Thinking Talmudist Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, texas. This is the Thinking Talmudist Podcast.

00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
So good afternoon everybody. It's so wonderful to be back here at the Thinking Talmudist Podcast, such a lively group. Delicious lunch from Ed. Thank you so much, Ed, and we're going to continue a little bit about the topic of tzedakah. We started two weeks ago and there's some really important stuff that we're going to get to like.

00:33
The Talmud is soon going to compare tzedakah charity to. We'll see in a second. Let's look at the Talmud first. The Gemara establishes the minimal annual charity contribution that a person should give. What is the minimum annual charity contribution? Amar av'asi rav'asi sed le'olam al'yimna adam atzmo me'lasey shlishis ha'shekel b'shona. A person should never restrain himself from donating to charity. At least one-third of a shekel each year. One second, that's quantity. One second. We're going to talk about it, okay, as it states, and this verse is from Nehemiah 10, verse 33. And we took upon ourselves commandments to give ourselves one-third of a shekel each year for the work of the house of our God.

01:35
Rav Asi draws an analogy between donations to charity and donations to the upkeep of the temple, which is the subject of this verse. So we see that at least a third of a shekel should be given every year to the upkeep of Torah study. To the upkeep. It's good to give charity to many good causes and we know that we have a commandment, by the way. So I'll tell you why. Everyone's like what? What are you talking about? We know we're supposed to give 10%. That's not charity. 10% is not charity. 10% is a tithe that doesn't belong to you. 10% is not charity. Now we give it to charity. We call it charity, but it's not really charity. That's not doesn't belong to you. It's not like you're some hero that you're giving away 10%. Hashem tells you it doesn't belong to you. I'm giving you an extra 10% so that you can distribute it for me. Beyond that 10%, that is called tzedakah. That is called charity. So Rav Asi now interprets the verse homiletically. The Amir Rav Asi. Rav Asi says listen to this incredible piece of Talmud. We're now 9a on the bottom in Tractate Baba Basra Shkula tzedaka, k'neget kol ha-mitzos. The commandment of giving charity is equivalent to all the other commandments combined. Whoa, okay, all of the mitzvahs in the Torah combined is equal to the mitzvah of charity. You give charity, which is again what you give beyond the 10%. So someone earns $100,000. $10,000 is charity, not charity, it's the tithe, but we call it charity. Beyond that, 10% is what we know as tzedakah, as actual charity. Now the 10% will obviously count for a great mitzvah, because Hashem says I am entrusting you with this extra 10% so that you distribute it for me.

03:47
There's a lot to talk about in this topic. Why? Because I'll share with you a story and then we'll be able to take it from there. Story Story goes as follows there was an individual who was a very, very big philanthropist I'm talking massive One of the wealthiest Jews. He lives in LA and he loves to talk about his philanthropy becauseiva, the largest Yeshiva in the world. When he passed away, he left about $15 million of debt in the Yeshiva. Now again, you're talking about 11,000 students. Their budget is in the tens of millions annually. So $15 million is rough, but it's not insane. I mean, it's negligible. Okay, so this great philanthropist from LA said we cannot continue to have the largest empire of Torah suffer like this, with 15 million dollars of debt, especially because his young son, who at the time was, I think, 45 years old, took over the yeshiva and was now at the helm of the largest yeshiva in the world and the first thing he steps into is $15 million of debt. So he got together a bunch of really, really wealthy Jews and he said guys, this is time to step it up. And each one of them kicked in 5 million and there's like this rich boys club, you know, of the people who can give 5 million, just like that. And the yeshiva was out of debt in a half hour and everything is great.

05:37
Now he travels around wherever the yeshiva is doing their fundraiser and he talks on behalf of the yeshiva about the importance of people to give and people to reach deep, deep into their pockets. And he said the following story at one of his presentations. He said and you know it's not a secret that he's a wealthy guy. I mean he gives everybody who asks, he gives sizable sums. You know he's a really, really big supporter of Torah. You know someone has to support the yeshivas, someone has to support the Torah institutions. So he said the following story he says that he, when he goes to rabbis and he speaks, they're promised to get the return and to continue to be successful.

