Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Living Jewishly podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody to the Everyday Judaism podcast. It is so wonderful to be here Today. We are going to study chapter 34, simon Lamed Dalet, simon 34 in the concise code of Jewish law, and the Kitzah Shochanoch begins over here with Mitzvah Saasei Liten, stochel, aniye, yisrael. It is a special mitzvah to give charity to those who are poor. Shnei Mar, pesach Tiftach, hizyot Cholo, a special Pesach Tiftach, open, you shall open. Double terminology. We know that the Torah doesn't have an extra word, not an extra letter. And when it says a double terminology meaning open you shall open. Why does it say that? It says that to tell us the severity and the importance of giving charity. And it says the severity and the importance of giving charity, pasach Tiftach, hesiot Cholo, v'nemar v'chayachich ha'imach. And it says as well that your brother shall live with you, meaning take care of one another. God is commanding us in his Torah take care of one another. The primary obligation for a Jew is to support the Jewish people. We're going to get into this later that it's not exclusively to the Jewish people. It's also a mitzvah to give to the nations of the world and to things that are. That's very, very important. As you can see, many, many Jews are very, very eager to give a tremendous amount of money to all of the museums and all of the hospitals, and even though it's called Methodist Hospital or it's called St Luke's Hospital or it's one of those other non-Jewish entities, still the Jewish people, their names are everywhere because we take this responsibility of charity, not only to give to our community, but to give to the global community, and this is something which is very, very important. V'chol ha'aroya oni mevakesh ve'helim einu mimeno v'lo nasam lotzdoko over v'lo saseh.

02:09
Anybody who sees someone who's impoverished, someone who's poor, who's asking for charity, and they decline to give charity, such a person is violating a prohibition in the Torah Shememar, as the verse states. As the verse states, you shall not harden your heart and you shall not close your hand against your destitute brother, meaning if someone is in need and they come and they ask you and you say or you make believe you don't see them. In such a case, that is a violation of the Torah not to give. The Torah doesn't say how much to give, but the Torah says to give. Give a penny, give a nickel, give a dime. Pennies are going to be very valuable soon, so all right. So you might want to consider. But a dollar, a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, whatever, is all right. So you might want to. But a dollar, a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, whatever is, you know, a hundred thousand dollars, whatever it may be. But if a person is able to give, it's not about the amount you give, it's about the desire to give, it's about the desire to give.

03:20
I'll just tell you, my son and I were. We had an appointment on Friday afternoon after class here, and this woman, at one of the red lights that we were waiting for, had a sign, a picture of their 17-year-old daughter, saying that they needed money for her funeral. And I said to my son, I said said, how genuine do you think that is? And my son said there's not a chance in the world that either that's her daughter or that she's dead. All right, she's probably in high school and this is a ploy to help her go raise money for a trip around the world, perhaps. Um, we didn't think that there was any authenticity.

04:05
Now, there's no mitzvah to give someone who's under a bridge money. There's no mitzvah to give them money. There is a mitzvah, though, to have compassion, and I believe that giving them money will put them, spiral them down the same path that got them there Bad decisions with money. They use it for drugs, they use it for alcohol and for other things that are not good for them. Therefore, I recommend and I have this as well in my car that I have these little snacks or something and I'll give them that, because if they're really hungry, they'll need food, actual food, not the decision of what to do with the money that they have to buy either drugs or alcohol or things that could be damaging to them on a continual basis. So I don't want to feed the negativity, feed the bad decisions.

04:57
Hatzdokohu, simon lezerah, avram avinu being charitable is one of the identifiers of the children of Abraham. Abraham was very, very charitable. So if you have this tendency to be charitable, you can know that you are from the children of Abraham. Sh'nemar ki yadati v'laman asher yitzaveh z'banov lasos tzedakah, as the verse states in Genesis, for I have loved him because he commands his children to do charity. This is Abraham. Our sages tell us that, moreover, the seat of Israel, Jewish self-governance, is not established, nor does the law of truth, torah law, stand through any merit other than charity. We see that there's a constant emphasis on giving on being charitable amongst the Jewish people.

