Charity

1. All the charity and kindness that the Jewish People do in this world [engenders] great peace and [the formation of] angelic advocates between Israel and their Father in Heaven.

2. Great is charity, in that it brings the Redemption near.

3. And saves from death.

4. And [causes the] receiving of the Divine Presence.

5. And one is made a lender to the Holy Blessed One.

6. And raises his fortune (mazal).

7. And he is called an absolute Tzaddik (completely righteous person).

8. Through charity, a person becomes an avoider of evil.

9. It is a greater Mitzvah (good Torah deed) to provide food for those who are engaged in Torah, than for those who do not engage. However, from the standpoint of Halacha (religious law), there is no (grounds) to differentiate.

10. When one extracts stolen goods from the hands of his fellowman, it is as if he has given charity.

11. Compromise is a legal judgment wherein there is charity.

12. One who gives charity to an improper poor person is not rewarded for it.

13. It is necessary to be appreciative to one who gives, and you should not say that he didn't give of his own .

14. Charity has the importance of all the other commandments combined.

15. The one (collecting charity) who brings another to do (to give charity), is greater than the one who does (the giver).

16. Every penny and penny (of charity one gives) is added together into a large sum.

17. One who gives charity in a hidden manner is greater than Moshe (Moses).

18. One who gives a coin to a poor person is blessed with six (blessings), and one who placates him is blessed with eleven (blessings).

19. One who pursues (opportunities to give) charity, G-d provides him with money, and provides him with upright people (in need of charity), in order that he should gain reward from (giving charity to) them, and he merits having children who are wealthy, wise, and masters of Aggadah

20. On Rosh HaShana, man is judged how much money he will lose (i.e. fail to keep). If he merits, he gives that money to the poor.

21. Jerusalem is redeemed with charity.

22. Through charity, Achav (one of the Kings of Israel) was forgiven half (of his sins).

23. Hospitality protects one from the (punishment of the) sin of idolatry.

24. Great is hospitality, in that it makes those who are close (to holiness) distanced (if they do not give), and brings near (to holiness) those who are distant.

25. One who invites a non-Jew into his house and serves him, causes his children to be exiled.

26. When the people do not give charity, the government passes harsh decrees and takes their money.

27. One should give charity with both hands [which causes] his prayer to be heard.

28. Through generosity you will have a standing.

29. Through charity comes faith.

30. One who goes out for the benefit of charities, sedates rage from the world.

31. Also, he merits to truth.

32. Through charity, you will have children, and there will be peace between them.

33. Through charity, the fruit proliferate.

34. Through charity, one draws salvation close.

35. In a time of trouble, the charity one did is remembered for him.

36. Through the charity you give, officials and kings will also have peaceful relations with you.

37. Through charity a person will not hear (know) from theft, armed pillage, or hunger.

38. Through charity a person merits grace.

39. One who urges people to give charity increases salvation.

40. When there is not someone in a city to support the needy, fire comes upon it.

41. In the merit of charity, one is saved from arrogance.

42. Faith is reckoned as charity (repeated from Faith 12, see there).

43. Through charity given for the sake of Heaven, one comes to the quality of [holy] shame.

44. Through generosity one comes to love the tzaddikim.

45. One who steals from the poor, humiliation comes to him.

46. One who gives charity is as if he offered a sacrifice.

47. Through charity comes rain.

48. Through charity the Jews are not banished from their place.

49. When people give charity, the fruits are blessed and there is peace in the world.

50. Through truth, the charity you do is noted (lit. seen).

51. Charity protects a person’s descendants.

52. One who prays for one's friend, it is reckoned for him as charity.

53. One who is materially well-off, and despite that, is miserly (literally, a bad eye) toward the poor who approach and beg him (literally, stretch out their hands) to give them; also, one who provides funding for a venture for half the profits, and they work and bring him his half, and when he sees that they are profiting and have an income and enough to suffice, he is irked by this due to his miserliness (literally, bad eye) - on these will be fulfilled the prophecy beginning after the verse "In the fulfillment of his needs" until "This is the portion of a wicked man." (Iyov 20:22-29. See there, the Divine wrath rains down upon him etc.)

54. One who does kindness to those who love the Blessed G-d, through this he repairs the spoiling of the covenant (circumcision, i.e. any improper thoughts, speech, or actions thereof).

