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 144 - Beyond Recognition: The Eternal Rewards of Selfless Giving
Ever wonder if you're thinking about charity all wrong? The Trust Factor podcast challenges conventional wisdom about giving and reveals a profound truth: when someone asks for your help, they're actually doing you a favor.
This enlightening episode explores the counter-cultural idea that recipients of charity enable givers to perform powerful mitzvahs (good deeds) that carry spiritual benefits. While society often portrays giving as losing something, this perspective flips the narrative completely. The podcast delves into the divine economics of giving, where public recognition and earthly rewards actually diminish eternal spiritual benefits.
We examine the hierarchy of charitable giving - from the lowest level (giving with fanfare and public recognition) to the highest form (giving in complete secrecy). The discussion acknowledges the practical reality that sometimes public giving serves a greater purpose when it inspires others to contribute, while emphasizing that our internal motivation matters most. God reads our hearts and knows our true intentions.
The most transformative concept presented is the reframing of our role in charitable acts. Rather than seeing ourselves as heroic benefactors, we're invited to recognize our position as privileged messengers. "God doesn't need me to do this. There are millions of people He could choose, and He chose me." This perspective fosters humility and gratitude rather than pride.
Whether you're religious or simply interested in the psychology of giving, this episode offers a perspective shift that could transform your approach to charity and good deeds. Listen now and discover how becoming a channel for blessing rather than its source might be the most fulfilling way to live.
Good morning everybody. Welcome to the Trust Factor, the podcast that guarantees your success when you implement its divine, age-old teachings. We are continuing to discuss this idea of doing a mitzvah for somebody else, or even for yourself, but it includes the public. It includes other people. How does somebody with trust in God conduct themselves? And we said that we have to ask for additional assistance to be sure that we're doing the right thing and that we're actually helping the individual that we're seeking to help. But when we said, also, we need to be careful not to let it get to our head, not to think that we are the ones who are doing this mitzvah and therefore these people should be grateful to us. In fact, the opposite is true. It is us we need should be grateful to us. In fact, the opposite is true. It is us, we need to be grateful for having been given the opportunity to do a mitzvah.
Speaker 0:Think about this for a second. Somebody comes to ask you for charity. You're digging into your pocket. You worked very hard, you slaved for your money and it did not come easy. You sacrificed from your time, your time away from your family and your community. You did things that you needed to do, sometimes that depleted you in order to earn this money. And now you have to dig deep and give it away to somebody who is not working, who cannot work, does not have the ability to work or can't find a job, whatever it is. That's not easy for a lot of people, a lot of people if they bring themselves to that situation where they can give. Sometimes, especially in the early days of giving charity, you might come to be confused and think that it is you who is helping this individual, and in fact it's the opposite. Think about this the individual who doesn't have the job, who doesn't have the money, who doesn't have means and resources that you do. When he takes the few dollars from you, he's doing you the favor. He is enabling you to do a mitzvah, a powerful mitzvah. We said the other day, charity will save you from death and this guy is giving you the opportunity.
Speaker 0:This society has brought us so low that we tend to think that if you give away what you've worked hard for, then you are a sucker, then you are a loser, and the exact opposite is true. Obviously, one needs to be careful with where they give their money and how much they give. There are limitations placed by the Creator on how much you can give. Because, thankfully, there are people in this world who have means but also have a big heart Sometimes a bigger heart than their means and therefore they're often giving away whatever it is that they have. They have a hard time even keeping anything for themselves.
Speaker 0:So God has to put mechanisms in place to say no, you're not allowed to give it all away. You have to take care of number one first. That's why it says charity starts at home. Once you've taken care of you and your family, then you can go outside of concentric circles and start to look at your extended family and then start to look at your community and then start to look at the world at large. But it starts at home. My friends, let's read a little bit so that we understand where we're at right now, because we left it on a very important point. We said and I'll read it when performing any such mitzvah that involves helping another person, one should try as much as he can to conceal it from those who do not need to know about it. You hear, it's the.
Speaker 0:It's even further than what I just discussed the right way to give charity. Yesterday I said there is a right way and there is a wrong way. Even when you do it the wrong way. What's the wrong way when you beat your chest, when you blow the shofar or the horns or they ring the bells and you get everybody's attention and say attention, attention, everybody, I'm about to give charity. Everybody take note. And they put their hands in their pocket or they have a big check writing ceremony and they write these checks that are about 4,000 times the size of a regular check, and they put pictures all over the place, right, everybody paying attention, everybody noticing how much I'm giving over here. That, my friends, is the wrong way to do it. Do you still get reward? Yes, you still get reward. God recognizes that you did the right thing. You gave charity. It doesn't change anything, it doesn't detract from the fact that you've given money.