06:31
He says I don't know, I don't know what the answer to this is, and this is his question. He says I know so many people who are incredibly wealthy, who gave charity diligently and lost their money. So where's this promise going? There's this promise that the Talmud says, and is repeated all over the place in Jewish teachings, that one who gives charity diligently and is careful to give a minimum of 10% and go beyond 10%, you give 20%, you're guaranteed enormous wealth. So what's going on over here? How come some people are not being successful? And he says nobody has an answer for him, but he has an answer that he shares.

07:20
He says imagine that I hire a person to distribute the money for me. I have this big foundation. I hire a director for this foundation and I say listen, these are my values, these are my principles, these are what I want to support. I have $100 million in my foundation. I want you to find these specific causes that are important to me. For example, you can say look, all Torah institutions. I want you to find these specific causes that are important to me. For example, you can say look, all Torah institutions. I want you to support all Torah institutions. How much and this he doesn't want to get into the details. It says you'll give it out justly and give it outright. Okay.

07:58
What happens if he finds out six months later that this assistant that he hired is getting favors for it? For example, his children's school. Come and they say you know, we know that you're the Gabbai, you're the one who's giving out the funds for this wealthy man, you know. Or he needs to get his child into a school, so he gives them a donation from the foundation and now he's getting all of these favors. What do you think this philanthropist will feel if, suddenly, the people he likes we're talking about the person writing out the checks for him he gives money. The people he doesn't like he doesn't give them money to? What do you think he would say? What do you think he would say Get out, you're doing personal, your own personal benefit.

08:45
You're personally benefiting from the charity that I'm putting you in charge of. That's not the way it works. That's not the way it should be. Hashem is that wealthy donor. We are the ones distributing the funds for God. And he said. This individual said if we start choosing that only institutions that we favor, that we benefit. My synagogue, my school, what's about someone else's school? No, that's not my values. Oh, you're deciding for God who should get and who shouldn't get. You're deciding for God who should get and who shouldn't get. You're becoming like that distributor. No, in that case God says that's not a trusted allocator, and I think that that's a very important perspective on charity.

09:40
Is that kol haposhet yad notimlo? We said this last week. We have to repeat it all the time Anybody who stretches out their hand for assistance, we need to give them. Yeah, 100% of the people. We don't have to give them a lot, but you have to give them. You have to give them, especially if it's among your people, the Jewish people. We have to protect our own family. Right, that's the first rule in charity, and the rules of charity is chayekha kodmin your life is first. You can't give your charity to other people when your family is starving. Our nation is one family and if you have someone in your nation, you have two charities. You know some food bank in Argentina or your Jewish community food bank. Which one goes first? Your Jewish community, right, it's your family.

10:30
And then we talk about the land of Israel. Giving money to the land of Israel is giving to your own family. It's considered giving to your own city, because everybody has a piece in the Holy Land. So there are a lot of priorities in how we need to give, but we do see the importance of giving to everyone. It doesn't have to be a lot, it can be $1, but it's something and it's important for us to realize the value of giving to everything and I try to do that.

11:01
Maybe I am a very wealthy person that I just don't know about it, but a lot of people solicit me for you know all my friends. They run different organizations and every day I get another campaign, another campaign, another campaign, and I make sure to give. I try to give to every single one. If I get around to it, I try to give it right away, right away, and I thank them for giving me the opportunity, because the more I'm able to yeah, I'd prefer giving everything to Torch or to my synagogue or to my children's schools, but you know what the more I'm able to give to other institutions. Yeah, there's a Colel out in Atlanta. Let me give some money to Atlanta. There's a money, there's a Cole in Arizona and one in Manhattan and this one is doing outreach in England and this one is, you know, and different demographics, and I can show Hashem, hopefully, here.

11:49
Look, you gave me. I didn't keep it for myself. I didn't keep it in my own institutions that I benefit from in some way. No, I'm doing it for all of your children all around the world, and that, hopefully, will be a good reason for Hashem to say you know what? I'll shower more blessing on you.

