The greatness of tithing income is well-known to the extent that Chazal said that one must not test Hashem in anything other than this as it says in the verse “Bring you tithes to the storehouse and please test me with this, if I will not open the heavenly windows for you and I will empty out for you blessing until there is no enough!”, and Chazal explain that it means until your lips will be worm out from saying that you have enough. The midrash says when commenting on the verse “Charity belongs to You and embarrassment to us!”, that Rabbi Nechemiah said that even at the tim that we are performing charitable acts, we still look at our actions and are embarrassed, and the only time when we can come to Hashem with a genuine claim is when we pay out our tithes, as it says in the verse “Look down from Your holy dwelling place from the heavens”, and the intent of this verse is not that person should do this in order to receive reward, but that from the reward we can see how much pleasure Hashem receives when we perform these acts, to the extent that He gives such immense reward. It is therefore fitting that we should strengthen ourselves to fulfil it for the sake of Hashem, to create pleasure for our Creator, and the honor will end up coming.
Tuesday
י"ד אב התשפ"ו
