Tanya/ Iggeres Ha’Kodesh - The Holy Epistle, Epistle 21, Class 3
The reason given until this point for dividing one’s annual pledges into weekly or at least monthly payments was the quality of alacrity in performing a mitzvah. The Alter Rebbe now adds two further reasons for not deferring frequent payments to one consolidated contribution at the end of the year: (a) every single act of tzedakah refines the soul of the donor; (b) every single act of tzedakah brings about a supernal union in the sefirot and partzufim.24
Indeed, in the service of charity, we have also found and noted a particularly great and incomparably wondrous virtue,
אַךְ גַּם זֹאת מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ בַּעֲבוֹדַת הַצְּדָקָה, מַעֲלָה פְּרָטִיּוּת גְּדוֹלָה וְנִפְלָאָה אֵין עֲרוֹךְ אֵלֶיהָ,
As explained above, in Iggeret Hakodesh, Epistle 12, the “act of charity" (maaseh hatzedakah) remains staidly within the conventional limits set by one’s natural inclination. In the case of the “service of charity" (avodat hatzedakah), by contrast, the individual serves G‑d by toiling, refining himself, and excelling himself until he is able to be charitable in a manner that leaps above and beyond his custom and nature.
The Alter Rebbe now teaches that even if the amount one gives is not out of the ordinary, nevertheless, if it is given with great frequency, this too qualifies as Divine service-
when the act of charity is performed numerous times,
לִהְיוֹת מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה נַעֲשֵׂית בִּפְעָמִים רַבּוֹת,
The Alter Rebbe is referring here not to one’s annual pledge but to the actual giving of the numerous increments, which add up to its total amount-
and whoever does so frequently is praiseworthy,
וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה - הֲרֵי זֶה מְשׁוּבָּח,
rather than at one time and all at once, even when the total sum is the same. Even then, it is far preferable to give the same amount over a longer period on numerous occasions-
וְלֹא בְּפַעַם אַחַת וּבְבַת אַחַת, גַּם כִּי הַסַּךְ הַכּוֹלֵל אֶחָד הוּא,
as R. Moses Maimonides, of blessed memory, wrote in his commentary on the [following] Mishnah25 taught by the Sages, of blessed memory: “And everything is [judged] according to the multiplicity of action"26 as opposed to the stature of the deed.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַמְבַּ"ם זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה בְּפֵירוּשׁ הַמִּשְׁנָה שֶׁשָּׁנוּ חֲכָמִים זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה: "וְהַכֹּל לְפִי רוֹב הַמַּעֲשֶׂה":
On this Mishnah, Maimonides explains that though a one-time donation of (say) a thousand27 gulden is truly praiseworthy, the trait of benevolence does not thereby become embedded within the donor’s psyche to the same extent as it would if he would give these same thousand coins one at a time.
Now, apart from the underlying reason [for this] that R. Moses Maimonides, of blessed memory, clearly explained, viz., “in order to refine the soul by means of the multiplicity of action,"
וְהִנֵּה, מִלְּבַד כִּי הָרַמְבַּ"ם זִכְרוֹנוֹ־לִבְרָכָה בֵּיאֵר הֵיטֵב טַעֲמוֹ וְנִימּוּקוֹ, כְּדֵי לְזַכֵּךְ הַנֶּפֶשׁ עַל־יְדֵי רִבּוּי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה,
an explicit verse in Scripture states that “the effect of tzedakah is for life."
הִנֵּה מִקְרָא מָלֵא דִּיבֵּר הַכָּתוּב: "פְּעוּלַּת צְדָקָה לְחַיִּים",
In his Notes and Emendations at the conclusion of [the Hebrew edition of] the Tanya, the Rebbe refers the reader to the following two verses: In Proverbs 10:16 we find, פְּעוּלַּת צַדִּיק לְחַיִּים-“The effect of a tzaddik is for life," and in Proverbs 11:19 we find, כֵּן צְדָקָה לְחַיִּים-“So is tzedakah for life." Accordingly, the Rebbe notes that the Alter Rebbe’s citation of the three words פְּעוּלַּת צְדָקָה לְחַיִּים (“the effect of tzedakah is for life") as part of “an explicit verse" is problematic.
