5 Minutes on Parshat Ki Tisa: Giving, Reward, and Pure Intentions - Rabbi Avi Hoolin

Here we are back 5 minutes on heat that brewed on the partial partials kiss it. This week's partial opens up with the mix of giving the mahatmas a shackle half shackle the coin that they gave for the Michigan and the partial starts with the words the nostril ish quaffer nacho. Now the words of the nostril is a palindrome. It reads forwards and backwards the same way. And if we analyze that for a minute we could learn a tremendous lesson on that concept. When you give you are given back to. What you give you get back and I want to point out a fascinating story of Shalom Shach run who was the market in the late 1900s was giving over a lesson on pure cure vote where it talks about a mix of that the reward for a mix of and the loss when a person does not do a mix of and an old Russian Jew walked over to him and says I want to tell you a fascinating story that happened to me. He said it was the early 19 1900s and I was working in Russia and I was actually doing pretty well the Russian gave us a little bit of space at that time and I was doing very very well in the diamond district. One morning a Jew was time for Shacharit and a Jew needed a minion for a yard site. So I said I'll help him and I sat there waiting for a minion and we're waiting and waiting and obviously my it's a hard I need to get to work already and we're waiting and he's pushing me and he says push a little longer I need to get a minion together finally we got 10 Jews together and it was hard for me but I said I want to do it for this year I want to do it for this year. And we dive in and we get after diving and I'm walking to the diamond district and suddenly I see my friend my shoe running towards me my shoe running he says run run The Soviets are coming and they're taking over everything." He said they're looting and killing. Run for your life. That moment that mitzvah I did saved my life that I was able to get away. Now, I heard this exact same story happen with 9/11. Same story. That a Yid came in and he needed a minyan and he couldn't get a minyan together. And he waited and because of that the minyan of helping another Jew he didn't just get back money. He got back his life. And I think we all can look at this and like this lesson of when we give is what we get cuz it's definitely hard sometimes you hit you get hit with this organization and this one needs money and this person needs money and you feel like you're such so much to give her and that's why I'm trying to have my ears listen to my words right now. Like, Avi, listen to Listen to what you're saying right now. That no, when you give a little bit and it doesn't have to be a tremendous amount. A half a shekel. But give, you will get back when you give. And just another point on giving. So, the first lesson about giving is that really when we give, if we could tap into the fact that we're really getting back also. And I want to take a lesson one lesson forward with something we see in this week's parsha. This week's parsha, we also see about the half shekel that is a mitzvah that someone who's poor can't give less, but someone who's wealthy can't give more. And commentaries point out that this is actually one of the 613 mitzvahs of the Torah. Now, it's fascinating if you think about it that that you can't give less, we can understand, but you can't give more. I'm saying, tell me one building campaign you have ever watched that says, "Here it is. Do not give more than $18 and you must not give more than $18." That's definitely I have not seen that advertised yet, but right here if we look at the parsha, that's what the parsha tells us. Reb Yochanan points out that we can learn an amazing lesson over here. That besides the same way there's a yetzer hara sometimes not to give, there's a yetzer hara to be the giver. You want to be the guy. And I could we could relate to this for sure. That like in so many campaigns, it could be in a campaign that's everybody's giving. You're like, "I need to be the number one. I need to be the name on the building." And we want to sometimes when we give tap into the truth of why we're giving than to be the guy who is it, who is giving. Lesson number two on giving. Have a wonderful Shabbos.