12:08
It doesn't have to be a lot of money, but something yes, right, so it could be. Who are we to know what's a punishment and what's not from the Almighty? But I think that it's important to think about it. If we are the ones who are given and entrusted with Hashem's money, who owns all the money in the world? Not us, it's Hashem. All the money is His. There's no shortage of money in Hashem's world. Hashem makes miracles with money. People who are poor become rich overnight. People who are rich become poor overnight. Hashem decides who takes and who gives, and we can have all the financial security in the world and it's gone in a second. Hashem is the one in control. And if Hashem gives us and allocates money, that we should distribute for Him, which is that tithe, 10% of what we earn.

13:00
By the way, tithe is not a Christian thing. They got it from the Torah, it's our Torah. They pass around the plate. We have a pushka, we have a stocker box. It doesn't have to be. You can have your foundation and you can have whatever it is a check, a credit card however it works for a person. It needs to be available for them to be able to contribute and it's important for us to just have that frame of mind of being a constant giver. Giving is a muscle and if you don't exercise that muscle there's atrophy and it gets weak and then people don't know how to give and then it's painful for them to give. Then you have people who practice giving all the time and it's just whatever I have, I'll give, no problem, okay.

13:50
So where do we see that giving to charity is equivalent to fulfilling all of the commandments of the Torah? She-nemar ve-emadnu aleinu mitzvos. It says in the verse and we took upon ourselves commandments. Mitzvot ein ksiv kan ele mitzvos. It doesn't say commandment singular, but rather it's written mitzvos, all the mitzvos, all of the commandments. And the reason it says in a plural mitzvos because the mitzvah of tzedakah, of charity, is equivalent to all of the mitzvos of the Torah.

14:34
So now the Gemara is now going to continue to talk a little bit about this topic. So now the Gemara says Amar Ebel Hazar. Ebel Hazar says God al-Hama'aseh Yoser min ha'oseh. Okay, god al-Hama'aseh Yoser min ha'oseh, the one who causes the performance of charitable deeds is greater than the one who actually performs the deed. Why? Since often much effort must be expended to convince others to assist in charitable work.

15:10
So imagine if you go and ask someone for charity, who is greater in the eyes of Hashem? The one who gave or the one who asked? According to Rebbe Lazar, the one who asked, who caused somebody else to give. So think about it like this the person who's giving only gets the reward for what he gave. The person who's asking is getting the reward for his ask and for what the person gave, especially if it's a difficult ask. It's difficult. The person doesn't want, they don't want. I don't know. I've heard all the things. It's really amazing how charitable people have been with Torch over the years, and thank you to everyone who's contributed to our campaign, baruch Hashem. It concluded with great success, baruch Hashem.

16:04
But it's sometimes people say you know, I don't know. This year wasn't a great year and you try to do whatever you can and you're trying. What you're trying to do is give people an opportunity to be part of it. I know that hashem will succeed our campaigns. I know it 100. And I had someone once tell me well, that's not my values right now. It's. I'm not into a jewish outreach. And this is someone who doesn't live in our neighborhood, doesn't live in our community. Is someone't live in our community, is someone who's like you? Know? It's like he says I like you, I don't like outreach, it's not my thing. All right, that's fine, that's fine. Nobody has to give. But maybe consider this, maybe consider that. And you try and you keep on trying.

16:49
Each one of those efforts, each one of those efforts and the refusals when people say, no, that's not worth anything to me, right? Has anyone here ever been kicked out of an office, right? Is that fun? No, that's not fun, right? We should never kick anybody out of our office Again. We want to go with the attitude that Hashem always gives. We want to be like Hashem we always give.

17:12
Again, it's not the amount that matters, it's the smile, it's the love that is more important than the quantity of what is given or not given. Someone doesn't have and they say you know, I love what you do. I wish I can support, but I can't right now. I have no problem with that. I've had a couple of people say you know it's been a tough beginning of the year but I'm going to make a pledge for later in the year I will do it. It's a beautiful thing because they want to.

17:42
This is you understand that the idea of charity is not dollars and cents. That's the mistake people are making. Charity is not about dollars and cents. Charity is about the heart and the willingness and the wanting to exercise the art of giving. So Godol hamease, yoseh min haoseh Nebulazer adduces support for his statement.