06:00
I will tell you that there's something I want to introduce to you. I've said this numerous times in our class, but there's a word that I want you to learn to appreciate. It's called a gemach G-E-M-A-C-H. It's an abbreviation of two words gemilut, chasadim, gemach. Okay, the first letters of that, the acronym.

06:22
And where does this come from? What is a gemach? A gemach is a free loan, a free loan. Let me explain to you what we have here in Houston. I'm not talking about in other communities, just in Houston. In Houston, if you have a party and you need to borrow tables and chairs, there's a gemach for it. How much is it going to cost you? Free, it's a gemach for it. How much is it going to cost you Free, it's a free loan. You can borrow chairs, you can borrow tables. I have that gemach, but it's in my house and there are many, many other things.

06:51
If someone you know and things that like you think like, why would they have a gemach for that? You know they have an emergency medicine gemach, we have a medical device. Gemach, medicine, gemach, we have a medical device. Gemach. Someone who needs a you know those scooters someone who has a knee injury or an ankle injury and they need one of those little scooters. Well, there's a gemach that has that. You need a hospital bed for someone who's in their home. There's a gemach for that. You need a wheelchair. There's a gemach for that. You need actual medicine because, let's say, it's Shabbos and you don't have the ability to go to a pharmacy. There's an ability someone will have again with a prescription of a doctor. Not right, but there's because we care for each other. We're a community that takes care of each other. This there's because we care for each other. We're a community that takes care of each other. This is our responsibility to ensure.

07:48
But let me tell you some other gmach ideas that people came up with, really creative ones. A baby bris outfit gmach right. A baby on the eighth day needs a white right. The baby who's going to have the bris special white outfit for the baby. I'm going to go now and buy an outfit. You have so many other expenses buying, you know, diapers and buying clothes, and this you need to buy now, a nice outfit for a baby. Well, someone one time bought it and said you know what, I'll loan it out to whoever needs it. Or the pillow that the baby is on is a beautiful pillow that they have the baby on for the bris. It's a bris pillow, gemach right, many, I'm talking. There are hundreds of different gemachs in the Jewish community.

08:29
I will tell you that my daughter, as many of you know, we just experienced a very big challenge in our family. My daughter's baby passed away after 15 days and it's very, very, it's very difficult. Do you know that there's a special organization just for such situations? My daughter comes to her house and there's a box waiting at her door and in that box there is a whole booklet for the parents, a booklet for the parents, a booklet for the grandparents, a special gift for them. But what is this whole organization For parents who lose little babies? A whole organization? Why? Because someone experienced this challenge and they're like they didn't have the support they needed, perhaps. So they decided I'm going to do something so that anybody else who's in such a situation shouldn't feel alone, they shouldn't feel that no one's there for them. They created an entire organization for this and they provide counseling and they provide medical assistance and they provide all of the guidance that's necessary. They have support groups. It's unbelievable, so that you don't feel alone and especially in a time like this, it's very easy to feel alone. Nobody understands the pain that I'm experiencing. That's a Jewish people.

09:50
You have more organizations for specific causes in the Jewish community than you have anywhere in the world, in any community. There is an entire book like this, maybe even like a Yellow Pages. You know those New York Yellow Pages books. They're massive.

10:07
Just of gemachs, just of gemachs. This is the charity we're talking about. Is that amazing? Isn't it proud to be part of this people? It's an amazing thing.

10:22
Right, they have gemachs Like you can't even imagine, like gemachs for people who are going for interviews for a job. They'll have outfits that you can borrow. They have one second whoa, whoa, whoa, wedding gown gemachs. How expensive is a wedding gown? Thousands. I know people who paid $10,000, $15,000 for one night. That's a lot of money. Not everyone can afford that. There is a gamach where you go in and you know how much it costs the cleaning fee, and if you can't pay the cleaning fee, it's fine. The cleaning fee is $150. And you have a beautiful and you can take in. You can do the tailoring if you need it to be a little custom. You know, custom fit. An amazing thing because someone who could afford it bought a wedding gown and then they said you know what? Why should I just leave it in my closet to never be used again? Let it be used by other brides. It's an amazing thing, my son, you know they're supposed to be the chassan.

