It is told that a man once stood by the holy Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron, and prayed from the depth of his heart: “Ribono shel Olam, please make for me a flat tire, please Ribono shel Olam, make that I should have a flat tire.” The people who stood around him were astonished to hear his strange prayer. When he finished davening, someone approached him with a question, perhaps he would agree to explain the meaning of his unusual tefillah. The man explained with joy and said: “Behold, Chazal said that a wheel is what turns in the world. What is a wheel? Sometimes you are below and sometimes you are above. Now, with the help of Heaven, my situation is very good, as it never was, I feel really uplifted, ‘above.’ Therefore, I prayed to Hashem Yisbarach that He should make for me now a flat tire, so that the wheel will not turn on me and I will, chalilah, descend downward, but rather that I will remain above.”
The holy Torah commands us to give tzedakah (15:10): ‘ולא לו תתן נתון משלח ובכל מעשך בכל אלוקיך ’ד יברכך הזה הדבר בגלל כי לו בתתך לבבך ירע ידך את תפתח פתוח לאמר מצוך אנכי כן על הארץ מקרב אביון יחדל לא כי ,ידך לאחיך’ - “You shall surely give him, and let your heart not be grieved when you give him, for because of this matter Hashem, your G-d will bless you in all your work and in all the deeds of your hands. For the poor shall never cease from within the land; therefore, I command you, saying: You shall surely open your hand to your brother.” Concerning this it is brought in the Gemara (Shabbos 151b): “It was taught in the Bais Medrash of Rebbe Yishmael: ‘Because of this matter’ – a wheel is what turns in the world. From here Rebbe Elazar HaKappar said: A person should always request mercy concerning this trait, for if it does not come upon him, it may come upon his son, and if not upon his son, then upon his grandson.”
At first glance it appears as if they are threatening us: If you will not give charity, “take care,” you too may become poor, or chalilah your son or your grandson. But we know that the holy Torah does not threaten, so what is the explanation?
HaKadosh Baruch Hu desired to grant us merit through giving, and therefore He did not give everyone equally, in order that we would be able to give of our own to others. But we must remember that what we have is not ours, rather everything is His and from Him. And this is not only with money, but also with talents, with learning, with encouragement, and with everything. If you have something that others do not have, it does not belong to you. Hashem Yisbarach gave it to you, and He wants you to give of your own to others. And if, chas v’shalom, a person does not give of his own to others, from Heaven they may “remind” him to whom everything belongs. So whoever wants a sweet flat tire must always remember the wheel...
- Tiv HaTorah – Re’eh
