The Trust Factor
A daily lesson that focuses on achieving unparalleled success in life using ancient wisdom in modern times.
We will be discussing critical concepts as they are laid out in the book Sha'ar Habitachon - The Gate of Trust. Written 1000 years ago, the author reminds us of the values and wisdom that have allowed humanity to thrive throughout history.
The concept of trusting in a higher power that exists purely for our benefit, puts us in the drivers seat with absolute confidence to achieve greatness.
Eliminate: Fear, Hatred, Anxiety, Depression, Jealousy, Greed...forever!
* Note that some terminology will be in the original Hebrew or Aramaic which I will always follow with the English translation.
The Trust Factor
Episode 51 - When someone asks for help, how should you respond?
Ever found yourself caught between generosity and skepticism when someone asks for financial help? The Trust Factor podcast tackles this universal dilemma head-on, sparked by a real situation where community members received solicitations for rent money from a stranger.
This episode unravels the wisdom behind meaningful giving. We explore why investigating charity requests isn't just permissible—it's necessary when significant amounts are involved. The true essence of tzedakah (charity) extends beyond the transaction itself to the intention behind it. Remarkably, even if your generosity is met with deception, your spiritual merit remains intact when your heart's purpose was pure.
The ancient principle of "midah k'neged midah" (measure for measure) reveals how our actions create ripple effects throughout our lives. Help someone repair their marriage, and watch your own relationship flourish. Teach another's children, and see your own receive care. This cosmic reciprocity operates with stunning precision, shaping our experiences whether we acknowledge it or not.
Perhaps most powerful is the recognition that all circumstances—both joyful prosperity and challenging hardship—are temporary. King Solomon's timeless wisdom "this too shall pass" applies equally to life's peaks and valleys. How you treat others during abundance directly influences your experience during scarcity. Sometimes, offering a genuine smile, encouragement, and dignity to someone struggling carries more value than money given reluctantly. True charity encompasses both material support and soul-nourishing compassion.
Join us tomorrow as we return to the teachings of Rabbeinu B'achia to further explore trust and faith through divine wisdom. Your perspective on giving may never be the same.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Trust Factor the podcast, the only podcast that promises to improve your life using divine, age-old wisdom. We have had an amazing run of a few days, a few podcasts, where we're talking about tangentiary type items, but all connecting back to trust and faith in our Creator, in our creator. We're talking about real life scenarios, general ways of interacting with our fellow men and what's right and wrong and how to have clarity in the way that we conduct ourselves in this life. There are events that happen in this life, that happen to us on a daily basis and we've said nothing is coincidence. So when something causes you to pause and think, an event takes place in your life that causes you to pause and think, an event takes place in your life that causes you to pause and contemplate, then you should really contemplate it. You should not sweep it under the rug, okay, because there is a message in it, and that happened to us recently. As you saw, I posted something briefly on the group, on the WhatsApp group, saying be weary and don't just give money to anybody who asks. Right, be careful, you've got to do your due diligence. Why did I mention that? I mentioned it because I received a couple of phone calls from people friends, family who've had phone calls from an individual who lives in the Arizona area, or at least used to asking for money, asking for donations to help pay his rent, and he referenced the group, he referenced the podcast and used Hebrew terminology that suggested that he was Jewish and that he needed the help. Now I stand by that post. We have to be careful with the people that ask us for money, especially when we don't know them. But I think it's incumbent upon us to talk about that concept, because God gave it to us. He just put it in my lap. He said look, you've got to deal with this because there's some people in this group who need to hear it. So we need to address it. And the address is the following that when somebody comes to you to ask you for help, you have to investigate, make sure you know who you're dealing with, especially if it's a phone call or an email or a text message and you have no idea who you're dealing with. You have to understand that there is a value to the hard work that goes into the money that you've earned. Okay, money does not come easily in this world, and so you have to appreciate that, as much as you want to help somebody, as much as you want to be able to do good things with the money that God gives you, you have an obligation to investigate and to figure out. Who are you talking to over here? Who are you giving your hard-earned money to?
Speaker 1:Now, if you're talking about a nominal amount of money, wherever you are, and somebody puts out their hand and asks on the street for a dollar or two dollars or whatever it is, and you're in a situation that you can do that and it's no big deal, then great, give somebody a buck, $2, $5, whatever it is. You don't have to do the math on it. It's not an amount that's going to make or break you. When somebody comes to you and asks you for a sizable amount, a sizable donation, we have an obligation, knowing the value of our hard work and our money, knowing that we still need to give charity. We have to do our homework. Who is this individual? What are they looking for? Are they legit? Are they not legit? Do your investigation, but, at the end of the day, recognize that the money that you're going to give is coming from the pool of money that was given to you by the creator and who lacks nothing and has the ability to continue to give. So, at the end of the day, yes, we want to give, but we have to be careful with it, especially when the amounts are large amounts. Again, small amounts, no problem.
Speaker 1:Recognize that when you give charity to somebody, even if that person turns out to be a scammer, even if that person turns out to be illegitimate, you still gave charity. How does that work? Your intention was to give charity. Your intention was to help an individual who put out their hand, who lowered themselves. Guys, I don't know if you've ever had to go and ask for money and, god willing, you should never have to ask. But for somebody to lower themselves and denigrate themselves to the point where they come to you and put out a hand and plead for your hard-earned money, that takes a lot from an individual. It takes a lot.
