וְאֶשָּֽׂא־כַפַּ֗י אֶֽל־מִ֭צְוֺתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהָ֗בְתִּי וְאָשִׂ֥יחָה בְחֻקֶּֽיךָ׃
Je tendrai mes mains vers tes commandements, que j’aime, et consacrerai mes méditations à tes préceptes.
Rabbeinu Bahya
יברכך ה' אלו-היך, “the Lord your G’d will bless you;” the Torah set aside a special blessing for people who perform the commandment of being charitable. Solomon went so far as to say (Proverbs 11,24) “some people, though they appear to be wasteful with their money actually increase their wealth.” I want to urge you to appreciate another important principle concerning this most important and noble commandment which we have inherited already from our patriarch Avraham. He provided the foundation for the organized giving of charity and its mystical dimension.
We must appreciate that poor people, by reason of their dissatisfaction “spread around” the presence of the attribute of Justice so that it is poised over Israel ready to strike. This is what the psalm 102,1 תפלה לעני, “prayer of the poor,” is all about. The very word תפלה [as opposed to תחנה, בקשה and similar words, Ed.] represents a struggle, a wrangling. It has a negative connotation, is used when two litigants strive against one another. This is what prompted the sages to say that a poor man is considered like a dead man (Nedarim 64). The wealthy man, by contrast, spreads around the attribute of Mercy seeing wherever he goes he reflects blessings received. He may be compared to the sun which enables the moon to at least shine with reflected light. He who dispenses charity is as if illuminating the eyes of the poor when the latter receives his blessing through the rich man. This is why the Torah warns that all the paths of Torah should be paths of loveliness and peace, that people who claim to be Torah-oriented should practice the virtues associated with Torah, and by giving charity in the manner prescribed enable the attribute of Mercy to abound on earth. By doing so he will ensure that the attribute of Mercy at least becomes an integral part of the attribute of Justice which is already poised. This is what ensures the continued existence of the universe. The world cannot exist unless both these attributes are working side by side (Bereshit Rabbah 12,15).
You are aware (of the kabbalistic concept) that the performance of acts of charity on earth will have impact on the attribute tzedek in the celestial regions. According to Zohar Bechukotai 113 the tree of knowledge represents death whereas the tree of life represents life. Giving charity (for the right reasons) saves from the clutches of death and results in the opposing forces of צדק and מלכות being able to function together in harmony for the benefit of all of mankind. Isaiah 1,21 speaks of צדק ילין בה the attribute צדק which once resided in Jerusalem being replaced through the murders committed in that city. The prophet tells the people how to rectify this situation where the Shechinah cannot feel at home anymore in Jerusalem, saying בצדק תכנני “you can be rehabilitated through charity.” (Isaiah 54,14). This attribute צדק is mystically identified with the כנסת ישראל, the spiritual concept of “Israel.” It is also the “mate” of the “Sabbath” (compare Bereshit Rabbah 11,9). All of the above explains Moses’ concern with warning the people to be concerned with fulfilling this מצוה very meticulously.
If someone gives charity on earth he influences the relative position of the emanation צדק=מלכות, bringing it closer to the emanation צדקה=רחמים or vice versa. Concerning this phenomenon we must understand the statement by the Kabbalists that גדולה צדקה לשמה, “that charity when performed for the appropriate reasons is a great thing.” They meant that the emanation חסד also known as גדולה will pour out blessing on the terrestrial part of the universe, i.e. the emanation מלכות. In Psalms 119,48 David phrased this as ואשא כפי אל מצותיך אשר אהבתי, “I stretch out my palms to fulfill Your commandments (charity) which I love.”
We must appreciate that poor people, by reason of their dissatisfaction “spread around” the presence of the attribute of Justice so that it is poised over Israel ready to strike. This is what the psalm 102,1 תפלה לעני, “prayer of the poor,” is all about. The very word תפלה [as opposed to תחנה, בקשה and similar words, Ed.] represents a struggle, a wrangling. It has a negative connotation, is used when two litigants strive against one another. This is what prompted the sages to say that a poor man is considered like a dead man (Nedarim 64). The wealthy man, by contrast, spreads around the attribute of Mercy seeing wherever he goes he reflects blessings received. He may be compared to the sun which enables the moon to at least shine with reflected light. He who dispenses charity is as if illuminating the eyes of the poor when the latter receives his blessing through the rich man. This is why the Torah warns that all the paths of Torah should be paths of loveliness and peace, that people who claim to be Torah-oriented should practice the virtues associated with Torah, and by giving charity in the manner prescribed enable the attribute of Mercy to abound on earth. By doing so he will ensure that the attribute of Mercy at least becomes an integral part of the attribute of Justice which is already poised. This is what ensures the continued existence of the universe. The world cannot exist unless both these attributes are working side by side (Bereshit Rabbah 12,15).
