This week’s Parasha, Parashat Re’eh, talks a lot about the Mitzvah of Sedaka.
Regarding the Mitzvah of Ma’aser, it says, “Test me with this, and see if you open up the windows of the heavens.”
The Maggid of Dubno asks why Hashem uses the Mitzvah of Sedaka as a test? We are not supposed to test Hashem with other mitzvot, so why does it say here to test Hashem?
He compares it to a business man that goes overseas and finds beautiful, yet very inexpensive fabric. He can’t believe that it’s real. The prices are inexpensive and the product looks great. The person selling it tells him to test one of the rolls- to try the worst possible of the rolls. The businessman unrolls the “worst” of the fabrics. It’s the nicest that he’s ever seen, and yet cheaper than anything else. He thinks that if this is how great the “bad” one looks, imagine how great everything else is!
The Nimshal is that Hashem gave us 613 Mitzvot that are all unbelievable, valuable and yet inexpensive.
This is hard for us to believe. We wonder if maybe we will lose by fulfilling them.
So Hashem tells us to test Him with the Mitzvah that we would seemingly lose out the most from- giving away money!
We could more easily imagine gaining from the Mitzvot of Tefilin and Shabbat. But gaining by giving away money?
So Hashem is telling us to use this as an example for all the mitzvot, because it is something that we will be able to see. This is the one that makes the least sense. “Test Me with this,” He says.
As we have mentioned in the past, the Hovot HaLevavot says that this concept of testing Hashem with Sedaka is based on Bitachon. It’s based on the fact that we rely on Hashem that He will come through, and that when Hashem tells us something, we can trust it.
There is line in the Midrash of this week’s Parasha where Hashem says,
“Listen to Me, No one ever listened to Me and lost.”
That is a very powerful line.
Imagine a stockbroker whose clients never lost any money. That is a very heavy claim. Therefore, our giving Sedaka is based on Emuna. There is a Gemarah in Masechet Sota ( 48b)
( Thank you Rabbi Ebstein for sharing) that says there is something called, “ אנשי אמנה- people who believe in Hashem”
Rashi says that these are people who give of their money for Mitzvot, Sedaka, Shabbat and Yom Tov.
On this, The Brisker Rav says that when someone doesn’t give money for Sedaka because he’s afraid he will lose, that isn’t just a lack of Mitzvot, it’s a lack of Emunah. Because a person has to believe that he’s not going to lose from Sedaka.
The Rambam says, “No one ever became poor from giving Sedaka.” Sedaka is our training ground for Emunah and Bitachon, in all areas.
The Gaon of Vilna writes,
שכל השומר מעשר מובטח בכך שלא יבוא לידי היזק כלל, והשומר חומש מובטח שיתעשר,
Anyone that is careful with giving Ma’aser is guaranteed that there will be no damage (to his business), and if he gives 20% he’s guaranteed that he will become wealthy
ויושרש בזה מידת הבטחון
And with this, you root into yourself, Bitachon.
So it’s clear, from the words of the Gaon of Vilna, that giving Ma’aser is a training ground for Bitachon.
We always like to work on Bitachon, and this is a perfect opportunity. Giving Ma’aser is a way to act out your Bitachon, and really believe.
Normally, we say that Hashem never spoke to us. He didn’t guarantee us anything, so it’s hard for us to have that level of Bitachon.
But when it comes to Ma’aser, we are hearing from the Gaon of Vilna that there is a guarantee! מובטח
May we all be zoche to work on our Bitachon, and fulfill this wonderful Mitzvah of Sedaka and Ma’aser.
Shabbat shalom.