Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection

00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
And Day 96 on page 567 in the Ways of the Righteous in the Treasure for Life edition of the Orchad Tzaddikim. We're on page 567. Ve'od Amruch HaChamim, our sages of blessed memory, said even more Midas Hanadivas, tluya Behergal. Oh, I've been saying this forever Generosity is dependent on habit. It's a muscle. It's a muscle. Giving is a muscle. It has nothing to do with how much you have. It has nothing to do with how little you have. It has nothing to do with how little you have. Someone who's a giver will always give. There's a guy, I'll tell you. There's a guy I know. I don't even know if he has, you know, $50 in the bank. I'm serious, but every time he walks into synagogue he puts money into the pushka, he puts money into the charity box.

01:13
Every single time. You know what he's doing. He's building a muscle. He's building a muscle. The Rambam tells us what's better. Is it better to donate a million dollars to one place or to give a million single dollar bills? What does it make a difference? Like, why bother? Like David, right? It's like why the hassle? Why the hassle of giving a dollar so many times? Just give a million dollars, put it in a check and it's good to go, send it straight from the bank, from your donor-advised fund, and just goodbye, I don't need to deal with it. The Rambam says it's better to give a single dollar a million times. Why? Because you strengthen that muscle, you build the habit of generosity to always be giving. Someone asks you give. Excuses, I do have. I don't have Give. I'll tell you. We're in the middle of our campaign, right?

02:21
Someone I met today in a random situation. He tells me you know, my synagogue is doing a campaign. I pulled my hand in my pocket like whatever cash I have, I'm giving you. I want to be the first person to give it. I said did you start the campaign? Yet he said no, we're starting tomorrow. I said I'm the first one. I said this is all the cash I have. Take it, this is I want to be the first donor. I'm trying to live by this. You know what I'm saying? The idea that we have to build a muscle. We have to build a muscle. I'm trying Every opportunity.

02:55
There are many people who come to Houston to collect for charity. Right now, there's probably in the past three, four days, probably been five or six people knock on my door to collect charity. One is for this, one is for that, this one is for health issues, this one for their child, this is for a widow and this is for a yeshiva and this is for a. They're all great causes and every time I try to jump out of my seat when my kids come to me, I grab my checkbook and I run to the door to greet them and I ask them can I give you something to drink? Did you eat something today? Come, sit down. Just give them money. Let them go. Let them go to the next door. No, they want humanity. They want humanity. They want someone to listen. They want someone to listen. They want someone to care. That's, I believe, a form of the generosity. But to give, at least for our children. Our children shouldn't see that we're reluctant, that we're hesitant. They were like, oh, kvetching about it. Oh, another cause, Another cause, another yeshiva, another widow, another orphan, another wedding, another, this, another. That it's a privilege. It really is a privilege.

04:15
Hashem is saying you're a custodian of my money. I'm sending people to you, you're going to get busy here. You go, give it, show that you give it with a full heart. But it's all a habit. A habit and we have to strengthen that habit, that muscle, and the more we strengthen that muscle, the more generous we'll become. At any moment, at any time, any place, to give as much as you can, one who is accustomed to giving appropriately, there's someone who gives. This is exactly what we said from the Rambam that anybody who gives a thousand coins in one time, versus giving a thousand single coins, who's going to benefit more Every time he gives to an appropriate place. He's strengthening that muscle.

05:27
Ki oso shenoson elev. Zuhu v'mepamach is the person who just gave it in one check. Nisor radato hisor was g'dol. He was awakened, a big awakening. L'hisnadeh v'achakach paska v'meno. So then he's done. He got excited, he gave and that's it, it's all over. Begam le'ini nes. He gave and that's it, it's all over. And also the other thing. It's not like someone who put one in the 100 dinars or put 100 dinars in the 100 dinars. It's not about one big deal, one big sponsorship, but rather the amount of times that we're able to exercise doing that good deed. It's all about the abundance of deed, of action. It didn't say about how big the action is. It's all about how many times you do that action.

06:34
Anyone who hides his eyes from charity, he sees the person. He's like uh-oh, uh-oh. I'll tell you a story. It's a true story. I was there but I only saw one side of the story right, so I can't judge, but I was there to see this part. So I was by my grandfather and my grandfather.

