His daughter understood that he had given away all the money he raised and hadn’t kept a penny for himself. She began to cry but her father told her, “My daughter, if you had heard that your father had given up his religion and converted in Berditchov, would that make you happy?”
She answered, “Of course not!”
“If so,” he said, “why are you crying? Chazal say (Kesuvos 68A) that one who turns away from giving tzedakah to the poor is akin to one who serves avodah zara. So how could I not give away all the money I had to tzedakah?”
נָתוֹן תִ ּתֵ ּן לוֹ וְלֹא יֵרַ ע לְבָבְךָ בְ ּתִ תְ ּךָ לוֹ כִּי בִ ּגְלַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה יְבָרֶ כְךָ ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ וגו' (טו, י)
You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be bad when you give to him as Hashem your G-d will bless you because of this thing. (15:10)
How Not to Embarrass the Taker:
The Chida zt”l (Sefer Pnei Dovid) learns this pasuk to be teaching us how to give tzedakah in a way that does not embarrass the taker and in a manner that does not require him to feel beholden to the giver. One can do this by going over to a poor man and saying, “A wealthy man gave me some money to distribute to whoever needs it. I want to give you some of it. Please take it.”
Accordingly, the pasuk is saying: “Nasan titein lo.” This can be translated to mean that you should give in a manner that looks as if you are giving someone else something that was given to you, rather than your own money. It then says “your heart shall not be bad when you give to him”, which can be understood to mean that you should do it this way so as not to embarrass him. The pasuk concludes by saying that if give in this way, Hashem will bless you greatly.
Doing Good Every Day:
The Rasha”b of Lubavitch zy”a once told his son, the Riyat”z of Lubavitch zy”a, “Getting up every day to learn and daven is all fine and good, but if you don’t find a way to help a Jew, it is a ‘dry’ day. Therefore, you should daven to Hashem to be given the opportunity to do chesed and give tzedakah every day!”
That very day, two men came to the door and asked for a donation for a poor family. The Rasha”b turned to his son and said, “You see! If you really want it, Hashem sends it!”