18:09
Sh'nemar v'hoyo maaseh atz'daka shalom v'avodas atz'daka hashket v'vetach ad olam. For it is stated, and it will be, that the act of charity will bring peace and the work of charity will cause everlasting tranquility and security. So the actual giving of charity brings peace, but the work of charity, the people who are asking for charity. The verse states and this is a verse in Isaiah 58, that when the work of charity brings about everlasting tranquility and security, rebbe Lazar adds a warning to those who do not give charity Zacha, if a person merits good fortune, he will give money that heaven decrees he must lose to needy people, as scripture states. What does scripture say Hello, paros larov lachmecha, you will break your bread for the hungry, lo zacha, if a person does not merit good fortune hungry, if a person does not merit good fortune, then wailing poor will come to his house. The Roman government, which constantly cries out that it is in need of funds, will come and confiscate that money which could have been given to charity, so that its owners will derive no benefit from it. So listen to how powerful this is.

19:42
Anybody here ever have a water leak? That suddenly is an expense. You have to replace the floors and you have to. You know, someone banged into your car and didn't have insurance and now it's costing you out of pocket and whatever. Oh, why, why, why did it need to happen to me? Why, right? We ever ask that. Why, guess what? This is what Gamara is telling us. If a person is meritorious, then they're fortunate to give that money to tzedakah, but if not, hashem has a different way to get that money away from them, meaning that if a person is in a dilemma you know, I've had people say this to me.

20:19
It's a very interesting thing. I never knew this was in the Talmud, but I've had actually people say this to me. You know what. This money is not going to be mine anyway. I'm not going to enjoy this money anyway. Might as well give it to charity. I've had people say that to me. I had someone say it to me. This is many years ago.

20:36
This guy called me up and he says I want you to come to my office, I have a check for you. I said okay, thank you so much. It's really really special. You already gave your annual gift. You're giving more. It's like this is really thank you. I wasn't expecting this. He says no, no, no. He says I'm in a big divorce. He says I want you to get the money. I prefer you get the money than anyone else. They're getting enough and they don't need this money, so I prefer you get it Now. I didn't want to get in the middle of the whole divorce and I don't need to get myself stuck in that. But you understand that this is the way Hashem is saying if you merit, your money will go to good causes and it'll go to tzedakah, and if you don't merit, then that money could end up going to pay a water bill and to pay a repair bill and to be paying an electrician or God forbid anything worse than that. So it's a very positive thing for a person to always be fronting the money for charity.

21:37
I sat with someone this week and he said to me my mentor in business told me something he says. He told me this 50 years ago. He said and I remember it every single year, again and again. He says you want to make a million dollars a year, give $100,000 to charity and you'll make a million dollars. That's the guarantee. Give $100,000 to charity every year and you will make a million dollars every year. It's guaranteed. And here this individual turned to me and says it hasn't failed. Hasn't failed.

22:14
If a person commits, they say Hashem, I don't know where the money is going to come from, but I know that you're going to take care of me. I'm fronting my charity. Even though I don't have it, I'm committing it already. Now a person can ask is it irresponsible to commit money that you can't cover? That's a different thing. Okay, we can talk about that another time. But the idea here is that a person can decide where is that 10% going to that 10%? Am I going to give it to charity or am I going to try to hold on to it? Well, if you hold on to it. You're not going to get rid of it in a good way.

22:57
If you give it away, hashem says oh, you also get the mitzvah for it. Imagine if you had $2,000 right now, $2,000. It can either go to pay the plumber or it can go to charity. Which should it go to? Well, if it goes to charity, it also helps the charity and you get a mitzvah. If it goes to the plumber, what you see, you got now a new toilet. Now from it, come on, you have this opportunity.

23:20
That's the way money is looked at from a godly perspective. It's the money is not ours, the money is not ours. The money is gifted temporarily from Hashem. Where Hashem says here it's like monopoly money, monopoly money. Is it real? It's not real, it's a game. The money we have is also a game. You know why it's a game. It's a little bit of a longer game. It's a 120-year game, because once we leave this world, it's all gone, it's not out. We're not taking anything with us. I'll share with you something crazy talking about living a real life dedicated to real values.

24:00
I was visiting a friend yesterday. I've never been to his house before. He invited me. He says come to my house, interesting house. He says I have a lot to show you in my house. Okay, so I go into his house, I look around and I feel like I walked into the early 1900s. It's like all real wood floors and the walls have the padded walls. It brings you right back to my remember my grandmother's house. It took me back a century, okay.