You are aware (of the kabbalistic concept) that the performance of acts of charity on earth will have impact on the attribute tzedek in the celestial regions. According to Zohar Bechukotai 113 the tree of knowledge represents death whereas the tree of life represents life. Giving charity (for the right reasons) saves from the clutches of death and results in the opposing forces of צדק and מלכות being able to function together in harmony for the benefit of all of mankind. Isaiah 1,21 speaks of צדק ילין בה the attribute צדק which once resided in Jerusalem being replaced through the murders committed in that city. The prophet tells the people how to rectify this situation where the Shechinah cannot feel at home anymore in Jerusalem, saying בצדק תכנני “you can be rehabilitated through charity.” (Isaiah 54,14). This attribute צדק is mystically identified with the כנסת ישראל, the spiritual concept of “Israel.” It is also the “mate” of the “Sabbath” (compare Bereshit Rabbah 11,9). All of the above explains Moses’ concern with warning the people to be concerned with fulfilling this מצוה very meticulously.
If someone gives charity on earth he influences the relative position of the emanation צדק=מלכות, bringing it closer to the emanation צדקה=רחמים or vice versa. Concerning this phenomenon we must understand the statement by the Kabbalists that גדולה צדקה לשמה, “that charity when performed for the appropriate reasons is a great thing.” They meant that the emanation חסד also known as גדולה will pour out blessing on the terrestrial part of the universe, i.e. the emanation מלכות. In Psalms 119,48 David phrased this as ואשא כפי אל מצותיך אשר אהבתי, “I stretch out my palms to fulfill Your commandments (charity) which I love.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ונס שמה רוצח מכה נפש בשגגה, “and to such a city a murderer who killed a person unintentionally shall flee.” Such a person is not guilty of the death penalty seeing he did not intend to kill his victim. This law demonstrates that the heart of the person is the prime driving force of man’s activities. This principle applies to the performance of all the commandments as well as to the commission of any sins. Exile is the penalty decreed here seeing that the man’s heart was not associated with his action. The death penalty never applies unless body and heart had committed the sin in question in tandem, in agreement with each other. The body contributes the relevant movement, the heart the relevant intention. Seeing in the example mentioned there was no such co-ordination between body and mind, the guilty party only has to be exiled.
By the same token, if a person performed a commandment, in accordance with all its details but his heart was not involved, i.e. he did not mean to perform a commandment by doing what he did, he will not receive a reward for his deed (compare Nazir 23). This is what David meant when he said in Psalms 119,48: “I raise my palms toward Your commandments which I love, etc.” The “raising of hands” which David speaks of is the intention harboured by his heart. We find these two words side by side in Lamentations 3,41: “let us raise our hearts with our palms.”
By the same token, if a person performed a commandment, in accordance with all its details but his heart was not involved, i.e. he did not mean to perform a commandment by doing what he did, he will not receive a reward for his deed (compare Nazir 23). This is what David meant when he said in Psalms 119,48: “I raise my palms toward Your commandments which I love, etc.” The “raising of hands” which David speaks of is the intention harboured by his heart. We find these two words side by side in Lamentations 3,41: “let us raise our hearts with our palms.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Kabbalistic approach: the washing of the ten fingers and ten toes was an allusion to the ten emanations which enabled the physical universe to be created out of a totally abstract domain. When man raises his hands above his head he raises ten fingers, i.e. alludes to these ten emanations. By standing on the ground with his ten toes he demonstrates that his beginning and end (in our parlance “top to bottom”) is all a reminder of these ten emanations. This is also the reason that the sages decreed that prior to praying one ought to wash one’s hands (Berachot 15). The expression נטילת ידים for “washing one’s hands,” [as opposed to רחיצת ידים] is an allusion to Psalms 134,2 שאו ידיכם קדש, “elevate, raise your hands (before) performing something sacred and proceed to bless the Lord.” A similar expression to the word שאו is found Psalms 119,48 where the psalmist says: “I raise my hands (elevate) towards Your commandments.” This is why Onkelos translates the word ורחצו, “they shall wash,” as ויקדשון, “they shall sanctify.” Elsewhere Onkelos translates the word ורחצו as: ויסחון such as in Genesis 18,4 where Avraham asks his guests to wash their feet. The Torah hints that the priest who performs service in the Tabernacle/Temple “clothes” himself in the sanctity of the ten emanations by the act of washing his hands and feet from the basin. Nachmanides views the covenant with G’d which was both oral (mouth) and on man’s flesh (circumcision), as symbolically interposed between the ten fingers of the two hands and the ten toes of the two feet respectively.