11:27
The groom wears like a white tie. It's a special, like you know, custom. They wear a white tie. One of the reasons for that, by the way, just as a side note, is because the wedding day is like Yom Kippur Yom Kippur, you're forgiven of all your sins. Wedding day is like Yom Kippur Yom Kippur, you're forgiven of all your sins represented in white that has no stains, no blemishes. So the groom wears a white tie, the bride has a white gown, the idea representing cleanliness. It's a new beginning. It's a new start all unblemished, without any sin. To go out and buy a white tie could be very expensive. There's a gemach for that. This is a chasen tie, a groomed tie, gemach, I mean anything you can think of. There's a gemach for it. It's unbelievable. It really is a special thing to be part of such a people, anything you can think of. Just think of it. They got it. Mark is thinking he's like what can I come up with, right, all right.

12:29 - Intro (Announcement)
I got lots of stuff.

12:32 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I'm telling you, we have it already, trust me, all right. So the halacha now? Yeah, I'm telling you, trust me, they have it already, right, like you know the advertisement, there's an app for that. Yeah, there's a gmach for that, okay, so is there an app for the gmach? There, sure is an app for the gmach. Yes, yes, yes, but it's, it's amazing.

12:54
In every community, you have this in every community. That's the, the, the benefit of living in a jewish community, because we take care of each other, we take care of each other. That's what we need to do Now. We overflow that to the world. But you know what? My legal housekeeper. She's legal. We file the documents every year. We give her her special documents for taxes and everything, okay, but do you know where she borrows her cheers and tables from for her Thanksgiving party every year? From us, from our Gamach, Right? And you wonder, in her community, they don't have it. No, they don't have such a thing. They don't have such a thing. No, we should create one. There should be a national website. Maybe we can work on that. That'll be our project, jimmy, all right, putting together all the gemachs worldwide so that people can know where they can borrow. You know, I'll tell you, there's special omens, special amulets for women who are giving birth. Right, they wear it and it helps for an easy labor. Right, there's a gemach for that. A woman who's in her ninth month can borrow that special amulet right and return it when you're done. You think like one in a million who would have that? Right, there's a gemach for it. It's amazing Aside for, by the way, free loan gemachs people can borrow money. Right, there's a gemach for it. It's amazing Aside from, by the way, free loan gemachs people can borrow money right, that's also something that is very, very common, very, very popular.

14:34
Just as the joke goes, there's an elderly Jerusalem man who's been borrowing money to marry off his children and he's, you know, borrowing money from one to pay the other, borrowing from another to pay that. And you see he's going around in a circle, so he's like getting really old, and he says calls all of the Gemach heads, all the people he's borrowing money from. He calls them all in the room and he says listen, guys, I'm getting old, I have to borrow from you to pay him. I have to borrow from you to pay him. I have to borrow from you to pay him. I have to borrow from you. He says this is crazy. He says can you guys figure it out between yourselves? She's like no, no, of course that's not appropriate, not appropriate, okay, but either way, it's just just a little humor. Right, all right. So so now we continue.

15:20
The halacha now continues and says we just learned in our prayer podcast about the karbanos, the offerings. Someone who gives charity is greater, is greater than one who brings offerings. What a high level. Someone who brought an offering in the temple. What's an offering?

15:42
Imagine someone who sinned and they want atonement for that sin. It's like what do I do? Like I feel terrible. I did something I shouldn't have done. I went against God. I have to show God that I'm serious about this.

15:57
So what would they do? They would buy a really expensive animal. Animals are expensive. It's a lot of meat and imagine all the meat that we buy in the store equals a cow. That cow is very expensive. They'd bring the cow to the temple and they'd bring it to the Kohen and the Kohen would say what's this for? He says this is a sin offering. The Kohen would say okay, now put your hands on the head of the animal and the person would put his hand and would have have a special prayer. You would say god, take this cow, take this animal as an offering, instead of taking me as an offering. This should be an atonement for me. And then this animal would be brought as an offering and the kohanim, the, the priests, can eat from this animal that was slaughtered. But it was an atonement for the person. It was sort of like you took the, the animal, instead of taking my life for my sin. It's a very big thing.

