It is impossible to measure how powerful is the force of charity. In direct proportion to the power and goodness of this good deed, so too the power of the evil inclination of the person tries to force him to harden his heart not to perform it to his full ability. Chazal said about this that “A person can be recognized by his purse!”, as the inclination to cherish money is very great. Fortunate is the one who overcomes it every day and saves himself from it. How great is his goodness and how good is his lot in this world and in the next! He will have wealth and prosperity in his house and his righteousness will stand forever. Even though everyone knows this, the evil inclination of a person leads him astray and pretends to him that he has already fulfilled his obligation satisfactorily, and that his own needs take precedence, and that anyway he is always performing charity when he feeds his own young sons and daughters. However, a righteous man will know and understand if he is giving the obligatory tenth to charity, and will know that his feeding his own sons and daughters does not count as charity unless he is very poor (as is explicit in the halachic authorities).
