Question: I think I have heard Rabbi Mandel say that if we are happy for someone else’s Mitzva, we also get Schar for it... and also if we want to do a Mitzva but can’t do it, we get Schar as if we actually did it. Does this apply to giving Tzedaka as well? For example, if we are genuinely happy that someone else donated a building for a Yeshiva, do we actually get Schar as if we donated the building? And if we want to donate a building; although we don’t have the funds, but are wishing we could; does that also work? If yes, is there a source for this?
Answer: There are open Chazal’s that say that if you wanted to do a Mitzva but you had a Ones (something beyond your control that got in the way), it’s as if you did it. R' Avigdor Miller Zatzal was heavily involved in these things. He used to thank for other people’s Mitzvos. You will get such a gold mine for this.
This needs exercise. You need to constantly vocalize “How lucky I am that I wanted this”. It’s a lot of work, and the Yetzer Hara doesn’t like this. He says: “But you didn’t really do anything!” Don’t fall for that. Be happy with what you did, and also be happy for what you didn’t do. Say VERBALLLY, MANY TIMES: “I like good thoughts and good Retzonos”. “I like being sad over my sins”. “I love that stuff”. “That will take away all my problems”.
Of course, just do the best you can. And when you can’t, it’s great! Get into the habit of appreciating. Even when you do things, you don’t really appreciate yourself enough. So now the Yetzer Hara can really get you! Nobody appreciates anything. Just keep saying it verbally, many, many times, until it becomes a habit, until you're swooning with pleasure. “Look what he did! Wow!” And keep repeating the details. “They got this, they got that”. And then you’ll be an Ahron, a: לֵב שֶׁשָׂמַח בִּגְדוּלַת אָׂחִּיו heart that rejoiced with his brother’s greatness, and you should get ready to get an Urim v'Tumim just like he did. My Rebbe, R' Ozer Schwartz Zatzal told me this. That’s where you’re heading; Urim v'Tumim country, you'll be the happiest person in the world. Someone whose heart is happy with his brother’s greatness is getting a Choshen, with all the twelve Shevotim on his heart, which had the answers to all the problems in the world (which the Urim v’Tumim revealed), you have the Eibishter Himself all over you. You should be dancing for the rest of your life.
And the fact that it’s difficult to do, gives you the added: לְפוּם צַעֲרָא אַגְרָא reward, which increases according to the difficulty, and: טוֹב פַעַם אַחַת בְצַ עַר מִּמֵאָׂה שֶֹׁלֹא בְצַעַר one difficult Mitzva is more valuable than a hundred easy Mitzvos. So for that Tza’ar that you weren’t able to do it, you are getting 100 times more Schar than the guys that actually do it! So I would advise you to sit back and do nothing for the rest of your life; just watch the “shows” that go on, and you’ll be ahead of everybody... That’s just a joke. You're allowed to do things; it won’t kill you.
שבת סג א, מאי וּלְח וֹשְבֵי שְמוֹ (מלאכי ג טז )אמר רבי אמי , אפילו חישב לעשות מצוה ונאנס ולא עשאה , מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו עשאה . (וכן הוא בברכות ו א בשם רב אשי, ובקידושין מ א בשם רב אסי .)
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