תּלמוד אויף משלי 10:2

King Monobaz⁸⁶A king of Adiabene, in modern Kurdistan, who converted to Judaism together with his mother Helena during the last century of existence of the Second Temple. In the parallel sources, Tosephta Peah 4:18, Babli Baba batra 11a, it is spelled out that he spent his treasures on emergency relief during a famine. Hence, the story here does not contradict the rule, declared as much older than Usha, that one should not give away more than one fifth of one’s property. It is rather an endorsement of deficit spending by the government during times of emergency. distributed all his property to the poor. His relatives sent to him: Your forefathers added to what they had and to what their forefathers had, and you wasted yours and that of your forefathers. He said to them, that is correct! My forefathers locked it up in the earth, I locked it up in Heaven, as it is said (Ps. 85:12): “Truth will sprout from the earth, but charity⁸⁷In the entire paragraph, צדק “justice” is identified with צדקה “charity”, and צדיק “the just” is taken to mean “giver of charity.” will gaze from Heaven.” My fathers locked up treasures that bring no interest, but I locked up treasures that bring interest as it is said (Is. 3:10): “Say to the giver of charity that he did a good deed, that they will eat the fruits of their intentions.” My forefathers collected in a place over which a (human) hand rules, but I collected in a place over which no hand rules, as it is said (Ps. 97:2): “Charity and truth are the foundations of His throne.” My forefathers collected money but I collected souls, as it is said (Prov. 11:30): “He who acquires souls is wise⁸⁸The entire verse reads: “The fruit of the giver of charity is a tree of life and he who buys souls is wise.”.” My forefathers collected for others but I collected for myself, as it is said (Deut. 24:13): “Charity will be your property⁸⁹The plain sense of the clause is: It will be considered a good deed by you (before the Eternal, your God.).” My forefathers collected in this world but I collected for the future world, as it is said (Prov. 10:2): “But charity will save from death.” And does he not die⁹⁰The last three sentences are not in the (Babylonian) parallels, where the argument is based on Is. 58:8 (speaking about him who breaks his bread with the poor): “Your charity will walk before you, the glory of the Eternal will gather you in.” The Aramaic sentence ולא מית should not be corrected into Hebrew in order to remain in style with the rest of the paragraph.? But that he should not die an eternal death in the future world.

There is a story of a certain saint who would regularly give charity. Once he went and sat on a boat, and a wind came along, and his boat sank into the sea. Rabbi Akiva saw it happen, and came before the court to testify that his wife was free to marry again. Before he had a chance to get up, that very man came in and stood before him. [Rabbi Akiva] said: Are you the one who sank in the sea? He replied: Yes. [Rabbi Akiva continued:] And who brought you up out of the sea? He replied: The charity I gave is what brought me up out of the sea. [Rabbi Akiva said:] How do you know that? He replied: When I went down into the depths of the abyss, I heard a voice coming from the roar of the waves, each one saying to the other, Come, let us crash together and raise this man up from the sea, for he gave charity all of his life. Immediately, Rabbi Akiva opened his mouth and said: Blessed is God, the God of Israel, who chose the words of the Torah and the words of the sages, for the words of the Torah and the words of the sages endure forever and ever! For it says (Ecclesiastes 11:1), “Send your bread forth upon the waters, for after many days, you will find it,” and it also says (Proverbs 10:2), “And charity saves from death.”

And Rabbi Isaac said [further]: Four things cancel the decree against a person, and they are: charity, crying out [in prayer], changing one's name, and changing one's conduct. Charity (tzedaka), as it is written, "and righteousness (tzedaka) saves from death," (Proverbs 10:2). Crying out, as it is written, "they cried out to the LORD in their suffering, and God took them from their distress," (Psalms 107:28). Change of name, as it is written, "as for your wife Sarai, do not call her by the name Sarai, for Sarah is her name" and continues, "I will bless her and further I will give you a son from her" (Genesis 17:15-16). Change of conduct, as it is written, "And God saw their conduct [as they turned from their evil ways]," and continues, "and God renounced the punishment that had been pronounced upon them and did not carry it out" (Jonah 3:10).