Speaker 1:Now, certainly see people who've done it long enough or maybe are of less moral fabric. It might come easier to them. Scammers, I don't know. Thank God I was never one of them. But generally speaking, if somebody comes and asks for you, it takes a lot for them to muster up that courage to be able to do that. So at the end of the day, if somebody's coming to you, you want to give them a few dollars you should, especially if they're standing in front of you and you can see into their eyes and you know there's a real person behind that call great.
Speaker 1:But when somebody comes to you out of the blue and it's arm's length and you've never met them and you don't know their stories, valid or not and they're asking for a sizable sum Whether it's $300 or $3,000 or $30,000, it depends on who you are and your financial means. When it becomes a sizable sum, you have an obligation to do the homework. But no, once you've done the homework, you now have obligations. If somebody's coming to you to ask for a few hundred dollars and you've investigated and it's turned out that they're legitimate, then yeah, give, give the charity. No question, that's the right way to operate. We have an obligation to give charity.
Speaker 1:Charity is a very, very powerful mitzvah. It's a powerful tool. It says that charity staka, tatsil, mimavet, charity will save you from certain death. It says that if you give your tithe, if you give your 10% that you're supposed to give from your income to those who need it, then you will become wealthy. There's a very, very powerful idea behind giving others and helping other people in times of need. And remember you may not be in a time of need today, but that can and will change tomorrow. You will have good days and you will have bad days. You will have good years and you will have bad days. You will have good years and you will have bad years. King solomon and his wife and his wisdom said this too shall pass. If you're on top of the world right now and you're making money and you're healthy and everything's good and nobody's bothering you and things are just flowing wonderful, but no, full well. This too, my friend, shall pass. This too is not going to last forever. It may be a month, it may be a year, it may be 10 years, we don't know, but it's going to pass.
Speaker 1:And how you treat people when you're on top of the world, it's called midah, k'neged midah, measure for measure. It's the way God created the world. You may know it as what goes around comes around. That's the way the secular world positions it. But that concept is age old, my friends. It goes back thousands of years. It's called measure for measure. What you do to other people, good or bad, will come back to you. You do good for people. You help them out in their time of need. In your time of need, they will be there to help you. If you're helping somebody who's having marital relations and you help them patch up their relationship, guess what? Your marriage will flourish. If you teach somebody else's children and you raise them up, then your children will be taken care of. That's how it works, measure for measure. It is rock solid. It is a firm principle in Judaism and I've got many stories to share about it. Maybe one day we'll talk in more detail about it.
Speaker 1:But know that even when you're down and out, even when things are difficult, when the business is suffering or when your hours have been cut, or when you were laid off or when you got bad news from the doctor, or on and on and on this too shall pass it is very important to recognize that you have an obligation to interact with people in a way that you would want them to interact with you. When you're down and out, and when things are good and problems are hard to find, you have an obligation to interact with people in a way that you would want them to interact with you. That is a rule that God has placed into this world and there is no way around it. Everything in this world is temporary. My friends, don't take the fact that you're on top of the world for granted and don't be so down and out when things are difficult. Know that it's temporary up of the world for granted and don't be so down and out when things are difficult. Know that it's temporary. Know that it's going to pass. You're just on this roller coaster called life.
Speaker 1:Now back to tzedakah charity, this whole concept of giving this individual who's been calling around and looking for donations. I don't know him, but here's how it would work from my perspective and from a Torah perspective. If you don't know this individual but you want to help him. My perspective and from a Torah perspective If you don't know this individual but you want to help him, you have two choices. I give him a nominal amount of money and it's a tiny amount, let's say for me it might be $20, $18, $20, $36, whatever it is. It's a nominal amount of money, it's not going to make or break me, but it may help this individual. I don't know them, I haven't investigated them. I want to give charity and God knows that my intention is to give charity. That money is going to charity.
Speaker 1:My friends, I don't know who that other person is and, frankly, I don't care. I know he's a creation. I know he lowered himself to be able to come to me and ask me for help, a handout. If he's a criminal, he'll have his accounting after 120 years. God will take care of his accounting and he'll take care of mine also. My accounting is to do good. His was to do bad. I get my reward and he gets his. That's how it works.
Speaker 1:Okay, now, if I want to give this person hundreds of dollars which is impactful, that's considered a sizable amount of money then I need information and I need to ask tell me, what do you need this money for? Who are you? Where's it going? What have you done to be able to make money right? What have you done to be able to provide for your family to do the things that you're asking me to help you to do? And if he's established it in a reasonable way, then wonderful. If I'm so inclined and I have the means, then I should give.
Speaker 1:It's the same thing. Remember, my friends, you're going to be there too one day. It's going to affect you. You're not going to always make money as easy as you are now. Maybe you're not going to go out asking for handouts, but things are going to be difficult and when that time comes, if you need somebody to be sympathetic or to empathize with you, that's what this is, my friends. This isn't saying that you're going to be down and out and destitute and run around asking for money God forbid, you should never have to but you're going to have times where you're going to need a kind word. You're going to need an uplifting smile, a word of encouragement, somebody to help guide you. It's the exact same thing.
Speaker 1:That's the charity we talked about in the beginning. It not always money. Sometimes writing a check is the easiest thing you can do, and the reality is giving a lot of money with a miserable face and making the person regret that they ask, versus giving somebody no money. I mean nothing because you can't afford it, but offering them a drink and a smile and a encouraging word and uplift them and telling them that things are going to be okay and it's just temporary is worth a billion times more than the guy who gave hundreds of dollars with a miserable face. That is the reality, my friends. So that was the conversation around charity. Maybe we'll pick it up another day. Have yourselves a wonderful day. We'll pick up with the Shara B'tachon tomorrow. We'll get back into the book and see what Rabbeinu B'achia has to offer. Have an amazing day.
