T264 PNC - Tzedakah Is the Repair of the Bris

Tzedakah is the repair of the bris — the rectification of damage caused by misdirected channeling of energy. The damage of the bris is precisely this: a person was supposed to channel his hashpa'ah (spiritual influence/seed) in holiness to the proper place, but instead removed it from there and drew it, G-d forbid, to another place. The repair is therefore tzedakah, because through giving you again channel hashpa'ah to the place of holiness, and the original damage is reversed. This is hinted in the donation for the Mishkan: "And the men came upon the women" (Exodus 35:22) — that phrasing describes a kind of zivug (union) accomplished through donating to the Mishkan. But there is a critical caveat: when you give to a poor person who is not worthy, you damage further — you have once again channeled hashpa'ah to a place that doesn't need it. (See LM 31 and 54, where Rebbe Nachman also teaches that tzedakah is repair of the bris.)