Take Ten for Talmud
1643BabaBasra9- Tzedaka Quickies
Shalom Alaykum and behalf of Teach 613, we welcome you to take 10 foot Talmud. Baba Basra, daf tes, Baba Basra 9a, pagination is 17. I'd like to do a number of quickies on the topic of tzedakah. We have, this is a very famous section in Baba Basra on the topic of tzedakah and a few specific pieces that I think will be illuminating. Let's start with a Gomorrah here on Ahmad Alif, about halfway in the smaller lines. The first on the line is the abbreviation for Afalpi. The Gomorrah tells us in the name of Rab Allah, Zar, Afalpi Shiyyash Al-Lawadam Gizbarnayam on Besurpe so, even if a person is dealing with a trustworthy person, to whom he's allocating this money for whatever purpose, for distribution, etc, Yatsurvayimna, but he should count it. Shenema Vayatsuruvayimnu, there's this concept of counting the money. Rashi explains, Afalpi Shiyyash Al-Lawadam Gizbarnayamikan, even though you're not going to calculate how did he spend the money, if you're handing somebody a thousand dollars or nine hundred and fifty dollars, or whatever the number is, to count the amount and hand it to them as a counted amount, even if you trust them and you know that they're going to use it in a good way and you're not going to ask them later, so how did you use the nine hundred fifty dollars or a thousand dollars? It doesn't matter, counting it is a powerful expression that the money has value and that the person themselves knows that they have to be responsible with this amount of money. You may not have to give an accounting to me, but you gotta give an accounting for yourself. Here's the amount of money, you yourself know how did you use it. This is, by extension, a very useful concept in allowance as well, not to just give indiscriminately, there should be a calculation of some sort, even when you hand a child a stack of bills, a bunch of 20s, that's going to carry them for whatever they need for their expenses, let's say they're away in Yeshiva, whatever, you're handing them a stack of money, count it. They should understand the money has value and you're giving it to them. I don't know exactly how to do this using a debit card, but a wise person will figure it out. Let's move down about eight lines at the end of a line, both Kim Luxos in both Kim the Mizonos. There's a concept expressed here in the Gamora that we check when it comes to a person asking for clothing, if their claim is I need new clothing, so we check to make sure it's legitimate. But if a person asks for food, that's a whole different situation, the person may really be starving right now and we give at least enough to tie them over before we spend time on any significant checking. But obviously the Gamora is expressing it, the contrast between food and clothing, but a person has to use this concept and apply it to whatever applications person's talking about medicine, a person's talking about anything, you have to know, if it's an imminent need, then we're not as careful because the imminent need is so important. In other cases though, we do encourage that some checking of some sort should take place and that to a certain extent is the role that has developed in many communities of an arrangement in which a person gets endorsement from somebody who does the checking on behalf of the community and therefore they can just go around and right away you know that it's legitimate. Coming down to about midway in the wide lines, we have a concept oni amaxarallapsekim in this kakimlo, a person who's going door to door, we're not as obligated to provide their needs and the Gamora explains what that means in this kakimlo lematana meruba, you don't have to give him as if it became your obligation to solve their problem. Avil nus kakimlo lematana meruba, but of course you give, you give such that in accumulation of the different people that they've gone to their needs will be provided for. Dropping down four lines, god alhamma asa yosim in haosa, we have a tradition that the person who gets others to give is even greater than giving themselves. Sometimes a person has the temptation to just cover the bill themselves. You need a thousand dollars, I'll write out the check. That's not the full picture of what Sudaka is supposed to mean and by encouraging other people to also take a share in the mitzvah with you, that has a very special dimension. We have a mission in unvos focused on this that a person should give and he should get others to give if he gives entirely himself. It's considered ano rahabishala khairim, he has a bad eye on other people, he doesn't want to share the mitzvah and if he gets others to give and he doesn't give even though he has the ability, so it's ano rahabishala. He's a bad eye on his own because the mitzvah of Sudaka brings blessing. Going back to the statement of the Gomara, Gaudalama Asa, getting someone else to give is even greater than giving yourself. Again, we're assuming normal balance, you are giving but getting other people to give as well. So there's a beautiful story that the Panavijirav solicited an extremely, extraordinarily wealthy person for a donation for whatever cause. And the man said, "I will give you very generously if you can explain this statement." Gaudalama Asa, yosimina ossa, someone who gets someone else to give is greater than the giver. If I'm going to give you right now $10,000 for your cause, according to this Gomara, I get a certain reward for $10,000 giving and you get a greater reward because you got me to give the $10,000. How could that be? And the Panavijirav smiled and said, "If you hurt, if you heard my heart throbbing as I rang your doorbell, you would understand." Counting up from the bottom four lines, "The advice of Rava, the mottusaminayhu, I plead of you, asupaha-dei-hadadi, do kindness one with the other, look out for each other, give tzedakah when necessary, kihihi-di-la-havaluhu-shlama-be-malthusah, so that there should be peace of you with the kingdom because we have a concept that if we do not give tzedakah appropriately, money will be extracted from us in some other way and Rava was nervous that it would be through unfair taxation and therefore he recommended, "Go ahead, give tzedakah generously and it will protect you." Moving on to Amak vase, four lines down, tzedakah, the way tzedakah works, is kopruta-upruta-mit-starefis-lehaj-ben-godal, even small donations, but you now have a shear in the greater cause, and Rava-khanino-omar-mehocha-rava-khanino explain it like a garment, mab-beg-ed-zeh, just like a garment, konnima-venima-mit-starefis-leh-beg-ed-godal, every thread joins to become the great garment, after tzedakah, that's how Hashem views tzedakah as well, kopruta-upruta-mit-starefis-lehaj-ben-godal, every individual donation is joining to the greater whole, and a person has a shear, he's a partner in that big mitzvah. This is one of the reasons that our tradition is that it's better to give multiple donations to many different causes, rather than one big donation to one cause, like this you'll be a partner in many mitzvah endeavors. The reason that's given, based on the Ramban, is that a person who gives multiple times is affecting himself and becoming a giver, a better, greater person, to see beyond yourself. And if you do one lump sum, that's nice, but when you do it on an ongoing basis it affects the person and makes a greater impact, you'll become greater because you're giving tzedakah. The question is in application, because in our time, if a person separates his donations in certain types of ways, it does seem to be somewhat counterproductive, because for example, if every solicitation that comes your way, you give five dollars and you're expecting them to write you a thank you, by the time the costs associated with that donation are deducted, it's questionable if that was really a cost effective way to administer your tzedakah funds, and therefore, we have this concept of giving multiple organizations and causes, but a person has to apply it with wisdom. Finally, a word of encouragement to people who really want to be able to acquire this mitzvah, properly, to be aware at the end of the small lines, had no sin prutala oni, a person who gives a donation to a poor person is certainly blessed and doing the right thing, but if you appease him with words, it's considered even greater. And indeed in shokanar, the way it's recorded is that if a person gives money but with a sour face, he lost his mitzvah, not allowed to do this mitzvah grudgingly. We have a statement, tov shinayim mejhalov, teeth are greater than milk, and the mafarsham explain the teeth that a person shows when they smile at somebody, are greater in helping them than halov, than giving them milk, which is nutritious, but we know the psychology of it, if a person is well nurtured but they're depressed because people look down on them, then it's not very helpful. And therefore we have this concept not only to give, but to make sure, to give with a smile, with a good heart, with a generous and optimistic word of encouragement. Yashikohach, thank you for joining.