another Jew, all the gates open before him, and the value of the mitzvah of doing chesed is very great in Heaven. Even if this mitzvah is not done l’sheim Shomayim, all gates are opened for the doer.’”
The neighbor concluded, “Now do you understand why I go out of my way to do a chesed for you?”
Giving to Many Poor People:
The Chida zt”l (Sefer Devash L’Fi) writes that the way to ensure that one’s tzedakah money isn’t going to an undeserving person is to give to many poor people, as from amongst all of them there certainly will be one worthy person. This is the meaning of the pasuk (Tehillim 112:9): “Pizer nosson l’evyonim. He distributed, gave to the poor.” This means to distribute charity to many people. If one does this: “Tzidkaso omedes la’ad. His tzedakah will last eternally” because he certainly gave to some deserving people.
It is related that the Ropshitzer Rebbe zy”a once met a wealthy man who was known to be very stingy, and he asked him why he doesn’t give any money to tzedakah. The man answered, “What can I do? There are many dishonest people who pretend to be poor when they really are not. I decided not to give charity so as not to be fooled by people like them.”
The Rebbe told him, “That’s the difference between me and you. You choose not to give tzedakah to 1,000 genuinely needy people so as not to give to one thief, whereas I give to 1,000 thieves in order to be able to give to one truly needy person.”
One Goes Beyond Nature to Give Tzedakah Merits Supernatural Salvations:
Sefer Otzros Chen (written by Rav Noach Gad Weintruab zt”l) relates the following incredible story that depicts how one who gives tzedakah merits miraculous salvations:
One of the chasidim of Rav Yitzchok of Vorka zy”a was a businessman who owned the rights to collect tolls on one of the bridges in Warsaw. He made a good living from this enterprise. Every year, the rights to collect this toll was auctioned off, and every year this man won the bidding and retained his rights. One year, however, the gentiles of the city decided that they didn’t want a Jew collecting tolls. They decided to block him from attending the auction. When the chasid heard this, he ran to his Rebbe to seek his advice.
When he got to Vorka, he went into the bais medrash and spoke with the locals about certain matters as he waited for his turn to see the Rebbe. Suddenly, the door to Rav Yitzchok’s room opened and the Rebbe called out, “Is anyone willing to donate 300 rubles to hachnasas kallah”?
This chasid immediately took 300 rubles out of his wallet and handed it to the Rebbe.
Rav Yitzchok then went back into his room and shut the door.
About an hour later, Rav Yitzchok again opened his door and called out, “Who here can give me 300 rubles for tzedakah“?
Once again, this chasid reached into his pocket, took out 300 rubles, and gave it to the Rebbe. When this occurred a third time, the man did the same thing once more.
Rav Yitzchok then turned to the chasid and said, “There is a chamber in Shomayim that is known as ‘l’mailoh m’derech hateva.’ It is beyond nature. When a Jew gives tzedakah in a manner that is supernatural, they perform miracles for him that are supernatural. You can now go home in peace“.
The man did not even stick around to tell the rebbe his problem. He immediately headed back to Warsaw. When it came time for the public auction, no one stood in his way to stop him from bidding. As usual, he won the bid and kept his rights to the toll.
On his way home, he bumped into the gentiles who had wanted to block him. When they saw him, they said, “Which Rebbe did you go to for help? We got lost for three hours and missed our chance to stop you from bidding.”
אֵרֲדָה נָּא וְאֶרְ אֶה הַכְּצַעֲקָתָהּ הַבָּאָה אֵלַי עָשׂוּ כָּלָה וגו' (יח, כא)
I will descend now and see, whether according to her cry, which has come to Me, they have done; I will wreak destruction... (18:21)
The Law of Sodom and Amorah:
Rashi states: “The cry: This refers to the cry of a certain girl, whom they killed with a horrific death because she gave food to a poor man.”
Sefer Eretz Chaim (Ois 301) relates that when Rav Levi Yitzchok zy”a was chosen to become Rov of Berditchov, he made a condition with the leaders of the community that they wouldn’t bother him to attend every communal gathering. They agreed that they would only ask him to come to meetings if they intended to introduce a new rule, but not to meetings that simply discussed old rules.
One day, the communal leaders organized a meeting to introduce a new rule that would forbid paupers from going from door to door soliciting donations. Instead, they would be given a set amount as a stipend from the communal charity fund. Since this was a new rule, they asked Rav Levi Yitzchok to attend the meeting.
When Rav Levi Yitzchok heard what the rule was, he said, “Didn’t I tell you not to make me come to meetings that are about to old rules?”
They replied, “Rebbe, this is a new rule!”
He said, “No. This is an old rule. It was first enacted in the cities of Sodom and Amorrah, where it was decreed that no poor people could collect from door to door, as we see from the story of the girl who was killed for giving a donation to a pauper.”
Don’t be the Agent to Harm Others:
Sefer Vayakhel Moshe relates that Rav Yosef Ber of Brisk zt”l employed a man who worked as the shamash of the town’s beis din. The leaders of the community didn’t like this man. They had a meeting and decided to fire him.
They informed Rav Yosef Ber of their decision and asked him to relay the message to the shamash. However, he refused to do so, and he ignored their demand. They began arguing with him, saying, “You are the Av Beis Din, and he is your shamash. Therefore, it is only fair for you to be the one to tell him about this decision.”
Rav Yosef Ber said, “I’m sure that you are familiar with the story of the akeidah. You know that when Hashem told Avrohom to bring his only son as an offering, He didn’t send a message through an angel or any other type of agent. Rather, He personally told him to do this. But when He told him not to harm the child, He sent this message through an angel. Why?
The answer is that Hashem knew that if Hashem had sent one of His angels to tell Avrohom to sacrifice His son, no malach would have agreed to do this mission. They would have said, ‘Ribono Shel Olm, if You want to slaughter a Jewish person, say so Yourself. Don’t do it through a messenger.’
קְרָ א אֵלָיו מַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה מִ ן הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָ הָם אַבְרָ הָם וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי
וַיּ (כב, יא)
And an angel of Hashem called to him from Shomayim and said, “Avrohom, Avrohom.” And he said, “Here I am.” (22:11)
We see from here that saving a person’s life can be done through an agent but killing a Jew must be done by Hashem personally. You want to kill this man by taking away his source of livelihood, and that can only be done by Hashem Himself.”
