Tzedakah

The mitzvah of giving tzedakah is considered an all-inclusive mitzvah. There are many different things we can do to earn money, and many different things we can spend money on. In other words, money represents the entire spectrum of human need, industry, and endeavor. When we give our money away to charity, it’s as if we are giving away our entire self -- all the labor that went into earning the money, and all the things we could have bought with that money. Just by giving a single coin to charity, you lift up the entire world with it.

When it comes to tzedakah, the repetitive, habitual nature of it is what matters. It’s better to give a small sum every day than a large sum once a year. The point is to make a habit of being generous, not to suffice with a one-time gesture. Furthermore, each act of giving tzedakah creates a union between the upper and lower worlds, joining the finite with the infinite.  

Tzedakah has the power to bridge divisions and to heal, as the verse in Proverbs (10:2) states, “Charity saves from death” and as our sages say, “Great is charity for it hastens the redemption.”