This week we read, “Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion, from every person whose **heart so moves them ** …”
As Miles Davis said, “Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.” Sometimes we get stuck in overthinking or feeling we have to do so much that we don’t do it at all, when really we need to focus on doing even just one thing, but doing it with love, with a full heart, with a smile of sincerity.
Giving is not enough if, when you give, it feels as if it’s being taken from you by the person who is receiving. There is a Chassidic story in which a wealthy individual who was known for his miserliness had decided to give R’ Shlomo of Radomsk a good amount of money as a pidyon, but R’ Shlomo refused to accept. When he was asked why he didn’t accept it, since he certainly needed the money, he simply replied, “If you had seen with what glee he took the money back, you would not have asked why I didn’t want to receive it.” Just as important as the act of giving is the sincerity and love in which it is given. If our heart compels us to want to hold on and not let go, it is the act of giving and letting go that we must master.
The Arizal teaches that Creation came about because Hashem has a fundamental desire to give. Therefore, the natural state of being is one in which Hashem’s chesed (kindness), flows freely into the world, unhampered by either sin or dinim (judgment). One of the major ways to sweeten judgment is tzedakah (charity), as it transforms dinim into chesed. We are tasked to emulate these qualities.
In Mishlei it says, “There is one who gives generously yet ends with more.” Focusing on what you don’t have over what you do often blocks the blessings you can get. Focusing on what you can give, you turn yourself into a vessel for receiving. The Zohar says that darkness isn’t an entity unto itself, it is the absence of light. and if darkness is the absence of light, then a little bit of light, a little bit of love, will illuminate a lot of darkness. Like The Beatles said, “the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
Thanks for reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🤍🕊
– Erez // @erezsafar
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Thanks for listening.
Much love, Erez Safar
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