16:52
Giving charity is more than that. Why does it make sense? It makes a lot of sense because you're giving of yourself, and when you give of yourself lovingly, hashem says that's better than an offering. You didn't have to give me a cow. You didn't have to give me a sheep or a goat or a bird. You didn't have to give me any of those offerings. You gave of yourself. You actually gave of your money. People are very attached to their money. When you're able to give away your money lovingly, hashem says that's better than an offering. As the verse states, doing charity and what is just is preferable to Hashem than an offering. It's a beautiful thing that we can do that with our money.

17:44
The verse states that the Jewish people are not redeemed, but for the mitzvah of charity of tzedakah. She-nem har tzion b'mishpatifteh u'shoveho b'tzdokah Le'olam ein adam me'ani minat tzedokah. A person should never become poor as a result of giving charity, so this is a person's own responsibility. You know, it's very important to be compassionate and to be caring and to be giving, but not at the expense of your children's dinner. Right, say, look, we have to take care of our neighbor. The kids are like but what are we gonna eat? Well, we have to take care of our neighbor. That's inappropriate and that the halacha says be very, very careful. Now you can see this in another. Now you can see this in another way. You can see this in another way Is that the statement is going as follows you will never lose by giving. You will never become poor by giving. We'll see soon.

18:42
There are promises that are given in the Torah that when someone gives, they get back, because God says ah, you're trustworthy with your money, you give it. Well, I'm going to give you more to give. I'm going to give you more to distribute for me. We are distributors for Hashem. God gives us. You know there's two different things that we need to know.

19:04
There's something called charity and there's something called a tithe. A tithe is not a Christian concept, it's a Jewish concept. It comes from our Torah. It's a tithe. You know, in the church they bring out the plate and people give their tithe. No, no, no, no, no. That's a Jewish concept. It comes from Judaism.

19:22
The Torah says that we need to give a tithe. Charity is what we give above that. What's a tithe? Give above that? What's a tithe? 10 percent charity is what we give beyond that. When we give beyond 10, the halacha says an interesting thing you're not supposed to give more than 30 percent. You're not supposed to give more than 30 percent because that's that's a little bit nutso. Talmud says that's a little bit crazy giving too much.

19:47
The person. I spoke to someone this a few months ago. He told me he just sold his business, made a lot of money. He says I gave more than 50% to charity. He gave more than 50%. That's a very special thing. To give so much is really, really something. But the halacha says to be very, very careful. A person should never make themselves poor. A person should never become destitute because they're giving.

20:19
ואין דברה ולא חזק בו בשביל הצדקה. No damage will ever come to a person who gives charity, nor will any evil befall a person as a result of giving charity. Shnemah, as the verse states, the product of charity will be peace, meaning everything will be taken care of for you, someone who has compassion, someone who has mercy on another. The Almighty has mercy on him. You're compassionate on others, god will be compassionate on you. You're merciful. God will be merciful. You're giving. God will be giving to you as well, like you are, and there's a verse to back that up from Deuteronomy V'nosan l'cha rachamim v'richamcha v'hirbecha, and he will give you mercy and be merciful to you and multiply you. V'chol mi shuach zori and anyone who's cruel. Yesh loch ush liyichusay.

21:26
Cruelty is not a Jewish trait, and if someone is cruel, cruel there's a reason to suspect their jewish heritage. Jews are not cruel people we have the most. Just look at look at the israeli army. You know what israel is doing the last 24 hours. You know what israel is doing. Israel is sending out warnings to people in Iran to stay away from all of the munitions factories because we're going to blow them up. We don't want to kill you, we want to blow up the munitions. Who does that? And then what does Iran do? They shoot their rockets at civilian locations. They don't go for army bases, no, no, no. They want to kill people. And who's the UN going to condemn? Hello, one, two, three. Who? Israel, right, that's the craziness of the world we're living in. Cruelty is not a Jewish trait. Cruelty is not a Jewish trait. Cruelty is not a Jewish trait. So if you see cruelty in your own, it's very interesting. Because the halacha says Talmud says that every person is given a different set of tools.

