Rabbi YY Jacobson
... Our Sages greatly extolled the virtue of tzedaka, declaring it equal to all other mitzvos together. In the Talmud Yerushalmi, tzedaka is called simply “The mitzva.” ... because tzedaka is the core of all the active mitzvos, and surpasses them all.
... All other mitzvos, only one faculty of the vital soul [The soul that is the life force of the physical body] is involved while performing the mitzvah. In the case of tzedaka, however, which one gives from the proceeds of the toil of his hands, all the strength of his vital soul is involved in the effort of his labor or in any other occupation by which he earned this money which he now distributes for charity. Thus, when he gives to charity, this money, to which he applied all the strength of his vital soul, his entire vital soul is elevated to Hashem. Hence the superiority of tzedaka over other mitzvos.
Even if one does not earn his livelihood from work, nevertheless, since he could have purchased, with this money that he gave for charity, sustenance for the life of his vital soul, he is actually giving his soul’s life to G-d in the form of tzedaka, and therefore elevates more energy of his vital soul than any other mitzvah.
This is why Chazal said that tzedaka hastens the geula. For with one act of tzedaka, one elevates a great deal of the vital soul, more of its faculties and powers, than he might elevate through many other active mitzvos [combined].
==== Tanya – Likutei Amarim Perek 37.
UFARATZTA
This week's Torah portion, Kedoshim, contains a commandment, which we often do not think about as such: “You shall judge your fellow man with justice .”
The Talmud gives two different interpretations of this verse. According to one opinion, this verse is giving direction to Judges. When a person comes to a Judgment in a civil case according to Torah law the judge must treat the litigants equally. He is not allowed to have one litigant stand and the other one sit, one speak at length and the other urged to speak briefly, and so forth. However, according to a second interpretation in the Talmud, the injunction in this verse is directed at every Jew. Its intent is that we must “judge our fellow with justice,” as the Talmud puts it, “Judge your fellow man to the side of merit.”
A similar expression we find in the Ethics of the Fathers: “Judge every person to the side of merit.”
But what does this mean?
Changing the Instinct to Condemn
On the most basic level, it cautions us to give people the benefit of the doubt. If we see a person doing something that apparently seems to be an act that he or she should not be doing, there is a full-fledged Biblical command to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Upon observing another person doing or saying something we perceive as undesirable or destructive, many of us instinctively assume that negative motives are compelling these acts and words. We naturally believe that the person is aware of the damage he is creating, and despite this he is doing it for his own benefit or some agenda. This attitude has plagued us for millennia and has caused untold harm and divisiveness in communities. Learn to judge people favorably, to attribute positive, or at least neutral, motives to people’s acts and words. Say to yourself, "His (or her) behavior might appear wrong; but in his own mind and heart he really thinks he is doing the right thing."
This approach of condemning the behavior, but not the person is counterintuitive, but it is tremendously beneficial for two reasons:
A) When you are able to alter your attitude, you will not become resentful. When you attribute evil motives to a person performing a negative act, your brain instinctively swells with negative energy. On the other hand, if you train yourself to view the person, unlike his behavior, in a positive light, you save your heart from being consumed by ire.
B) You will be in a much better position to communicate your feelings to this person without compelling him to construct defense mechanisms and reciprocate your rebuke with stubbornness and anger.
When he feels that inside your heart you don't view him as a "bad guy" who craves destruction, only as a "good guy" who made an error, your criticism will most likely be more effective.
Think about yourself. If someone approaches you and criticizes your behavior, when is he more likely to be successful? When he attributes negative motives to you, or positive ones to you? The answer is more than obvious.
This means that if you are truly bothered by what this person did, the best way to eliminate such behavior in the future is to judge him or her favorably.
