Tzedakah Purifies The Air:
The following story is related in Sefer Imrei Pinchos (Shaar 3, Ois 140):
One year, there were two separate fairs held in the city of Koritz. One was a very large fair, while the other was a smaller fair.
Rav Pinchos of Koritz zy”a would ask every visitor to the city whether they earned more money from the big fair or the small one. Those around him were surprised to hear that everyone said they made a bigger profit at the small fair.
Rav Pinchos explained that tzedakah collectors were going around with a pushka at the small fair. There were many non-Jews at the big fair who blocked the good influences from coming down to this world. But at the small fair, when the pushka was brought around to collect charity, it purified the air and, in this merit, an abundance of good came down to the world.