06:55
There were many people who would come in all the time, constantly. I'm talking about on a regular day probably have a few hundred people would knock on my grandfather's door. Some would ask for a blessing and go. Some would ask serious life questions. Some would ask parenting, difficult parenting questions, difficult marriage questions, things that really came up. Really big, big questions would come to his door as well, and my grandfather had hours that he would see people every evening, from 9 o'clock till 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock sometimes, and people would come, there'd be lines out the door of the building. It was amazing. People really came. They wanted to hear what this great sage had to say. So I was once there in an ordinary time, not when he was seeing people. So that's usually a time when people, special people what does it mean special people? People he was close to, like his students. You know they would call in advance and they would have a special appointment with him. So I was there and one of the students came in and he had an important topic to talk about.

08:05
While he was there, I wasn't in the room, I was just in the house. Another student came and he's like oh, you, you know catching up, we're schmoozing. He says, okay, who's in there? I told him who was in there. I told him someone you know. He says to me ooh, okay, can I stay in the kitchen? I said what's going on? He says he always asks me for money. He always asks me for money. So I stayed with him in the kitchen.

08:39
My grandparents had a teeny little apartment. It was like the kitchen is about six feet by two feet. It wasn't like a very big, you know, and the dining room wasn't much bigger either. But either way, the dining room was at the closed door and we went into the kitchen. We sat, sat there, we were waiting till that meeting was over. And, uh, after that meeting was over, he was like hoping that that student won't come into the kitchen. So, sure enough, the student came into the kitchen. And the student said to him you don't have to hide from me anymore. He says you don't have to hide from me. The rabbi said I don't need to run my yeshiva anymore. I can do something else. So you don't have to hide from me. I'm not coming to raise money from you anymore.

09:22
I don't know, but I saw it as a very devastating story, very devastating. I was very. I was so unimpressed. Hashem has given you the ability to help and you're hiding from it. You're hiding from the opportunity. To me, it was just like I couldn't understand it. How is it possible that someone is you're gifted with great wealth. You prefer not having it that way. You prefer to be the poor person and ask for money, or you prefer to be the one who has the money that you can give it? Everyone will say I prefer to be there, so then give it. What are you hiding? Hoping he's not going to ask. It's a terrible thing, really, truly terrible. So it says someone who hides his eyes from charity Ooh, he's there. I'm going to make believe. I don't see him. I'm going to go the other way. I'm going to make believe I don't see him. I'm going to go the other way. I'm going to make believe there's no eye contact. We don't get like Ki ilu oved avod azor. It's like you're idol worshipping. Why? Because you're worshipping your money more than you're worshipping the will of Hashem.

10:31
Binikra b'lyal roshach. Zori v'chote says he's considered lawless, wicked, cruel, sinful. And he brings a proof now to each one of them B'Li'al. He brings a verse for that. Achzari, he's considered cruel. He brings a verse for that. He brings for each of these a verse and he says Someone who gives charity to the poor with a sour expression loses his merit and he transgresses.

11:06
Oh, I just gave him charity. No, you lose your merit because you didn't do it in the right way. Why? Because it states in the Torah and let your heart not be evil when you give to him. It's a verse in Deuteronomy, chapter 15, verse 10. We're now on the top of 572.

11:31
You know, what's even better than someone giving a fortune of money with a sour face is someone who gives even a tiny little penny with the biggest smile in the world. You know why? Because when it's with love, that's what Hashem wants. And if you're able to give a respectable amount with a respectable approach, with a smile, oh, there's nothing better than that. And it's best to give before they even ask. And it's good to give it with discretion, discreetly. Discretion, discreetly. The verse states. The verse states he who gives in secret suppresses wrath. You protect yourself. It's a protective measure.

12:35
There were those who used to wrap money in a piece of cloth and then toss it behind them for the poor person to come and take it as if it was like they just found it. They didn't even know who gave it to them. They see the poor person there. They just like flip the envelope. Guy opens the envelope. He's like, wow, I found all this money, not knowing that it was someone who dropped it there for them. Flip the envelope. Guy opens the envelope. He's like, wow, I found all this money, not knowing that it was someone who dropped it there for them.

