Sefer HaMiddot, Charity, Part I/ספר המדות·צדקה·חלק ראשון

1I All the charity and kindness that the Jews do in this world creates advocates of merit and leads to great harmony between Israel and their Father in heaven.

2Charity is so great that it hastens the Final Redemption,

3saves the giver from death,

4and enables one to receive the Divine Presence.

5[The giver of charity] becomes a creditor for God, as it were.

6His fortune is enhanced,

7and he is called a perfect Tzaddik.

8Giving charity enables one to turn from evil ways.

9It is a greater mitzvah to provide for those who occupy themselves with the study of Torah than to provide for those who do not. With regards to the letter of the law, however, no distinction should be made.

10Removing a stolen object from a fellow Jew’s possession is like giving charity.

11Compromise is a form of judgment that contains the quality of charity.

12Giving charity to a poor person who does not deserve it carries no reward.

13Always be grateful to the giver, never saying that it was not his to give, [but God’s].

14Charity is equal to all the other mitzvot combined.

15Getting others to do (give) is even greater than doing (giving) oneself.

16All the pennies one gives to charity make up one large sum.

17Anyone who conceals his charitable deeds is even greater than Moses.

18A person who gives a penny to charity receives six blessings, but one who consoles a poor person is rewarded eleven times over.

19The Holy One makes certain that a person who is eager to give charity has the money to do so, and deserving paupers are sent his way so that he will be rewarded for his benevolence. Such a person is also rewarded with children who will be wealthy, wise and masters of Aggadah.

20On Rosh Hashanah it is determined how much money each person will lose during the coming year. If he is worthy, he gives it to poor people.

21Jerusalem will be redeemed through charity.

22The evil Ahab had half his sins forgiven because he gave charity.

23Hospitality saves one from the sin of idolatry.

24So great is hospitality that [failing to be hospitable] repulses those who are near, while [being hospitable] draws near those who are distant.

25Hosting an idolater in one’s home causes one’s children to suffer exile.

26When people do not give charity, the government issues evil decrees and takes their money from them.

27Give charity with both hands and your prayers will be heard.

28By being generous, you will be able to stand your ground.

29Charity brings to faith.

30Whoever goes about collecting charity removes wrath from the world.

31He also merits truth.

32By giving charity, you will be blessed with children and they will live together peacefully.

33Giving charity causes the land’s produce to grow.

34Charity hastens salvation

35In a time of trouble, a person’s charitable deeds are recalled for him.

36When you give charity, officials and rulers will be sympathetic to you.

37By giving charity, a person is spared injustice, robbery and misfortune.

38Giving charity brings a person grace.

39A person who encourages others to give charity increases salvation.

40A town in which there is no one to support the poor will experience an outbreak of fires.

41In reward for his generosity, a person is saved from haughtiness.

42Faith in God is considered like giving charity.

43By giving charity for the sake of Heaven one attains the quality of modesty.

44A person’s benevolence causes him to feel love for the Tzaddikim.

45Whoever steals from a poor person will be disgraced.

46Giving charity is tantamount to bringing a sacrifice.

47Charity brings rain.

48When Jews give charity, they are not exiled from their country.

49When people give charity, the land’s produce is blessed and there is peace in the world.

50By being truthful, your charitable deeds are noticed.

51Giving charity protects a person’s offspring.

52When one person prays for another, he is credited with having given charity.

53If, despite having all he needs, a person looks disapprovingly at the poor people who approach him with outstretched hands, he will have the following prophecy applied to him: “In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be pained... [Heaven will reveal his sin... The abundance of his house shall depart...] This is the lot of a wicked man...” It will also be fulfilled in a person who enables others to enter into a business venture by giving them half of what they require, but when they, through their efforts, earn enough to repay him and have sufficient livelihood besides, is resentful and pained by their success.

54When a person performs kind deeds for those who love God, he rectifies having blemished the brit.

55The merit of the poor saves us from the gentiles.

56When doing a mitzvah, don’t try to have it not cost you; rather, pay a full price for it.

57For the sin of not tithing one’s produce, the heavens are restrained and there is inflation.

58Giving charity happily is a sign of wholeheartedness.

59Keep giving: for as long as you find [people in need]; for as long as you have [what to give]; and for as long as you have the power [to give].

60Whoever becomes accustomed to supporting one particular Kohen brings hunger to the world.

61One who provides a Torah scholar with all his needs earns himself a place in the Academy of heaven.

62Charity is greater than all the sacrifices.

63Acts of kindness are even greater than giving charity.

64Should you think that anyone who is eager to give charity is granted the opportunity and is immediately sent truly deserving paupers, the verse therefore uses the expression “how precious,” to teach that we must exert ourselves and search after such worthy individuals. Indeed, deserving paupers through whom a person can gain merit are hard to find.

65Charity has two faces: [The unstinting person who doesn’t have much should give] in line with what he can afford; and [the stingy person who has been blessed with wealth should give] in line with God’s blessing.

66When a person has enough for his own needs but chooses instead to take from others, you should know that he will be made to repay after death, being enslaved to the one from whom he took.

67Even by giving charity a person has no guarantee that he won’t become impoverished.

68When someone closes his eyes to giving charity, it is as if he worships idolatry.

69A person who trims his wealth to give charity is spared from the judgment of hell.

70Even a poor person should give charity. The signs of poverty will then no longer be his lot.