קבלה אויף משלי 10:2

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.

It now is appropriate to enlighten you to a very great principle. Know that when the Righteous One-Tzaddik-צדיק influences His blessing and goodness upon Righteousness-Tzedek-צדק, the Righteousness-Tzedek is then called the Land of Life-Eretz HaChayim-ארץ החיים, which then provides goodness to all creatures. However, if the conduits of the Righteous One are stopped up, goodness does not come to the quality of Righteousness-Tzedek-צדק and it then becomes filled with those cisterns that are called death. It then causes death and brings about all sorts of plagues and destruction in the world. However, when the Righteous One-Tzaddik-צדיק unites with the Righteousness-Tzedek-צדק and gives it of His blessings, then through that unification, which is called Charity-Tzedakah-צדקה, He brings life instead of death to the quality of Righteousness-Tzedek-צדק. This is the matter of the verse,³³Proverbs 10:2 “Charity-Tzedakah-צדקה rescues from death.”