Speaker 0:But it is the lowest level of giving charity, of conducting a mitzvah, of doing a mitzvah where everybody around you acknowledges and sees what you're doing and you get honor and credit for it or even, potentially, monetary reward. Oftentimes people only give charity when there's something in it for them, even if it means a tax receipt, that's a monetary reward. Instead of giving the money to government, I get to keep it or I get to give it to some other organization. That's a reward. So at the end of the day, it's legit. You can do it, you'll get your reward, you'll give the charity. Everybody wins, no question, not detracting from it.
Speaker 0:But what he says over here is that the best way to do it is to conceal it from those who do not need to know about it. Oftentimes, when you're doing a mitzvah, not everybody needs to know. Most mitzvahs people don't need to know, and so if you can avoid having all the fanfare that's associated with it, then that is the ultimate way to give charity. In that way, you gain the biggest reward. It's not the same reward, it is a whole other level of reward. That's the words of Chavot HaLevavot. That's what he's telling us over here. So it's very important. Now, sometimes there are people who need to know because that's part of the act of doing the mitzvah that there are people involved and they have to see somebody coming through and they will see with their eyes or hear with their ears, and they will make the connection back to you.
Speaker 0:Okay, even then, you have to do your best to minimize it and recognize that you are just a tool in God's hands. It could just as easily been anybody else in your position. It could have been just as easily you who were on the receiving end of the charity. But it turns out that God and his love for you put you on the other side and used you as an intermediary, as an agent of his. That is a huge merit and that's what you should have in your mind. All I am is a messenger. God doesn't need me to do this. There are millions of people in the world that God can choose from to do his handiwork, and he chose me. That, my friends, is enough, or it should be enough, for us to feel gratitude, for us to feel fulfilled in doing the mitzvah.
Speaker 0:Not that I need to have my name on the building, not that I need to have the plaque every single place where I donated something, even a set of candlesticks. I need to have a plaque with my name and my family name and a dedication right. Every dollar I give needs to be conditional. What do I get for it in return? It's the exact opposite of the right way. Reiterate you still get reward for it. So if you're so inclined, and that's the only reason or the only condition that you're going to give your charity upon, you'll still get reward for it.
Speaker 0:The question is what kind of a reward do you want? Then he says that recognition. When you get recognition in this world, what it does is it diminishes the reward that you get in the next world. So, whatever you take in this world in terms of credit, whether it's honor or whether it's dollars, that diminishes your reward in the next world. I don't know about you guys, but for me, if I have to choose between a temporary reward that's going to last me a few years that is going to go as quickly as a blink of an eye versus a reward, an eternal reward, in the next world, the choice is very simple, my friends. It's not one that you need to contemplate. And there's also this thing that I keep talking about. You know it's called balance.
Speaker 0:Right, you can do a mitzvah where people will know that it's you, and sometimes it's actually encouraged to be able to to publicize the event. Why, especially when it comes to things like charity, but even other mitzvahs like helping the sick or visiting the sick, it's very important to publicize these sometimes, and you're supposed to put your name to it, sometimes, like somebody writes a book, a very important Torah book with lots of lessons for humanity in it, and somebody needs money to publish that book. Right? It's good sometimes to be able to put your name behind it, even though it's going to potentially come with honor. That sometimes you simply can't avoid because what you're trying to do is inspire other people. If you can inspire other people to be able to cover off the cost of the book without having to publicize your name, even better. But if you can't, because you're one person and there's a lot of funds that need to be raised and giving your name over as an example of somebody who gave charity might inspire somebody else to do the same, then go for it, put your name behind it.
Speaker 0:But remember, remember my friends your mindset is what is most important. God wants to know what's in your head and in your heart. Are you doing it reluctantly? I recognize I have to put my name behind there. I really prefer not to, but I'm only doing it in order to inspire other people to come and do the same thing, to be able to raise money. Then God knows what's in your heart. You can fool yourself all you want. He knows what you're really thinking.
Speaker 0:So the right way to do it, as we said, and we'll summarize is do it completely altruistically. It has nothing to do with you. You are a tool in God's hand and that alone is enough of a merit for you to feel content that you're given the opportunity to do this mitzvah. If you have to put your name behind it, if people have to know that it's you, or if there's an opportunity to raise additional funds in that merit, then still keep in mind that you would have had it otherwise if you had the choice. In doing so. Hashem will read your heart and He'll know what's in your head and your heart and as a result of that, you will get rewarded, not only in this world, my friends, but also for eternity. Have an amazing day. We'll continue tomorrow.
