Gain interest on the gift that keeps on giving!

The parsha continues to discuss the commandment to give charity with an open hand. The Talmud tells us to give charity again and again without being afraid of financial loss. This is hard to wrap your finger around, I am sure, but this is what Hashem commands from us.

If you were to give someone a loan, with a lender who is guaranteed to pay you back, you would feel secure about lending out the loan, right? When we give charity, it is as if our loan is being guaranteed by Hashem Himself (as it states in Mishlai: “One who gives graciously to the poor extends as it were a loan to Hashem, Who will pay back all that is due” (19:17)). In other words, the benefactor will be repaid, but in the world to come, he will receive his full reward.

Hashem promises that He will repay us when we give tzedaka, so why don’t we extend our arms more often?

Mishlai continues to say, “He who gives to the poor will not lack, whereas he who conceals his eyes will have many curses” (28:27). When we give, we are paid back, when we refrain from extending ourselves, the money we should have given will eventually be lost. However, our sages continue saying that you should not give charity to the point where you yourself need charity, rather you should give according to your financial capability.

Moreover, tzadaka can save a person’s life and abolish any Heavenly decrees that were over his head(repentance and prayer are the other two facets where a person can change his fate).

Halachot-laws- of giving tzadaka:

1.     A person should give based on his income: the more you have, the more you should give. If you have an average income, ten percent is recommended, if you have much more, giving up to one-fifth is recommended. (If a rich and poor person give the same amount, the poor person’s charity will be seen as more favorable to Hashem, whereas the rich man may be punished for giving an insufficient amount).

2.     A person is obligated to give charity to those closest to him. (For example, if you have a poor relative, you give precedence to giving to your family first, then neighbors, then communities, etc.).

3.     Tzadaka is either food or money.

4.     If a poor man asks for charity to buy him clothing, we may investigate the matter further; however, if he asks for food, we must immediately provide for him.

5.     We must give tzadaka happily and give over words of encouragement. A person who gives charity in anger is not merited.

6.     Optimally, giving tzadaka should be done anonymously, where the donor does not know the recipient and the recipient does not know the donor, preventing the recipient from embarrassment. (How amazing is God for even thinking about the psychology of the poor man, His mercy is so great to care about fulfilling their needs so that their struggle to survive is minimized).

7.     The highest level of tzadaka is preventing a Jew from needing tzdaka. By helping a Jew get a job where he can support himself continuously, or lend him money to start a business, etc., you are giving the highest level of tzadaka.  How incredible this would be, helping a person support himself, rather than having him continuously be embarrassed by the fact that he cannot sustain himself and needs financial assistance from others?!

We have to understand that through giving tzadaka, a person is given the greatest opportunity to give, getting a taste of the Creator Himself (Whose essence is complete giving). Without learning to give, what would become of our society?

Moreover, people were created with different financial circumstances for one reason:

 To give those with more the opportunity to give! What’s even more beautiful is that every person is obligated to give, even the poor man has to give, seeing that there is always someone who is more needy than him. The cycle of giving is continuous.

This commandment teaches us that we should all learn to give more! By giving we are actually getting the power to receive. By giving, we are becoming better people, we are developing our character, we are showing that we have bitachon-trust in Hashem- that He will continue to provide for us if we listen to His commandment. Tzadaka truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

Parshas Aikev

This week’s parsha, Aikev, begins with Moshe telling the Jews that they will in fact prosper in this world if they observe Hashem’s mitzvot. Moshe tells them, not only will they be rewarded in this world for observing the mitzvot, but the full reward will be given to them in the World to Come. What is the sense of receiving the reward in the future and not now? Essentially the physical world we live in currently cannot adequately reward us for our mitzvot. Since the pleasures of this world are so limited, we must wait to reap the fruit of our labor in the World to Come, where the spiritual delights surpass any pleasure we have in this world.

Additionally, Hashem waits to give us the full reward in the next world because He does not want us to follow His mitzvot solely on the expectation of reward, but rather because observing the mitzvot are Hashem’s Divine Will and our way of apprehending Him and His will. Moreover, in His great mercy, He allowed us to see intermittent gratification to keep us motivated to continue doing mitzvot.