Seemingly, this difficulty could be resolved by interpreting thus: Since “the effect of a tzaddik" is tzedakah (in the spirit of the verse, “G‑d is a ‘tzaddik’: He loves acts of tzedakah"28), the verse which states that “the effect of a tzaddik is for life" in fact seeks to imply that “the effect of a tzaddik-viz., tzedakah-is for life."
From the note by the Rebbe, however, it is apparent that this interpretation is unsatisfactory, for surely, “an explicit verse" should be explicit without resort to interpretation.
This means, the effect and mystical consequence [of tzedakah] is to elicit and draw down supernal life from the Fountainhead of Life (lit., “from the Life of life"), the blessed Ein Sof,
דְּהַיְינוּ, שֶׁפְּעוּלָּתָהּ וּסְגוּלָּתָהּ לְהַמְשִׁיךְ חַיִּים עֶלְיוֹנִים מֵחַיֵּי הַחַיִּים אֵין־סוֹף בָּרוּךְ־הוּא
to the Land of Life, i.e., to malchut of Atzilut.
לְאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים,
The sefirah of malchut in the World of Atzilut is known as the “Land of Life" because (relative to the more “heavenly" levels) it is the lowest level within that World. It is known as the “Land of Life" because it provides life to all the created beings of the three lower Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah.
The effect of tzedakah, then, is to draw down life-giving Divine energy into the recipient (or “feminine") attribute called malchut of Atzilut. The source of this life (the “Fountainhead of Life") is called za, which is the last level within the worlds that are Ein Sof, or infinite. The name za is an acronym for z’eyr anpin, i.e., the bracket of six masculine middot, or emotive attributes of Atzilut. (This yichud of masculine and feminine middot is the “supernal union" spoken of below.)
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FOOTNOTES
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24. With regard to the possibility that the Alter Rebbe may be meaning to indicate that one should not give a large amount of tzedakah at the very beginning of the year, the Rebbe notes the following: “According to this logic, the Alter Rebbe is directing that the entire amount should not be given in Tishrei [at the beginning of the year] but only one-twelfth, while the remainder is held back, and no more than one-twelfth given each month thereafter! And this immediately follows his explanation of the praiseworthy quality of prompt performance! “It is thus self-evident that the Alter Rebbe intends that one should act thus only if it in no way at all conflicts with giving at the earliest possible opportunity and with alacrity. It is also obvious, considering the reason given, that this applies equally to all charities, not only that of the Land of Israel. “In addition to Maimonides’ above-quoted observation in his Commentary on the Mishnah [that the Mishnah speaks not of the amount of the deed but of the frequency of the deed], this is moreover stated as a legal directive in Levushei Serad, Hilchot Tzedakah 113:215, which is quoted in the discourse beginning LeHavin…Kol Perutah. (See this separately published maamar, in which the Tzemach Tzedek discusses all the above at length. [Below, p. 391, and also published as The Art of Giving (Kehot, N.Y., 2014).]) “It would seem that the Alter Rebbe’s explanation (and this letter in general) relates specifically to the money that was collected for the Kollel for the following reason: In those days, it was conveyed to the Holy Land by a special messenger once a year (having been collected from the various towns only once in many months), as mentioned in many letters of the Rebbeim. This being so, the question naturally arises: What benefit could there possibly be in giving it weekly to a local collector? In this letter, therefore, the Alter Rebbe explains the twofold benefit: (a) promptness; (b) the frequency of the deed."
25. Note by the Rebbe: “And more briefly, as a point of law, in Hilchot Deot 1:7."
26. Avot 3:15.
27. Note by the Rebbe: “The Tzemach Tzedek (loc. cit.) quotes the variant reading of R. Ovadiah of Bartenura: ‘One hundred.’"
28. Psalms 11:7.