As we know, everything that the Torah tells us to do is ultimately for our own good. As it says, L’Tov Lach/ for your own good. Giving Sedaka is no different. We know that when a person gives ma’aser, it brings wealth. But someone recently shared a very beautiful thought on an additional benefit of giving ma’aser. When a person has money, he’s never satisfied. As it says,
“Yesh Lo Maneh/if he has 100,
Rotzeh Matayim/he wants 200.“
This means that if a person is in the acquisition mode, in the “have“ mode, it’s never enough. As it says about Esav, “Yesh Li Rav/I have a lot.“ The Chafetz Chaim famously explains that this means that he has a lot, but there’s always room for more- he’s never satiated. And actually, the more you have, the more you are missing. If you have 100 you want 200, if you have 200 you want 400. But when a person gives Sedaka, he’s training himself not to have. It puts him in the giving mode rather than the taking mode. And more than that, he now realizes that it is not his. It’s no longer Yesh Lo Maneh, because its not his money. He’s not in the acquisition mode. The problem of Yesh Lo Maneh is that you think it’s yours, because you think you acquired it.
But when a person is in the giving Sedaka mode, they realize it is not theirs. The money was given to them as a deposit, as the Hovot Halevavot tells us, to spend as God said to. The Rambam says that the more you do, the more it impacts you. So when giving Sedaka, it brings you to realize that it is not yours, and it takes you out of the “having” mode. You are now actually able to spend more money on yourself, and enjoy what you have, because you’re not in the “having” mode. You are in the giving mode.
When you have 100, you want 200, but when you give 100 you actually have 100, because the more that you are in the giving mode as opposed to the having mode, the more you actually have.
It’s counterintuitive that the giving actually causes you to have, because you are no longer in the having mode. And you can actually enjoy yourself more this way. You can enjoy your car!
The giving actually causes you to have. This is one of the wonders of Sedaka. You will actually enjoy your own things more, because now you really have.
When you think you have, you don’t have, but when you realize that it’s yours to give away, then you do have.
I heard this concept from somebody who actually lived this concept and gave it over with enthusiasm. I’m trying to explain it intellectually, secondhand. It makes sense, and it is rooted in the words of our rabbis. Yesh Lo Maneh- The Panim Yafot gives this explanation- When you realize that it is not yours, that’s when you really have it.
Have a wonderful day.