A
kid can offer a candy to a class mate for several reasons - a feeling of altruism, trying to make the kid
be happy, to make an impression on a teacher watching him, or to barter for a
piece of chocolate in return for the piece of candy. Traditional parenting and
teaching focuses on ' behaviors' and the thoughts, intentions, motives, and
feelings underlying behaviors are usually ignored. The main thing is to get '
behaviors', even if the kid is only motivated by the wrong reasons.
And
this seems to be in keeping with the mitzvah /commandment of 'giving charity= '
Tezdaka'. A man was bothered by the fact that his intentions in giving charity
were not 'pure' ,and more about impressing others. The rabbi told him that the
poor man was more concerned about having money to buy a meal or a place to get
a good night's sleep than his motives. What counts is the giving of charity,
not the motives.
Giving
charity is a very powerful mitzvah= good deed. It has the ability to save one
from the ' judgment of 'hell' in the world to come, protect one's property from
losses and create wealth as the Talmud says -'u'seir bish'vil li'hit'u'sheir -
gives tithes in order to get rich ' = give away your money in order to make
more money.
The
Saba from Kelm explains that the power of charity is not from the act of giving
alone, but needs to be accompanied by empathy, love and caring for his fellow
man. He has to feel for the man's plight and suffering as if it was his own as
the Torah says –love your neighbor as yourself. His motivation is not because
it is a mitzvah = God's commandment to give, but because God wants him to ' be
' a person who intrinsically feels for others and wants to help. In the same
way the Bible=Torah commands us to lend money to the poor using the 'optional
language ' if you lend money ' – implying that the Torah wants people to be
intrinsically motivated and 'be' people who care empathize with the poor and
loan them money.
The
mitzvah- good deed of Tezdaka has 2 elements – the hand and the heart .' Do not
close your hand or harden your heart , open your hand …. Etc.' The reward for giving of our wealth to the poor is the mitzvah
itself –se'char mitzvah, mitzvah and God
creates the conditions so new wealth is
created .This enables us to give more
charity and so the mitzvah brings along more mitzvoth = mitzvah go're'ret
mitzvah.
We
see that thoughts, intentions, motives and feelings are crucial when we give
charity. It is the ' Being ' which is just as important as the ' Doing' in the
mitzvah of charity =Tezdaka.
Neale Walsch the author of ' Conversations with God' gives an insight into the
creation process and in particular how the
creation of wealth occurs.
''Most people
believe if they "have" a thing (more time, money, love -- whatever),
then they can finally "do" a thing (write a book, take up a hobby, go
on vacation, buy a home, undertake a relationship), which will allow them to
"be" a thing (happy, peaceful, content, or in love). In actuality,
they are reversing the Be-Do-Have paradigm. In the universe as it really is,
"havingness" does not produce "beingness," but the other
way around.
First you
"be" the thing called "happy" (or "knowing," or
"wise," or "compassionate," or whatever), then act as if
you are ''happy'' by "doing" things from this place of beingness --
and soon you discover that what you are doing winds up bringing and drawing you
the things you've always wanted to "have."
The way to set
this creative process (and that's what this is...the process of creation) into
motion is to look at what it is you want to "have," ask yourself what
you think you would "be" if you "had" that, then go right
straight to being.''
A condition
for creation is 'to love your neighbor as yourself. '
''Whatever you
choose for yourself, give to another. If you choose to be happy, cause another
to be happy. If you choose to be prosperous, cause another to prosper. If you
choose more love in your life, cause another to have more love in theirs. Do
this sincerely -- not because you seek personal gain, but because you really
want the other person to have that -- and all the things you give away will
come to you.
The very act
of your giving something away causes you to experience that you have it to give
away. Since you cannot give to another something you do not now have, your mind
comes to a new conclusion, a New Thought, about you --namely, that you must
have this, or you could not be giving it away.
This New
Thought then becomes your experience. You start "being" that. And
once you start "being" a thing, you've engaged the gears of the most
powerful creation machine in the universe -- your Divine Self. ''– that partners
with God to make your life and the poor around you more meaningful and caring.
The poor man
now has to ' tithe' the money he has
received from the rich man and give charity.. The rich man is grateful to the
poor man for giving him the opportunity to protect his wealth, create new
wealth and new opportunities for doing good. The poor man is grateful to the rich man
for putting him on his feet by providing either employment , a loan or charity.In this way , the poor man can
begin to experience ' Being '= wealthy and happy , then act on his ' being ' by
giving charity and then setting in motion the creative process of creating new
wealth to do more good.
Behaviors are
important , but God wants us to focus on Being the Ba'al Tezdaka , a person who
gives charity from this place of Being.