24:34
And then he brings me into his study. His study is a very big room with tremendous bookshelf tremendous like a whole wall, massive, all the way up floor to ceiling Talking about a 20-foot ceiling and he has the ladder that slides along the. It's really like a big, big room. And then he has couches around this table. That's a low table, it's like a coffee table. So he you know he's showing me around and this and I have these books. And he showed me we opened up some Talmuds. I actually taught him a Mishnah from one of the Talmuds. It was really special from his old books that he was able to find. Some are really really old, like 300, 400, 500 years old, a whole collection, really special.

25:23
So he says to me do you know what this table is? I said no, it looks like a coffee table and it's completely enclosed. A really big coffee table. He said well, this coffee table is really my coffin. He said, when we were building this room and I had the contractor who was doing all the wood and all the, I asked him to make a coffin for me and it's going to serve as a table till I die. And when I die it's no longer going to be a table, it's going to be my coffin. I'm going to be buried in this. And he opens up the top and he shows me what's. It's really spooky, spooky, really spooky. But you know what? That's a great place to eat lunch, right, and to drink my coffee on that table, right. That's really special.

26:14
But I will tell you something that is unique about this is that a person the Gemara says, the Mishnah teaches us that a person, every day, should consider the day of death is today, that today is the day I'm going to die. Why Should live with that presence of mind? Because if we live with that way, it's not going to be a morbid, sad. It's going to be a happy, exceptional day, because today might be my last day. Might as well make the best of it. Every day is my last day, every day is going to be an awesome day and if someone has this coffee table, has this coffin, it sort of brings you into the reality of wow.

26:53
This is a serious focus in my day. I think it's very. I don't think so. I don't think he's crazy, I think it's well. Again, it's definitely not your typical coffee table. Definitely, again, it's definitely not your typical coffee table. Definitely, again, it's perfect for him. And that's what we need to appreciate that every person is different, every person is special. Everyone has their own unique way of expression.

27:25
He says nobody knows this, by the way, nobody knows the secret. He doesn't tell anybody. He says you're my rabbi, so I'm telling you. Okay, so it's. I think it's a very it's. It's a good thing to have this reminder. Every day. You walk in, you see your coffee table and you remember, you know I'm not here forever and you know what. Also, our money is not here forever. It's our opportunity and privilege to be able to distribute it while we're alive and to give it so that people can enjoy it, so that charities can benefit and we can help other people. That's the ultimate goal. All right, now the Talmud continues.

28:02
The Talmud says Rava, who was the rabbi in Mechuzah, urged his community to be mindful of this warning, urged his community to be mindful of this warning. I beg of you, do charitable acts among yourselves, so that you will have peaceful relations with the Gentile governments, so that the authorities will not confiscate your money. Meaning you have two options Either the government is going to come after your money or you do good things with your money. That's it. Those are your two options. Every one of you have this massive tax bill like, oh my goodness, why do I have to pay the government so much? And someone says, guess what? You could have given that money to charity and then you wouldn't have had to pay this tax bill. It's your choice and that's the perspective. It's a very powerful thought.

29:00
That does not mean that a person should spend every penny they own. We already learned this. The Talmud says that you should not give more than a third of your income to charity. So at most you give 30%. So if you make $100,000, at most $30,000 is going to charity. You're not allowed to give more. More is considered reckless, more is considered reckless. Now, again, if someone has, you know, $20 billion and they sign that pledge, that pledge that they give half their money to charity, that's a very nice thing because, again, you don't need $10 billion to live. You need a lot, lot, significantly less. So the fact that they can give away that charity while they're alive is a very special thing. Okay, the Gemara presents Revazer's second statement regarding charity.

29:55
Reb Elazer also said, when the holy temple was around and it stood beautifully in Jerusalem, a person would donate his shekel for the daily sacrifices which were offered on behalf of the entire Jewish nation and he would gain atonement. He would give charity and gain atonement for free. But what do we do today, in our generation? Where we do not have a temple standing in Jerusalem, we're not bringing offerings. Where we do not have a temple standing in Jerusalem, we're not bringing offerings. If people perform acts of charity, all will be well, for these selfless deeds will atone for their sin. But if they do not perform charitable deeds, then the idolaters will come and take by force funds that should have been donated to charity and even so, these confiscated assets will be regarded, for their sakes, as contributions to charity. As the verse states and I shall make your taskmasters charity God promises that after the final redemption he will regard all Jewish property confiscated by the Gentile taskmasters as donations to charity.

