Testing, Testing

 “Do not test G-d” (Devarim 6:16).  “Test Me please with this, says Hashem” (Malachi 3:10).  Isn’t this a direct contradiction?  The Talmud (Ta’anit 9a) is troubled by that question.  The answer the Talmud gives is that the verse in Malachi is giving us the one exception when we are indeed allowed to test Hashem.  

That verse says: “Bring the whole of the tithes into the treasury so that there may be nourishment in My House, and test Me please therewith, says the Lord of Hosts, [to see] if I will not open for you the sluices of heaven and pour down for you blessing until there be no room to suffice for it.”  In other words, while we may not test Hashem in general (details of that are for another time), when it comes to the blessings for giving tithes, it is appropriate to test.

The above Talmudic discussion is based on two words in this week’s Parsha:  “Aser Te’aser” – Tithe you shall tithe, referring to the tenth of the produce, known as Maaser Sheni, that every farmer in Israel was required to separate.  The Talmudic story is as follows:  Rabbi Yochanan met the young son of his student and colleague Resh Lakish, and asked him what Torah verse he had learned in school that day.  (From the discussion it is clear that Resh Lakish’s son was a budding great scholar.)  The boy answered “Aser Te’aser.”  Rabbi Yochanan asked him what that means (meaning the repetitious language).  The boy answered: “Aser kedei shetitasher.”  Moving the dot on the “seen” in the second word from the left to the right, the words can be translated as tithe so that you will become rich.  R. Yochanan asked: “How do you know that this is the case?”  The boy answered: ”Go and test it.”

Rabbi Yochanan asked the boy: “aren’t we forbidden from testing Hashem, as it is written “Do not test G-d?”  The boy answered, based on the above verse from Malachi, that, as an exception, when it comes to tithing we are in fact permitted to test.  Then the Talmud explains the meaning of the words: “until there be no room to suffice for it” (in Hebrew “ad bli dai” to mean that our lips will be worn out from saying “dai” – enough!)

There is discussion amongst the Sages about whether this applies only to actual tithing, giving 10% of our income to charity, or to Tzedakah in general.  Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, known by the name of his Halachic magnum opus the Tur, writes that this applies to all Tzedakah.  He says (and this is also written in Rambam with Talmudic sources) that it is proven and tested that a person will never lose by giving Tzedakah.  On the contrary, he or she is given great additional blessings of wealth and honor.

This concept has been part of our tradition through the millennia.  Each of us has an obligation, which we have always seen as a great privilege, to give at least 10% of our income to Tzedakah.  People who can afford it should give 20%, and one who is wealthy should give more, according to our abilities.  (One who is destitute is not obligated to give as much, but must give at least something to Tzedakah.  This is the greatest and primary mitzvah and it is what makes the world go.)

There are thousands of stories of people who sacrificed for Tzedakah, and were richly rewarded.  Do we always see it immediately?  Maybe not, but over a period of time the benefits become clear, not just spiritual benefits and benefits to the recipients, but also material benefits to the giver.  It is uncanny how this works when someone is willing to step forward and give at least 10% and not wait until “I make enough to live in comfort, etc.”

This weekend we usher in the month of Elul, a time of accounting, a time of increasing our connection to Hashem and our Mitzvot and good deeds.  I have been issuing challenges over the last few weeks, so here is another one:  Make a commitment to give Maaser – at least 10% of your income – to Tzedakah for the New Year, starting in the month of Elul.  Give it to the Jewish charity of your choice, ideally an organization that promotes Torah and Chesed.  Or to individuals who need it.  Next year at this time, let me know how you did.  After all, we are allowed to test G-d on this one.

I wish you a good and sweet New Year, and may your preparations for Rosh Hashana throughout the month of Elul be uplifting and inspiring.