הוֹן־וָעֹ֥שֶׁר בְּבֵית֑וֹ וְ֝צִדְקָת֗וֹ עֹמֶ֥דֶת לָעַֽד׃
Dostatek i bogactwo w domu jego, a zasługa jego ostoi się na wieki.
Sha'arei Kedusha
Charity is explained by the prophet Yishayahu,704Isaiah 58:7-9 “Surely, you should break your bread for the hungry and bring the moaning poor to your home; when you see a naked person, clothe him; and do not hide yourself from your kin. Then your light will burst out like the dawn and your healing will speedily sprout; your righteous deed will precede you and the glory of HaShem-יהו״ה will gather you in. Then you will call and HaShem-יהו״ה will answer; you will cry out and He will respond, ‘Here I am!’” Similarly, it is written,705Deuteronomy 15:10 “You shall surely give him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for because of this matter, HaShem-יהו״ה your God, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking.” Similarly, it is written,706Proverbs 21:14 “An anonymous gift will cover over anger,” and,707Proverbs 10:2 “Charity rescues from death.” Likewise, it is written,708Psalms 111:3; 112:3 “His charity endures forever.” That is, there is no sin that can extinguish it, as with the other mitzvot, and it brings life to a person, as in the incident of Binyamin the righteous, mentioned by our sages, of blessed memory.709Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra 11a – It was said about Binyamin the righteous, who was appointed over the charity fund: Once, a woman came before him during the years of drought and said to him, “My master, sustain me.” He said to her, “I swear by the Temple service that there is nothing left in the charity fund.” She said to him, “My master, if you do not sustain me, a woman and her seven sons will die.” He arose and sustained her with his own funds. A while later he fell deathly ill. The ministering angels said to the Holy One, blessed is He, “Have You not said that anyone who saves a single life in Israel, is regarded as if he has saved the entire world? Should Binyamin the righteous, who saved a woman and her seven sons, die after only having lived a few years?” They immediately tore up his death sentence, and it was taught that twenty-two years were added to his lifespan.