Re'eih: The Reward for Giving

 Give readily and have no regrets when you give, for in return, God will bless you in all your endeavors.

—Deuteronomy 15:10

 

Generosity to the needy, the Torah promises, brings a special blessing—“God will bless you in all your endeavors.” A fine promise. But how does it work?

One might imagine it goes something like this:

Scenario A: A man loses his wallet downtown. Just his luck, it had a hundred-dollar bill inside. The next morning, he walks the same route and, miracle of miracles, finds a two-hundred-dollar bill on the pavement.

A hundred lost, two hundred gained, he should be thrilled. But no. He scowls, muttering, “If I hadn’t lost that first hundred, I would have three hundred now!”

No, the Torah’s promise is not about consolation prizes. It’s something far better.

Scenario B: A farmer buys a sack of grain and carries it home on his back, walking through his fields. He doesn’t notice, however, that there is a small tear in the sack. As he walks, little by little, the grain spills out. By the time he reaches his house, nothing. An empty sack. A total loss.

But several weeks later, walking through his fields, he stops in his tracks. Where he spilled the grain, a magnificent wheat crop has sprouted. He realizes the truth. If he hadn’t “lost” those seeds, he wouldn’t be standing in front of a golden harvest.

That, says the Torah, is what giving is like. “Have no regrets when you give,” because the very act of generosity plants the seeds of blessing.

 

(The Wit and Wisdom of the Dubno Maggid. Adapted from Mishlei Yaakov, p. 431)