In our parashah, it says, “Give a tenth.” Everybody knows the Gemara and Shabbat and other places: “Give a tenth so you become wealthy.” So one of the great Sephardim has a question: Give a tenth so you become wealthy. Does everybody who gives Ma'aser (Give a tenth) become wealthy? Is every person who earns $100,000 and gives $10,000 wealthy? So what does it mean, “Give a tenth to become wealthy”?
So they quote the words of Rav Chaim Vital. And Rav Chaim Vital is critical. You need to understand these words. Forget our whole point today. That teaching is so powerful. Rav Chaim Vital says that the only time a person sees blessing in this world from doing mitzvot (commandments)—when Hashem promises reward in this world—the only time a person sees blessing in this world from doing mitzvot is davka (only) if he does the mitzvah (commandment) mitoch simcha. It's only if you do it happily.
I'm telling you, the underlying key to that happiness is to first take care of yourself. Now, again, you can take care of yourself too much, and there are people who take care of themselves and just turn themselves into selfish people. If you got that out of this class, then you missed the point. But then there are people who understand that if I take care of myself to a limited amount, then I could give a tremendous amount. That's the goal.