's blessings, his wealth will be perserved, and he
will enjoy success with everything he does. The earnings will be felt and
enjoyed in this world and in the next.