13:05
Someone to give anonymously is a special thing, and when a person is able to give we spoke about this when a person is able to give without knowing who the recipient is. There are charities who do this and I will say, by the way, it's a form of charity in Torch, by the way, very interesting. When someone gives to Torch, you don't know who the beneficiary is. You know why? Because it could be someone in North Carolina who's going to be learning from the Torah that you supported. It could be someone in Australia who is benefiting from the Torah that you supported. It's a magnificent thing. We don't know. How do we know who our Torah is going to inspire? It's an incredible thing, he says. He says oh sorry, I skipped a little bit here. We're on page 73 on top.

14:02
The oniyenim is b'yish and like this when the giver doesn't know who the recipient is, then what happens? The recipient isn't embarrassed or ashamed by receiving Plolo sholdavah. What is the principle, the final summary of what we've discussed till now? Whatever you can hide, whatever you can do anonymously whether that the recipient doesn't know who the giver was and the one who gives doesn't know the giver doesn't know the recipient. The recipient doesn't know who the giver is. If someone is able to do doesn't know who the giver is, yesh l'olahastra, if someone is able to do that, that is the finest form. I'll tell you another thing.

14:45
We have an incredible organization, not only in Houston but in many, many other cities. It's called Tomche Shabbos, supporting those who need food for Shabbos. Do you know who's? I volunteered for Tom Cheshavis. I run their campaign every year. You know what? I don't know who. A single recipient is Not a single recipient. There's only two people who know, and these people take the application, they verify the information, they coordinate with a delivery person who's not part of the community. Generally, when they used to deliver actual food baskets, used to deliver food for a family for an entire week. They even do it differently. They give them a debit card which has preloaded for a certain vendor and they can go there with dignity and buy food for their family for Shabbos. It's an incredible, incredible thing, and where my parents live in Muncie, new York, I think it's one of the largest home cheshabbas where they're supporting hundreds, if not thousands, of people. It's a very, very big community, very, very big community.

15:56
Someone gets laid off from his job. What is he going to do? He gets laid off. How's he feeding his family? Next week he can go to Tom Kri Shabbos and you know what? The recipient doesn't know who the giver is and the giver doesn't know who the recipient is.

16:12
The highest form of charity and again it should be a person shouldn't give it out of guilt. A person shouldn't give it out of any other thing than good kind-heartedness To give, because this is the highest form of charity, because when someone receives charity, he should accompany it with kindness, such as buying with his money something that the poor man needs in order to spare him the bother, or buying it himself. I mentioned the story just last week when I was in Israel. I got a phone call from one of my friends here in Houston. He says to me Rabbi, can I send you money? I want you to give this to a poor person who doesn't have food to eat. He sent me. He zelled me $18. Have food to eat? He sent me, he zelled me $18.

17:06
And I was very, I was very stressed out about this because I got to find a poor person, like legitimate poor person, who doesn't have food to eat. And as I was on my way to the airport, this guy comes running over to me. He says please, I'm hungry, I need to eat something, can you give me some? So I said, here, here's a restaurant, come, come, I'm going to buy you your lunch. And I see, around the corner was another friend of his who was also like a little embarrassed. I said come, guys, whatever you want is on me. And we went to the, to the checkout you know the on the computer, and we ordered whatever they wanted. I said, no, no, no, you should get this one. This is really good, this is, and you'll enjoy this. And it was more than $18, but I was happy to be part of it. I was very happy to be part of it, to actually feed someone who hasn't eaten a meal.

17:47
It's a great privilege that Hashem sent me this person to on my way to the airport. I can fulfill this mitzvah If you can help the poor person. Help them with what they need, help them find what they need. This is what the prophet says. Listen to this verse. Sow for yourselves with charity You're planting for yourself. Harvest with kindness, because the beauty with which we treat others is the beauty with which Hashem will treat us. We mentioned this previously. The Rabbeinu Bachia, in the introduction to Parsis Ki Savo. In Deuteronomy, he writes that when a poor person comes to your house, it's God masquerading as this poor person. God wants to see how you're going to treat them. God wants to see with what kindness, with what love, with what generosity, with what heart you're going to treat them. Peirush ha-sachar ha-kol lefiyach hesed. The reward is commensurate with a kindness. And this, my dear friends, concludes day number 96. My dear friends, now we're going to continue with day number 97.

19:19 - Intro (Announcement)
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