Breaking the Rules

Does anyone have anything positive or upbeat to say about the world economic crisis that we are currently experiencing? (You were hoping, maybe, that at least on these pages the hottest topic of the decade wouldn't be mentioned!?)Well, the first bit of good news is that we should be optimistic about the future. Former Secretary of State George Shultz was interviewed by Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan. She asked him if he thought we should be optimistic about our country's fortunes and future. "Absolutely," he said, there is "every reason to have confidence."
The second bit of good news is that despite the fact that you might have to be making cuts in your spending, you don't have to lessen your charitable donations. Though charity organizations around the country have a difficult time satisfying the needs of their recipients all the time, it is especially true in times like these. Charity is in demand every hour of every day, recession, depression, financial crisis notwithstanding.
When the going gets tough, not only do the tough get going, but, unfortunately, the giving also goes - out the window. Yet, when it comes to charity, all the rules of the economy, laws of growth, supply and demand that you can find in most economic textbooks are completely irrelevant.
Why? Because, as the Jewish saying goes, "G-d does not remain in debt." For every good thing a person does, he is recompensed grandly by G-d, with children, health and livelihood in abundance.
In Proverbs, King Solomon, the wisest of all men, states: "G-d's blessings bring wealth." This is especially true when a person gives of his time for the community's needs in matters of charity.
No one ever becomes poor by giving charity. The Talmud likens a person who gives charity to a nursing mother. The more the baby nurses, the greater is the mother's capacity to nurse. Similarly, the more charity one gives, the more resources he will have from which to give charity.
In addition, our Sages tell us that charity, or tzedaka (a more accurate translation of the Hebrew word "tzedaka" is "righteousness" or "justice") is one of the three pillars upon which the world is based. Our Sages also relate that "Charity is great because it brings the Redemption closer."
It would be simple to fill volumes with what has already been written in Jewish works about charity. But actions speak louder than words. A number of decades ago, the Lubavitcher Rebbe established giving charity daily (even just a coin or two in a charity box) as part of his ten point "Mitzva Campaign." The Rebbe urged people to perform the mitzva (commandment) of giving charity as a part of Jewish life. Giving charity each weekday (except Shabbat and Jewish holidays), putting money in a charity box before lighting Shabbat candles, actually affixing a charity box to a wall of one's home to assure that it is a "charitable home," are twists to this important commandment.
You won't even miss the money, because, "G-d doesn't remain in debt for long."