31:23
You know I mentioned this recently that my grandparents, all my grandparents two came from Hungary, czechoslovakia, on the border over there, and two grandparents. Those are my maternal grandparents. And then I had two grandparents, my paternal grandparents, one was from Lithuania and one was from Berlin, germany, and they all owned homes and they were all evicted from their homes by the governments either during the war, taken to the concentration camps. They took everything. You know everyone has these beautiful silver candelabras for Shabbos. It's the core of every Jewish home. It doesn't have to be silver, it could be glass, it could be be silver, it could be glass. It could be something special, it could be something simple, but that was the cornerstone. Back in the old days a bride would get from her mother-in-law the first gift after marriage would be the silver candlesticks. Very special. Where did all of them go? They weren't able to take it with them. Gone, taken, taken, their homes gone, their clothes gone. They had a little bag they can take with them and even that was confiscated when they got to the camps.

32:43
Do you know how much gold and silver and diamonds and rings and everything that was taken away from the Jewish people? We're talking about trillions and trillions of dollars worth. That's why, whenever they say they have these special funds that Germany gives for Holocaust survivors, I remember my grandparents. One time I came to their house, they had a brand new front door to their house. I'm like what's this from? It's from the German fund. What do you think you're doing? What's wow? It's like what's this from? It's from the German fund. What do you think you're doing? What's wow? It's like that's not charity. You stole our money, you stole our houses, you stole everything. You're giving us a door. Thank you very much. It's like you know, you stole our lives. Never mind the money. Lives is much more valuable than all of that money. But you think about it.

33:32
The Jewish people were in Spain. They were all expelled. The Jewish people were you name the place. They were thrown out, they were taken, they were murdered. What happened to all of their homes? What happened to all of their riches? What happened to all of their things Taken away? You know what the amazing thing is? It didn't break the Jew. The Jewish people still own half of New York City. The Jewish people are still.

33:57
You know who said over here, the eighth largest economy in the world is what? The microscopic Israel In the world. You think about it. It's not about the money, it's not about the riches. It's not about the world. You think about it. It's not about the money, it's not about the riches, it's not about the possessions. It's about our joy, our connection with God. It's about the attitude we have towards life. It's unbelievable.

34:28
Someone told me that they were filing taxes once. Their father was filing taxes once and the IRS audited them and they said if you don't mind, I just want to ask you why are you auditing me? They said because you're giving too much charity. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense for someone who makes so much money, so little money, to give so much charity. It doesn't make any sense.

34:48
He said but that's what we all do. That's what we do as Jews. We give a lot of charity. We give charity to our synagogue, we give charity to our schools, we give charity to our torches. We give charity to all of the different institutions. That's the way we are. That's what the Torah teaches us to do we give charity. So this is an important thing. Our Torah tells us that if you don't give it, hashem is going to take it anyway. So you might as well get the mitzvah right At the end of time, if it was taken away, it'll be considered as charity because other people benefited from it, which is, by the way, a very important thing.

35:25
The more people can benefit from something, the better the charity is, the more people. So, if you think about it for a second, if I can give a dollar and help one person, or I can give a dollar and help 100 people, the dollar that helps 100 people is so much. By the way, the Rambam says just another thing, just so we keep these things in mind. So we keep these things in mind. If you can give $10,000 in a check, a single check, or you can give $10,000 with $100 bills individual $100 bills which should you do? The Rambam says the individual $100 bills, or it's single dollar bills. Why? Because every act of charity, every act of giving, is strengthening that muscle, strengthening that muscle, strengthening that muscle each time you give again and again.

36:16
That's the way we look at charity. It's not a dollars and cents, that's transferring hands. It's about A the willingness to give. Number two, the practice of giving and the way, the smile that we give with. That's about A the willingness to give. Number two, the practice of giving and the way, the smile that we give with. Again, it has nothing to do with the actual amount. That's between you and God, david. What's your question?

