Appraising One’s Ways and the Attitude of Beis Shamai
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Appraising One’s Ways and the Attitude of Beis Shamai

הפצת המיינות חוצה | December 31, 2025

(Or as quoted from a different Possuk “Judgment and righteousness You made in Yaakov”) – one needs to make a reckoning so that one takes stock about what is unnecessary in his material life, and that one should adjudicate and separate one’s necessities from the superfluous and consider only what is absolutely necessary for his life and [then] all of the rest he should give away.

For this constitutes the concept of ‘appraising one’s ways’; that one judges, appraises, and determines one’s situation ....

And may it be Hashem’s (new) will, that as a result of one’s efforts in serving Hashem in this manner...

Tehilim 99.4. וְעֹז מֶלֶךְ מִּשְׁפָט אָהֵב אַתָּה כוֹנַנְתָּ מֵישָׁרִּ ים מִּשְׁפָט וּצְדָקָה בְיַעֲקֹב אַתָּה עָשִּיתָ - And the might of the King who loves judgment; You founded equity; judgment and righteousness You made in Yaakov.

Before one gives Charity one needs to make a judgement of how much one needs to survive so that one can give the rest away to charity. Not to make a judgement how much one wants and how much one wants to give. But how much one actually needs and then to give away the rest.

This is the attitude of Beis Shamai.

(Or as quoted from a different Possuk “Judgment and righteousness You made in Yaakov”) – one needs to make a reckoning so that one takes stock about what is unnecessary in his material life, and that one should adjudicate and separate one’s necessities from the superfluous and consider only what is absolutely necessary for his life and [then] all of the rest he should give away.

For this constitutes the concept of ‘appraising one’s ways’; that one judges, appraises, and determines one’s situation ....

And may it be Hashem’s (new) will, that as a result of one’s efforts in serving Hashem in this manner...

Tehilim 99.4. וְעֹז מֶלֶךְ מִּשְׁפָט אָהֵב אַתָּה כוֹנַנְתָּ מֵישָׁרִּ ים מִּשְׁפָט וּצְדָקָה בְיַעֲקֹב אַתָּה עָשִּיתָ - And the might of the King who loves judgment; You founded equity; judgment and righteousness You made in Yaakov.

Before one gives Charity one needs to make a judgement of how much one needs to survive so that one can give the rest away to charity. Not to make a judgement how much one wants and how much one wants to give. But how much one actually needs and then to give away the rest.

This is the attitude of Beis Shamai.

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