22:46
Every person is dealing with different things, and someone who has a tendency towards spilling blood, a tendency towards spilling blood, should channel that spilling of blood with doing a mitzvah, like becoming a moel. You become a moel, you spill blood, that's a mitzvah. Or become a shochchet, slaughter an animal. There's people who that means there's a way to channel it. But to hurt somebody else, god forbid. That's not the way we act. In fact, not only that, the Talmud says that in the Jewish court system, in the Sanhedrin, if they brought someone to death once in 70 years, it was considered a murderous court. A murderous court, you could put them in prison. But to kill, it's not a Jewish trait. We don't do that. Brutality, cruelty, not our way. What is our way? Compassion, kindness, charity. That is our way. Ve'a kadush boruchu korav l'shavas anim shenema. We should just know.

24:04
The halacha says that the Almighty listens very intently to the entreaties of the poor, as the verse states. And God hears the cry of the poor. Therefore, we have to heed and be very attentive to their cries. A special covenant is made between us, between God and those who are poor, so it will be that if he cries out to me, I shall listen, for I am compassionate. This is God talking in Exodus, where God talks about the Jewish people. If the Jewish people cry out to me, I'm going to listen.

24:54
Rav Mirabir Shalmi in the Talmud states A gate that is not opened before the poor will eventually be opened before a physician, meaning if a person has the ability to give and the person doesn't give because I don't want to give, god's going to take that money a different way. You don't want it to be for medical bills, you don't want it to be for. You know, a person has to be careful. God gives you something, not for you to spend on yourself, for you to give it further. I want to share with you just a beautiful story my son-in-law told me, so you know, one of the customs that a father-in-law has towards his son-in-law is to buy him a shas. You know what a shas is? A shas is the whole Talmud, okay, the whole Talmud. You know what a shas is? A shas is the whole talmud, okay, the whole talmud.

25:54
So last time I was in israel in february, um, the previous time I asked my son-in-law. I said can you tell me what shas I can buy for you? He says well, I'm not sure yet. I said listen, you know anything you want, just tell me. I want to get it for you. I love him, he's, and he's a torah scholar, so he'll actually use it. So I was, you know, looking forward to that opportunity and he said okay, I'll get back to you, you'll talk it over, think it over, okay. This time, when I was there, I said you know, by the way, you never told me about what Shas you want. He says actually, I have a Shas, I just got a Shas, okay, and again, it's many, many books. You can see we have over there the last second to last column. There it's a lot of books. So I said to him what happened. He says I'll tell you.

26:35
A friend of mine called me up and he said he's moving back to the United States and he has a shas to give away. So my son-in-law asked him. He says where did you get this shas from? He says I got it from somebody who moved to the United States and gave it to me. And he said when I move back to the United States I should give it to someone else. He said where did he get it from? Well, he got it from somebody who moved back to the United States and told him that I'm giving you this shas, but when you leave, give it to somebody else. So he says, when I leave Israel, if he decides to leave, I'll give it to somebody else as well. He said the same shas is moving for me. I said no problem, just tell me when you, if you decide to move back to the United States, just tell me which shas you want me to get you and I'll get it for you. But that's such a beautiful thing to just continue to give it forward. Give it forward Such an incredible thing.

27:35
I want to share with you an amazing story. There's a very, very generous philanthropist, a firm Jew, who lives in Los Angeles and his name is Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz. Okay, people know very, very, very successful in his business. He sold his business, then bought it back and then sold it again. I think he does very, very well. People wait. He only meets people Saturday night after Shabbos and people wait around the corner to visit with him and to ask for their charity. And he gives generously the corner to visit with him and to ask for their charity. And he gives generously.

