Illustration credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
We learn a lot about tzedakah from Parashat Re’eh, and that’s why tzedakah is a big theme of this week’s Devash. Did you know that tzedakah is also part of the way we pray?
Rambam (Matenot Aniyyim 10:15) and the Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh Deah 249:14) say that it’s a good idea to give some tzedakah before you start to pray.
A lot of communities also pass around a tzedakah box during weekday Shaharit, at the prayer called וַיְבָרֶךְ דָּוִיד (Vayevarekh David). This custom goes back to R. Yitzhak Luria, known as the Ar”i Za”l (Eretz Yisrael, 500 years ago).
Vayevarekh David is a quote from a blessing that King David gave to Benei Yisrael after they donated money for the construction of the Beit Ha-Mikdash. The full blessing appears in Divrei Hayamim Alef 29:10-19.
King David acknowledges that all wealth comes from God: וְהָעֹשֶׁר וְהַכָּבוֹד מִלְּפָנֶיךָ (“riches and honor are Yours to give out”). In the continuation of his speech, the part that doesn’t appear in our tefillah, he really clarifies this idea:
וְכִי מִי אֲנִי וּמִי עַמִּי
כִּי נַעְצֹר כֹּחַ לְהִתְנַדֵּב כָּזֹאת
כִּי מִמְּךָ הַכֹּל וּמִיָּדְךָ נָתַנּוּ לָךְ׃
Who am I and who are my people,
that we should be able to make such a generous donation?
All is from You, and it is Your gift that we have given to You.
The bottom line is: The money we have doesn’t really belong to us—it belongs to God! We’re just holding onto it. So when it comes time to fulfill the mitzvah of giving tzedakah, we should know that we are simply giving the money that already belongs to God!
- Does this idea make it easier to give tzedakah? Why?
- What does giving tzedakah have to do with praying to God? What are some of the things we ask for when we pray, and what are we showing God by giving tzedakah first?
- Try it! Pair your tefillah with an act of tzedakah. How does giving before or during tefillah affect your focus on God, or your intention in prayer?
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