The Alter Rebbe’s grandson, the young Tzemach Tzedek, once came to visit his zeidy in an expensive gartel.
“How much did it cost?” the Alter Rebbe asked.
“Fifteen rubles,” the Tzemach Tzedek admitted.
The Alter Rebbe seemed taken aback by the price. On principle, he refused to indulge in anything beyond the bare necessities – the Rebbe’s home was known for its striking simplicity.
“Do you think you’re a rich man, that you allow yourself to wear such expensive clothing? Tell me,” the Alter Rebbe continued. “How much did you receive as your wedding dowry?”
“Two thousand rubles,” said the Tzemach Tzedek, adding that he had invested the sum with a reliable businessman.
“How do you know your money is safe? Just because the businessman is rich today, who can guarantee that he will be rich tomorrow?” The Alter Rebbe took out a box designated for tzedakah. “My advice is to keep the money here instead.”
The young Tzemach Tzedek was stunned. Give his entire dowry to tzedakah? He wasn’t ready to make the massive change and left his dowry with the businessman.
Then, a few months later, the Tzemach Tzedek’s entire investment of 2,000 rubles went up in literal flames when the businessman’s warehouse burned down.
When the Alter Rebbe asked his grandson how the investment was doing, the Tzemach Tzedek shared that he now knew the truth the Alter Rebbe had known all along: Tzedakah is the only risk-free investment there is.
And not only is it risk-free – tzedakah yields the highest dividends. We’re investing with Hashem, the source of all good Who has the ability to multiply the principle in numbers beyond comprehension.
It’s a lesson the Alter Rebbe lovingly explained to a community who had fallen on hard times and reduced their donations to Colel Chabad.
In the letter, (Igeres Hakodesh, Siman Tes-Zayin), the Alter Rebbe urges them to support the poor in Eretz Yisrael again. If anything, the Alter Rebbe shared, when you’re facing a financial challenge is exactly the time to give.
“Hashem’s mercy is elicited only…by arousing our compassion for those in need. Whoever hardens his heart and suppresses his compassion, causes the same above — the suppression of [Divine compassion], heaven forfend.”
The Alter Rebbe’s words reverberate throughout the generations, talking directly to us two centuries later. Even in times of financial uncertainty — especially in times of financial uncertainty — tzedakah is the wisest financial strategy we can adopt, opening the pipelines of brachos.
In honor of Chof-Daled Teves, donate to the cause the Alter Rebbe established – Colel Chabad, the organization continues to support widows, orphans, the sick, the elderly, and the poor in Eretz Yisrael.
In that zechus, may we merit the words of the Alter Rebbe, that our tzedakah will “arouse Heavenly mercy” and that Hashem will repay us “twofold, in this world.”
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Beautiful story.