T251 PNC - Through Wars and Division Heretical Thoughts Fall — The Repair Is Truth and Charity

When wars and division (machloket) erupt, thoughts of the wicked — heretical thoughts, denial of Hashem — fall onto fit, decent people. The repair is to hand the war over to Hashem: "Hashem will fight for you" (Exodus 14:14). But there is a catch. The wicked also give charity (we see even gentile kings giving tzedakah — "He gives generously to the poor," Proverbs 28:8 per Rashi). The strength of those heretical thoughts is sustained by their charity. And that's where the man of truth comes in. The man of truth is one who keeps mitzvot in their full detail when no one is watching, exactly the way he keeps them in public. For him there is no difference between the mitzvah he does before Hashem alone and the mitzvah he does before people — that is what "truth" means. Because charity is drawn after truth, the man of truth pulls all those charities to himself, away from the wicked. This is "And tzedakah stands far away because truth has stumbled in the street" (Isaiah 59:14): when there is no truth, charity stands far off.

Here's the operating principle. The Torah says, "And tzedakah will be ours when we keep all this mitzvah before Hashem our G-d as He commanded us" (Devarim 6:25). "Before Hashem our G-d" — precisely. Meaning: when we keep the mitzvot before Hashem alone with the same exactness we keep them in public — that is truth — then "tzedakah will be ours": all the charity in the world is drawn to us, because charity follows truth. Once that charity is pulled away from the wicked, their heretical thoughts have no fuel left to project, and our minds are clear. Truth is the magnet for tzedakah.

Why does charity follow truth? Because truth, like the One, is one. Sefer Yetzirah teaches: "Before one, what do you count?" — if there is a second, it is no longer one. Similarly, truth is only one. About any object you can say only one true statement; but lies are infinite — you can call a silver vessel "gold" or "copper" or anything else. Truth is singular, lies are plural. So Hashem is truth, His Torah is truth, Israel is truth, and all three are one because all three are truth. (See Zohar Emor 9a: tzedakah is the aspect of truth.)

Tzedakah is the aspect of the sun. The sun is one single power, but its effects multiply according to whatever it touches: it melts wax, hardens clay, warms one thing, cools another. The variation is entirely in the receivers — the sun itself is one. So too tzedakah: "And the sun of tzedakah will rise for those who fear My name" (Malachi 3:20). The Talmud (Berachot 6b) says: "Like the blackening of olives, so when a person needs others, his face changes through several colors." One whose face changes from greatness (embarrassment that he must take), one from smallness (humiliation), one from joy (gratitude). The variations are all in the receivers; the tzedakah itself remains one undivided power, like the sun.

Yaakov is the aspect of truth — "Give truth to Yaakov" (Micah 7:20). And about him it is written: "And the sun rose for him" (Bereishit 32:32) — the sun rose specifically for him, just like "u-tzedakah tihyeh lanu." Through his truth Yaakov drew all the charities to shine on him. Truth is the magnet, the sun follows.

Yevamot 96b records a dispute that erupted in the beit midrash so violently that a Sefer Torah was ripped, and the sage said: "I wonder if this house will not become a house of idolatry." That is the proof: machloket breeds idolatry and heresy. "They devise evils in their heart, all day they gird wars" (Psalms 140:3) — wars devise evils, evils are heretical thoughts. The repair: hand the war to Hashem ("Hashem will fight for you, and you shall be silent," Exodus 14:14). Silence elevates thought — heretical thoughts are nullified, as in "Be silent, so it arose in thought" (Menachot 29b). But beware: if the wicked also stay silent, their silence rises "on our back" ("On my back plowmen plowed... they lengthened their furrows," Psalms 129:3) — "furrows" are their charity ("v'tzedakati ta'aneh bi," Genesis 30:33), which still gives their silence power. Only the man of truth, by drawing all charity to himself, defuses both their charity and their heresy. Truth is the master key.