This should shed some light into our own lives. Observing mitzvot are quite challenging; however, we should bear in mind that we will reap some reward in this world. The parsha promises the following rewards for following the mitzvot:

1. Hashem will love you, when a person is loved by  Hashem, the creator of everything, he will only receive blessings.
2. Hashem will bless you with material wealth.
3. Hashem will multiply you extraordinarily fast.

By observing the mitzvot, Hashem will protect us from sickness, war, hunger, and with more opportunities to do mitzvot; hence the opportunities for being rewarded will be continuous.

Every effort we make to cling to our Source does not go without notice. We should all be blessed with the strength to observe Hashem’s mitzvot and reap the benefits in this world and the next!

Giving thanks for the simple things...even for a morsel of bread

This week’s parsha continues discussing the commandment to bless Hashem after you have eaten and are satiated. Thereafter, the sages instituted the prayer of Birkat Hamazon- Grace after meals- if a person eats a kezayat- size of an olive- of bread.

When the Jews received the Heavenly mann in the desert, they were able to see Hashem’s kindness. When they entered the land of Israel and had to sow and reap their own harvest, they were still  aware of Hashem’s hand in allowing their land to reap results. How great their emunah was in Hashem; despite the fact that they had to work the land, they knew that their efforts were rewarded by Hashem. In our lives, we may devote much of our efforts to our work; however, it is all in Hashem’s hands if our efforts are successful or not.

The first blessing of the Birkat Hamazon allows us to acknowledge Hashem’s kindness upon bestowing us with food, despite the fact that we had to labor for it.

The second blessing is over the land of Israel. In the merit of the brit mila, Hashem gave the Jewish people the land of Israel. Additionally, we thank Hashem for the Torah He graciously gave us, thus the ultimate purpose of the Land of Israel is to observe and perform Hashem’s mitzvot.

The third blessing is for peace in Jerusalem and the Bait Hamikdash. King David and King Solomon established this blessing so that their rulership, their dynasty, and peace would continue. Now, we pray for the rebuilding of the temple.

The fourth blessing was added to honor the Bar Kochba rebellion, where a great miracle occurred.

A person should have the same concentration when reciting the Birkat Hamazon as he does when he is reciting the Shemona Esrei- Amidah, 18 blessing prayer. Additionally, the Grace after Meals should be said with intense joy and happiness for the meal that was graciously given to us by Hashem. We should all strive to keep this in mind next time we are fortunate enough to be nourished and sustained by Hashem.

It's a mitzvah to ask God for things?! What?!

This week’s parsha continues its discussion with the commandment to pray, to love, and to serve Him with all our hearts (1:13). The minimum obligation a person has is to formulate a daily personal prayer (in his own words). In addition to one’s daily personal prayers, the sages instituted three daily prayer, shachrit, minchah, and ma’ariv;however, if for some reason a person misses these prayers, he is obligated to formulate a personal prayer so that the person recognizes Hashem as the omnipresent ruler of the universe who continuously provides him with everything has or does not have (not having something is also a blessing, ie. Sickness, etc.).

Additionally, the mitzvah of prayer benefits us in many ways.

1.  By fulfilling this commandment of praying, Hashem listens in and if He feels that our prayers are genuine, He answers them.

2.   Through prayer, we can grow spiritually. When we pray to Hashem for the things we want and need, we are reaffirming our belief that is Hashem who provides us with everything.                                

Furthermore, prayer is meant to act as the “service of the heart.” When we pray to Hashem, we need to clear our minds of all external thoughts and imagine ourselves standing in front of the shechina- divine presence. This should act as meditation, and stir the mind to contemplate Hashem’s awesomeness and infiniteness. We must also strive to understand all the words we are reciting. Some of us unfortunately are not able to pray in lashon hakodesh- the holy tongue; however, if we recite our tefillot with a true heart, they are nonetheless accepted and heard by Hashem.

Additionally, by making requests to Hashem, we think introspectively about what it is that we really want and need; thereby, that enables us to contemplate how that certain request will fill the void we feel in our lives. With that in mind, we can see the true intentions of our request. Will the fulfillment of that void change us internally or make us happier? Is what we are asking for going to help us actualize our potential in this world? Prayer is meant to evoke this questioning within us. Next time you feel the need to connect with the Source of all, let your prayers act as a meditative experience within yourself to contemplate your very existence, your desires, your needs, and your growth.