55. In the merit of the poor, we are saved from the nations.

56. When you do a Mitzvah (a commandment or good deed), see to it that the Mitzvah is not for free, but that you pay with a full purse.

57. Due to the sin of not giving the trumah and maaser (portions and tithes given to the priests, leviites, and poor), the Heavens are held up and there is strong inflation.

58. The joy one feels in giving charity is a sign of a whole heart.

59. Give charity (literally do), while you still have (the opportunity; that you) found [a befitting recipient], and you have [the money to give], and you are still in your own hands.

60. All who give their gifts (exclusively) to a specific Cohen (one of the Priestly tribe), bring famine to the world.

61. One who provides merchandise for Torah scholars to profit from, merits to sit in the Yeshiva of Heaven.

62. Charity is greater than all the sacrificial offerings.

63. Doing acts of kindness is greater than giving charity.

64. Lest you [err and] say that anyone who jumps to give charity, he is afforded the means, and is afforded with proper (needy) people (to whom to give)—the Torah says (Psalms 36:8; Succa 49b with Rashi), "How precious…", [meaning] one needs to labor and chase after them, for (the proper poor) they are not readily found, to merit (giving charity) with the proper (poor).

65. Charity is in two areas: According to one's generosity, and according to what God has blessed with him.

66. One who has (money), but does not want to use his own money for his expenditures, so he receives from others, know that they will collect from him after his death; that he will become a slave to one from whom he took.

67. One who gives charity, even still it is possible that he will be impoverished.

68. Anyone who averts their eyes from (seeing the need) to give charity, it is as if he is serving idolatry.

69. One who shares his possessions [to give charity] is saved from the judgment of Hell.

70. Even a poor person should give charity, and he will not see further signs of poverty.

1. Through promiscuity one falls into imprisonment or diseases causing pain in the feet. Also a student who has not reached the level of being able to rule, and rules, falls into this, also evil spirits attack (dominate) him. Charity has the segulah (auspicious quality) to annul all these punishments.

2. [Learning] Torah, [giving] tithes, and [keeping] the Shabbat give physical life as well [i.e. in addition to other benefits].

3. Through charity, with a simple maneuver he subdues his enemies, and the Holy Blessed One saves him from grand schemes of his enemies.

4. To aid Torah scholars, with this he annuls the ruling of the stars and constellations.

5. Through those who support the poor, the masses are saved from plagues, in their merit. Also in their merit, expanded consciousness precedes constricted consciousness.

6. Through charity, one sweetens the judgment of the Time to Come, that is, the Day of Judgment in the Time to Come.

7. Those who abound in doing kindnesses, but occasionally cause something bad through their kindness, and they pretend not to see the bad that sprouted as a result of their kindness - this is an aspect of the warning to the Cohanim (the Priests), who are the aspect of kindness, that they should not take overly large steps. Through this [failing, one] causes the Judgment Above, God forbid, to be unmoderated. The same is true in the converse, when in performing kindness one is careful that bad should not result, through this the Judgment will be moderated.

8. Those who produce Torah novelty need to learn from the works of the halachic regulators before the novelty and also after, and this learning of the halachic regulators is the protection of the novelty, so that no strangers touch them. Also, when one wants to give charity, it is necessary to do so – as with the novelty [i.e. to learn halacha before and after].

9. Torah novelty and charity–one arouses the other.

10. Great is the power of tithing that it transforms curses to blessings.

11. Through tithes, promiscuous thoughts are annulled.

12. One who does kindness does not need ancestral merit.

13. Through doing kindness, one gains longevity.

14. There are prayers that are not accepted Above until one gives sufficient charity, according to the number (numerical value) of the letters in the prayer related to the problem about which one is praying. For example, when one prays the words, "Give me children" (=592), one needs to give charity according to the number of letters of “Give me children”.

15. Through charity one merits to have children.

16. One who sustains the many, draws blessing from the land of Israel to the rest of the world.

17. Through money one gives to the poor of the Land of Israel, through this one merits to retain his wealth.

18. When a man moves to a city, he should send meat to the poor of that city, and through this he will find favor in the eyes of the city officials.

19. Through the giving of “shekulim” (the currency used in Biblical times) one is saved from the evil inclination.