The Guaranteed Investment

Before Jacob went to meet Esav as he was returning to the Land of Israel, the Torah tells us that he prepared in three ways. He sent gifts (doron), he prayed to Hashem for help, and he prepared for war. 

The Sages explain that doron referred to tzedakah – charity. The Sages also explain that Jacob’s actions before this fateful meeting, law the blueprint in the war against the Evil Inclination for all time. 

The Awesome Power of Charity 

This begs the question: What does charity have to do with the war against evil, and why did Jacob use this weapon first? 

The answer is that there is a rule: Someone who has mercy on other people, from Heaven, they have mercy on him. This is another spiritual law – just like there are physical laws of nature, so too, Hashem runs the world according to specific spiritual laws. 

When someone gives charity, this is an aspect of having mercy on others. He doesn’t have to give that money, and the receiver doesn’t deserve it per say, even if he desperately needs it. So, the giver simply has mercy, and gives of himself to the other.  

That means that midda k’neged midda, tit for tat, the Heavenly Court now must treat him with mercy, below the strict letter of the law. 

When Mercy is Cruelty 

However, we also have a statement from Chazal: Someone who does not have daat (holy knowledge), it is forbidden to have mercy on him. 

I’ll explain this with an allegory. As I wrote in my article Take Responsibility, small children do not have daat, even on the most basic level. They don’t understand that you can fall and hurt yourself if you walk along a tall wall, or why a knife is dangerous. They are quite simply, dangers to themselves and others – which is why they must be carefully guarded every minute. You can’t have mercy on a small child and say, “Oh, I see that you want to eat that package of cookies. Sure, use the knife to open the package, and you can eat all the cookies all right now.” It is obvious to anyone that such “mercy” is totally unfounded. 

Another good example would be an addict. Clearly, he also has no daat – he has no ability to understand much of anything except his need to fulfill his addiction. You absolutely cannot give him money under any circumstances, since he will simply blow it on his addiction. Even though you want to have mercy on him, the only possible mercy is helping him break free from his addiction – nothing else will help. Moreover, anything you give him until he is on the road to recovery, will almost certainly make things worse in the end.  

Hence, it looks like mercy to give to the small child or the addict – but it’s really cruelty to give to him. And it looks like cruelty to withhold from him, but really – it’s mercy. 

This rule applies to each and every one of us, according to our level of daat. We don’t realize how much our lack of understanding the truth about the world and the way Hashem runs it negatively affects us, but it does – each one on their level. 

This is one of the many reasons why learning emuna, which is essentially acquiring daat, helps people live in Heaven on Earth!  

The Zohar calls this physical world “the world of lies” and the Gemara calls it an “upside-down world.” Everyone is debating what rules of this world actually govern what happens in it. Learning emuna, and learning these rules by which Hashem runs the world, enables us to play the game by the real rules. Hence, without emuna there are no answers – the rules don’t make sense and the results don’t add up. But with emuna there are no questions!  

The Incredible Workaround 

By putting together these two rules, we learn an incredible workaround!  

Since by giving charity you have mercy on others – Heaven must have mercy on you. But they cannot have mercy on someone who does not have daat. SO – from Heaven, they give you daat, and now, you can also get mercy! 

Let me take this opportunity to remind you – daat is about the most important thing there is. This is why the Gemara says, “If you have daat, what do you lack? And if you lack daat, what do you have???” 

Daat is also the deciding factor in properly keeping Torah and mitzvot as well. The Gemara says that someone only sins “if a spirit of foolishness overcomes him.” Because really, it doesn’t make any sense to sin. Could there possibly be such a thing as benefiting from sinning against the Creator of the World Himself? Could any good possibly come from this? Short term benefits – possible. But in the long term, if you could see the real results produced by the sin – you would see that the damage of the sin far, far outweighs the benefit. 

But if you hold onto your daat, your holy knowledge, then by definition you know the truth and you don’t fall into foolishness. And if you already sinned, or got used to routinely sinning – by increasing your level of daat, now you learn what you should be doing instead and not only the great rewards that await you in the Next World, but the practical benefits already in this world of changing your behavior. 

Therefore, giving charity gives us daat, and saves us from sinning.  

And remember rule #1 that I teach in The Garden of Emuna – there is no suffering without sin.  

Stop sinning (which really means wanting to change your ways, praying about it every day and learning about the topic) – and cancel all the suffering! 

Let’s just recap – acquiring daat (holy knowledge of Hashem) is our purpose of life in this world. It is the first commandment for Jews and non-Jews alike to KNOW Hashem, and it is also the foundation of the entire Torah. 

And getting mercy from Heaven – if there is one thing we all need especially right now in the midst of the great upheavals and uncertainty in the world, it’s Divine Mercy. I believe this point is obvious. 

BOTH OF THESE CRITICAL THINGS, YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO GET IF YOU GIVE CHARITY!!! 

This is also a fool-proof solution if you have a particular sin or lust you can’t seem to break – give charity, get daat and win your personal war against the Evil Inclination! 

So, How Do I Do It? 

Recognize that not all charity is created equal. 

First off, there is the special blessings and protection that come to someone who donates to supporting Torah and poor people in the Land of Israel (read more about that here: God Can Protect You Anywhere). 

Then there is the awesome merit of supporting emuna outreach. No other charity touches the shoelaces of spreading emuna!  

That’s why every single person who reads this article, must have mercy on his friends and family – and send them this article! This alone is an aspect of charity – since the greatest charity is not specifically with money, as much as it is donating time and money to teach other people daat! Because with this, you not only support someone’s body – you support their soul, and as I explain in You Can Save Lives!, with the ballooning suicide rates, right now teaching people emuna is literally pikuach nefesh – saving a life. 

• To donate to tax-deductible 501c3, click US Emuna Outreach (Paypal) 

• To support Israel-based Chut shel Chessed Institutions, click here (pick your cause)   

• To order bulk emuna books, CDs or booklets, or to sponsor others to give on your behalf, contact the Editor by phone (no text): 1-626-200-1085 or by email:  rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il. 

*This article was excerpted from the Wednesday night weekly class of Rabbi Arush from December 2, 2020, Parshat Vayishlach, and adapted by the Editor, based on other classes from Rabbi Arush.