All in G-d's hands

In the "Garden of Emunah" it says not to ever give up praying to Hashem for whatever it is that you need in life. The bigger the request the more prayers needed. Moshe Rabbenu prayed 515 times so that he could enter Eretz Yisrael and Hashem told him to stop because if he prayed just one more time Hashem would have no choice but to let Moshe Rabbenu into Eretz Yisrael. However, Hashem did not want Moshe entering Eretz Yisrael, for reasons beyond our comprehension.

Essentially, Hashem knows what everyone of us needs. If you don’t receive what it is you prayed for, it doesn't mean Hashem ignored or didn't hear your prayers. It just means that you don't really need it now. When the time comes Hashem will give it to you with a full heart because He loves His children so much. Just remember stay strong and don't ever forget that Hashem ALWAYS does what's best for YOU! In order to work on our Emunah- Faith- in Hashem we must understand that anything that happens to us in life is from Hashem Himself.

 Additionally, this should shed light onto our own lives and situations we may face. For example, we may encounter people who are extremely difficult for us to deal with; however, we must keep in mind that that person who upset us is just a tool Hashem sent our way in order for us to develop our middot- character traits- and only Hashem knows why we needed that person to evoke that emotion within us.

May all your prayers be answered at the right time. Amen!

Shabbat Shalom

Esther Shamayev

Parsha Vaeschanan -- Pray your little heart out!

                                            

This week’s parsha, Vaeschanan, commences with Moshe pleading to Hashem endlessly to be granted access into the Land of Israel. However, despite all his prayers, Hashem denied him access. Of course we can’t ever come to understand how God thinks and why He thought, in His infinite wisdom, that this was necessary for Moshe to be denied access into Israel; however we must accept Hashem’s course of action and take away any practical lessons we can.

We can conclude that despite the fact that Moshe devoted his life to the service of Hashem, he did not expect anything in return. His service to Hashem was completely out of his love and fear for Him.  Additionally, when we serve Hashem, we too should not do it with thoughts of repayment for our mitzvot. We too, should strive to observe Hashem’s commandments for the utter joy in fulfilling God will.

Furthermore, we see how despite the fact that Hashem continuously denied Moshe’s request to enter the land, nonetheless, Moshe kept praying his heart out. Moshe knew that none of his prayers were said in vain. Even though his tefillot were not answered with tangible results in this world, he was surely rewarded in shemayim.

Similarly, in our own lives, we are too quick to say Hashem is not listening to our prayers, and we give it up. We must remember that patience is the key to prayer. In order to see dire tangible results, we must consistently pray our little hearts out, just like Moshe did, and show Hashem how badly we need something. Regardless if our efforts are rewarded in this world, if the tefillot are genuine, we will experience an internal change, and the reward awaiting in Shemyim will be incomparable.

Shema Yisrael!

                            

The parsha continues discussing the mitzvah of reciting the Shema Yisrael twice daily- 

“Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokainu, Hashem Echad!”

 “Listen, Israel, Adonoy, our God, Adonoy is one (Devarim6:4).” 

The Shema is our declaration of faith--our ‘pledge of allegiance’ to Hashem. Each morning when we arise, we are proclaiming Hashem as the Master of the universe and that we will strive to keep His mitzvot throughout the day, while keeping ourselves from being enticed by worldly desires. Moreover, we recite the Shema Yisrael at night, before we go to sleep, because the Shema is said to dispel evil, and at night the forces of evil are the strongest. Because it is so easy for one to become trapped by his yatzar hara- evil inclination- Hashem brought forth this commandment to pledge our allegiance before we start out busy day and at night when the craziness subsides, giving us the time to contemplate our relationship with Hashem.

The Shema is also used as a meditation technique that allows us to contemplate on Hashem’s oneness. When we recite the Shema, we should focus on the fact that everything in this creation was created to succumb to that oneness. The Shema is telling us to listen and hear God’s oneness and unity. The Shema is calling out to each member of Bnai Israel to transcend to higher plains of spirituality and consciousness. Hashem wants us to quiet down the mind, and listen to His message of unity.

Moreover, we are saying Adonoy, our God. How powerful it is to think, the Master of the universe, the supernal one, is our God? How lucky we should we feel!

Next time we recite the Shema, rather than routinely reciting it, we should meditate on that ‘oneness.’ We should feel utter awe in acknowledging the unity of Hashem, and Him allowing us to be a part of that unity and oneness!