28:15
In fact, he raised millions and millions and millions of dollars for the mere yeshiva, after the rosh yeshiva, after the head of the yeshiva passed away and left an enormous amount of debt. The largest yeshiva in the world, over 11 000 students so and we went to the yeshiva, went to the mir yeshiva. We saw how they, they, they make the schnitzel chicken on tuesdays for all the students. You're talking about 11 000 mouths to feed. All right, was that amazing? We were in the kitchen. It was amazing to see them. It is a production line like like a ford motor company. It is unbelievable, absolutely incredible. So he, he, he got a few people together uh, people of, of ability and they put together a fund and they paid up all the debts of the yeshiva and put them. He makes sure to raise enough money for the yeshiva every year so that their budget is covered, and it's really an amazing thing.

29:12
He had a question that he asks. He still does, probably, but he said this following story in a speech the halacha says that if you're very careful about your tithe and your charity, you're guaranteed great wealth. See, he says, and he asks rabbis this question. I know many people who are charitable, who are very careful with their tithe and they're not successful. They lose their money, they lose their businesses, they fall from their wealth. How is that possible? Isn't there a promise? Yes, and everyone gives a different answer, and he suggested an answer and I think his answer is very, very crucial. Imagine the following Imagine you have a fund, jimmy, massive fund.

30:05
You say Rabbi, can you do me a favor? Can you distribute the funds? This is where my passion lies Investigate. Make sure I don't have time to be busy with all the different requests. You investigate, you find out what's a good cause if it falls into the parameters of what my passion is. Give them. This is the amount you should give about this and that. Okay, imagine that. Okay, fear deal. You give me the checkbook, the big checkbook, and I'm your. Your is there. People come to you. They say jimmy, you know, we know you're. You say, go to my assistant, he's going to take care of you.

30:36
Okay, you find out after three months that I started giving to my own causes. I started giving it to my synagogue. Oh, my children's school came. I gave to them so that you know I like my children's schools, I give it to them and you know I give it to my, to my. You look, after three months you're like what in the world is going on over here? I thought I'm gonna get, you're gonna give to the things that I'm passionate about. Now it became your slush fund.

31:05
Imagine that he says the almighty gives us money to give all causes that are important to the Almighty. Sometimes we only give charity to things that are important to me, not to everything God says. One second, you're only prioritizing your institutions. You're not giving to everybody. I have to reconsider whether or not you can be my distributor. It's a very important thing to remember. Every person who asks deserves to get. The fact that they ask they deserve to get. The amount can vary, but every person who asks should get. It's a very important fundamental principle. You never turn someone away.

31:54
I had a guy who came to me in synagogue. And Houston has become very popular for people who collect for charity for different Jewish institutions around the world and people come around the synagogues and people go around in my neighborhood and they ask for charity for their respective institutions. And a guy came over to me at synagogue and told me about what he was raising money for. I was in the middle of praying so I listened to him and as soon as I was done praying I walked over to him and I asked him. I said if you don't mind, can I give you something? So he said oh, yeah, sure, he's not used to people just coming over to him. He pulls out his little credit card machine. I put in the amount and I I give him a little charity.

32:38
Two days later he comes knocking at my door. He didn't realize that I I was the same guy who gave him synagogue. So he comes in and he looks at me. He's like I said yeah, you gave me in synagogue, but you're not going to come in vain. You're not going to come in vain. I'm not just going to send you out the door with nothing. I said did you eat something today? Did you drink something today? So he said actually I didn't. I said come inside, come, let's eat something. He had some cookies. He had something to drink. He had something to drink. I asked him what he wanted. He said he just wanted a little snack because he can continue going to collect. And I sent him with some drink for the way.

33:18
But you know, I feel firmly that it's our responsibility. If someone asks, you have to give. Yeah, but he asked before, still I can give him something. I may not be able to give him more money, but I can give him something else. I think this is an important thing for us. Hashem gives us, not so that we. How much already can we accumulate? Okay, how much more we're going to buy more things from Costco? What are we going to buy? Like it's like, okay, so you have the houses now. You have the cars you have now. What Give give? It's an important thing. The cars you have to now. What Give give? It's an important thing.