36:44
So legacy definitely is Legacy that someone leaves in their will to the synagogue, definitely. Or someone giving charity to the synagogue. I think it is, even though there's membership fees. I think it should be. I don't know what the IRS says about it, whether or not it's considered Halachically. Definitely you consider it as part of your charity and or tithes 100%, because I don't believe that anybody is benefiting from the full amount of the charity they're giving to their synagogue. So other people are benefiting from it. So there you go. In order to have a synagogue, you need to have adult education programs, you need to have children's programs, you need to have a rabbi, you need to have maintenance and cleanup and all of that so that the community can enjoy it, and that's all part of the expense of the upkeep of a synagogue. You're contributing to that, of course. That's charity, the fact that you're a member. There is a side point. Now, again, I don't know from the tax for the IRS what they do count or don't count, if it's considered goods or services or not. I don't know. I have no idea. I have no idea. You have to speak to your tax attorney.

38:03
Okay, rava, relates another homily on the subject of charity Oma Rava Hai milsa ishtoy li ula. This matter was mentioned to me by the child. Who's the child? Child is ula, which means olel, a young one. Now we go to 9b in tractate of Abbasra. Misha geish or chesey di ime mishmey derav alazer. Now we go to 9b in tractate of Abbasra. This matter was mentioned to me by the child that debased the ways of his mother in Rav Eliezer's name. What is the meaning of that? Which is written?

38:53
And he donned charity like a coat of mail. Why is charity compared to a coat of mail? It's the chains that the knights would wear, all right. So why is charity compared to a coat of mail? Lomar Lach, to tell you. Compared to a coat of mail, lomar Lach, to tell you, ma shiryon ze kol klipo, klipo mitzdaref es le shiryon gado. Just as the manufacturer of this mail, each and every scale combines with all the others to form a large coat of mail, right, Because each one is its own little ring. Af tzdoko kol pruta u pruta mitzdaref es le cheshbon gado. So, with respect to giving charity, each and every penny, each and every pruta one donates combines with all the others to comprise a large sum. You don't need to give a million dollars. Give a single dollar, because every single dollar together will add up to the great sum.

39:50
Rav Hanina aduses a different source. Rav Hanina says that this principle can be derived from a different place. U'cheveged idim kol tzidkosenu. And all our acts of charity are like a repulsive garment. Ma beged ze bol nima v'nima bol nima v'nima kol nima v'nima mitz'taref es lebeged echad. Just as the weaving of a garment, each and every thread combines with the others to form a large garment. Af tz'dakol kol pruta, pruta mitz'taref es lechesh b'godol. So, with the respect of charity, each and every pruta one donates combines with all the others to comprise a large sum. So this is a very interesting thing.

40:34
We know that every single thread what is one single thread? Nothing. You can tear it very easy, but when you have a thousand threads together, then it becomes a piece of a garment. It's hard to tear, but it's only one thread. No, it's a thousand one threads and a thousand one threads you can't break apart, you can't tear apart. The thousand one threads make a garment.

40:58
The thousand little pennies that are given to charity make a sizable amount and therefore a person should never feel bad, which is why, probably, the Talmud is bringing in this idea here to begin with, because someone might say, oh well, what am I supposed to do? I am no Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. I can't give a sizable donation. Well, what do I have? No, the Gemara is telling you that's not what it means. Every penny adds up. Don't feel bad if all you can give is a little sum, because every penny is part of that large sum, and it's an incredible opportunity that we have.

41:40
Every single time we see a charity that we can contribute to, we see something that is a need.

41:47
It's important to find ways to be able to be on the giving end of things, so that Hashem should hopefully never make us on the receiving end of charity. So Hashem should bless us all that, the partnership that we have. By the way, I don't consider myself as being an executive director who runs a charity. I don't consider that. I consider that a partnership that every single person who comes and learns with us and every single person who contributes is a partner, an equal partner in what we do. That's the way it is. We're a team here, and if we're a team, we work for one another. If someone gave charity to Torch and Torch didn't produce what they wanted, that would be a breach of the partnership. So our responsibility is to produce what our investors and partners are investing in us, and that's our goal. That's our mission Every single day to connect as many Jews to Judaism. My dear friends have a magnificent Shabbos and thank you for joining us on this Thinking Talmudist episode.