Daily Chidush: Who should get Your MaAser?

0:00In regards to Maaser, you're allowed to split it to as many places as you want. It doesn't have to go to one place. But there are a few things that you need to know about it. Number one, Maaser is after necessary expenses, which means, for example, if you make $10,000, you may think you have $1,000 to give as Maaser. However, unforeseen expenses that month could change the situation, leaving you with less discretionary money than anticipated. So, consider it carefully.

1:07you may make, let's say, ten thousand dollars, but, chas v'shalom, there may be eight thousand dollars of unexpected expenses that particular month, which puts you in a situation that's very different from what you thought originally. So you only pay myself or you, uh... you, um... put them on sale towards money that's actually made. Another thing is that it has to be towards places that you are familiar with, not just random places where you're hoping for the best. You have to do at least some type of checking. uh, you know where you're actually donating this money, and this is similar to any investment. If you were going to invest in a building, you'd obviously do an inspection to see if the building's foundation is going to hold up for another 20, 30, 40, or 50 years, or if the place is corrupt, and three days after you buy it, the thing collapses. So, you're obviously going to investigate. Same thing you do if you invest in a company. Whether it's a public company, like a stock, or you invest in a private company or private business, you're going to look at the books. You're going to look and find out what's going on behind the scenes. You're going to see if there are red flags because it's a big investment.

2:19Right? So, the same concept applies with Maaser. Maaser doesn't necessarily depend on what the investment is. You must do some type of investigation. Obviously, the bigger the investment, the more thorough the investigation should be. But it's all relative. You know, a thousand dollars to you might be a very big investment. Whereas $1,000 to someone that's a multimillionaire is not a big investment, both of you are obligated to do some type of investigation and not just put it purely on faith. You have to conduct an investigation. You don't necessarily need to know what the CEO is doing on weekends, just like you don't necessarily need to know what the rabbi's hobbies are. But you need to obviously know where the money is going, whether it's for a luxury car like a Mercedes-Benz, or for Kiruv, such as bringing Am Yisrael back to Hashem, helping righteous converts, and things of that nature. know what the CEO is doing on the weekends just like you don't necessarily need to know what the, uh, rabbi's hobbies are, but you need to obviously know something. Where is this money going? Is it going to pay for, uh, a Mercedes-Benz, or is it going for kiruv and, you know, bringing Am Yisrael back to Hashem, you know, helping righteous converts and things of that nature? Or if it's a beit knesset, if the beit knesset is really... You know, bringing real rabbis to the place, or is it just bringing people that are politically correct and poisoning the people with nonsense? So you have to make sure you know where this money is going.

3:27Last but not least, you also have to look at it as an investment. Which is the biggest investment? Where will you get the most amount of reward? If you invest in something that's a one-time mitzvah, for example, a holiday party, that's great. Chazak u'baruch, you made a holiday party. Maybe you got a few mitzvot out of it. Some people, as a result of your party, made a few brachot at the holiday party for eating the food. That's wonderful. You spent $1,000, $10,000, $100,000; it doesn't really make a difference. On the other hand, if you invest into something that's more to do with bringing people to Torah, whether it's a Talmid Chacham that's learning Torah day and night, an Avrech that's learning in a kollel, or Avrechim, or a kollel itself, or you're actually investing into a Kiruv organization, an organization or a rabbi that's specifically focused on bringing Am Yisrael back to Hashem, those have endless, endless rewards because every single mitzvah that comes out of those people goes into your account. So, whereas in a Chanukah party or a Purim party or, I don't know, some Simchat Torah party, it's all wonderful, but I don't know, maybe you're going to get two, three, four, five, let's say, you know, it's the greatest party ever, you got a hundred mitzvot. Uh, those have endless, endless reward because every single mitzvah that comes out of those people goes into your account. So whereas in a Chanukah party, or a Purim party, or, I don't know, some Simchat Torah party, it's all wonderful, but I don't know, maybe you're going to get two, three, four, five. Let's say it's the greatest party ever; you got a hundred mitzvot.

4:45Whereas if you support a rabbi who is helping people do teshuva, even if one person does teshuva and becomes a tzaddik his entire life, every single mitzvah he does every day will be credited to your merit. Additionally, every mitzvah he influences others to do will also be attributed to your merit. So, if that person performs basic level mitzvot of at least 100 a day, like a regular Jew, you will accumulate a significant amount of mitzvot, far more in just one day than you would ever gain at a party. And this is not necessarily for self-interest. I'm not just saying that you should just donate to my organization. You could donate to Rabbi Mizrachi's organization, Rabbi Alon Anava's organization, and other organizations that you may be familiar with that actually do real Kiruv work, or perhaps real kollel that actually teaches real Torah. If you don't know anyone, if you don't know a kollel, and you don't know a Talmid Chacham, you want me to help you with it, I'm more than happy to. If you know somebody already that's serious about Torah, then by all means give it to them. The point being is that you have to look at your master. Any money that you give to that tzedakah should be seen as an investment. When you look at it as an investment, you're going to treat it more carefully, and you're going to think twice before you write that check. For wanting to bring more Torah to the world and being conscious of all of Hashem's mitzvot, may Hashem bless you, your children, and every single person that you give to.

5:35By all means, give it to them. The point being is that you have to look at your master and any money that you give as tzedakah as an investment. When you look at it as an investment, you're going to treat it more carefully and you're going to think twice before you write that check for wanting to bring more Torah to the world and being conscious of all of Hashem's mitzvot. May Hashem bless you and your children and every single person that you give to. actually has the merit to generate mitzvot for you for the rest of your life, in accordance with the principles of Torah observance and the teachings of our sages.