33:55
V'yitein ha'adam elibo, a person should put it. Take to heart shu mevakesh kol shor panasasum ha'kodesh boruchu that he constantly requests his sustenance from the Almighty. We always ask Hashem u'kmoshu mevakesh ha'kodesh boruchu yishma shavasu, just like we want the Almighty to listen to our prayers, to our requests for assistance. So too, we should listen to the request of those who are in need. Gam yiten ha'odam elibo kihu galgal ha'chozer ba'olam. A person should put it, take to heart why? Because fortune is a wheel that turns within the world. I can tell you so many people who are at the top of that wheel that got to the bottom of the wheel. And I can tell you people who are at the bottom of the wheel, destitute as can be, and moved to the bottom of the wheel. And I can tell you people who are at the bottom of the wheel, destitute as can be, and moved to the top of the wheel. It's a wheel that turns. V'sov sh'yeva hu O'no O'ben m'no l'kabot staka.

35:05
And ultimately, it may come about that either he or his child or his grandchild will have to accept charity. Therefore, a person should never say to himself how can I diminish my funds by giving it to the poor? For he knows the money is not yours, it's given to you as a deposit, is given to you as a deposit. It's put to you as a deposit. Two, do with it the will of he who deposited it by you. It's temporary, in fact. It is this the charity that you give? That is your portion, that is your portion. That you give, that is your portion, that is your portion. What you give is Hashem says oh, this person is trustworthy, this person.

36:03
What you give potentially, our sages tell us, is what you will get later, either to you or to your children, or to your grandchildren. So if you give generously, they will get generously, as it says in Isaiah, again 58.8,. Your charitable deeds will precede you, meaning the money that we give is the money that will later come back to us. Moreover, the merit of charity suspends evil decrees and extends life. Sages tell us very, very important Know that Charity protects a person from death. So we still have a whole chapter to go. We didn't even. That was just the first halacha.

36:57
He's laying down the groundwork for all of the laws of charity, and it's important for us to know from the get-go that charity is a privilege for us. To give it's a privilege. And I want to share with you one more thing. The introduction of Rebbeinu Bachia on the portion of Ki Tavo in Deuteronomy says as following he says just know that when someone comes to ask you for charity, it's the Almighty masquerading as a person. It's the Almighty, seeing how you will handle this person, that if you treat this person right, god says oh, that's the way to go. But if you don't, god says I'm taking notes, meaning know that when someone is asking, when someone comes to your door, I remember I had a student once who told me he says Rabbi, when people come to my door, I just I see how much money I'm able to give. I just give it to them and close the door. I said please don't do that ever again, ever.

38:13
Because the Torah teaches us Lubayn, shinai, michal, the white of the teeth is more valuable to a poor person than the milk or the food that you give him, or the money that you give him, the smile, the compassion, the love, the cure, the concern. That means it's not only about the actual funds that you give, it's about the cure, the concern. That means it's not only about the actual funds that you give, it's about the cure, the concern that you give to that person. And if you give it with proper love, that is true charity. That is true charity. It's not about hey, I sent you the money, now don't call me again, get out of my office. That's not the way to give charity. The way to give charity is with love, with care, with concern and with compassion. And if you can only give a certain amount, that's fine.

39:04
A person has to know that when we're giving, we're actually giving to the almighty, we're giving of the Almighty, because it's his money. He decides how much we earn, he decides what we get, and we're giving it to the Almighty, the representatives the Almighty sends in front of us. We all know people who graduated exactly with the same degrees that we did. Some were more successful financially, some were less successful financially. What do you mean? We all had the same degree.

39:34
Shouldn't it be equal? Shouldn't it be the same? No, it's not the same, because God sends every person exactly what they need. This person needs more they get more. This person needs less they get less. This person gives more they get more. This person gives less, they get less. And this is a theme that we will see throughout our lifetimes, respectively each of us. If we have the opportunity to give, we should thank the Almighty that he gives us the opportunity to give. And with that, my dear friends, we conclude this part of the Everyday Judaism podcast, and we will now begin shortly with our Ask Away segment. So for those of you online, thank you. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate your participation in our classes and have a magnificent week.

40:20 - Intro (Announcement)
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.