The Farmer’s Fortune
The Torah assures us that generosity brings blessing: "Make every effort to give to [the poor], and do not feel bad about giving. For because of this, God will bless you in all of your endeavors" (Deut. 15:10).
A fine promise. But how does it work?
One might imagine it goes something like this:
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’d have three hundred now!"
No, the Torah’s promise is not about consolation prizes. It’s something far better.
A farmer buys a sack of grain and carries it home by way of his fields. What he doesn’t notice 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 sometime 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 before a golden harvest.
That, says the Torah, is what giving is like. "Do not feel bad about giving." Because the very act of generosity plants the seeds of blessing.
(Adapted from Mishlei Yaakov, p. 431)
