The Joy Of Charity
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THE EXPERIMENT

Still, you may ask:
What do we mean by "trying out", or confirming experientially, a metaphysical principle?

Is this like some high school chemistry experiment whose result can be easily verified by anyone who takes the trouble to go through the following procedure?

Step 1 -- Calculate one-tenth of income.

Step 2 -- Give this tenth to charity.

Step 3 -- The result: Get rich.

Well, it's not quite so simple, of course.
There are two main reasons why it's not so simple:

1. The "result" -- to be rich -- is both a relative state (Can everyone be rich?) and a subjective state (Our sages teach that to be rich is to be happy with one's lot.). It therefore cannot be as easily measured or determined as a chemistry lab result.
2. The "experiment" of tithing income can never control all relevant variables. There will always be other reasonable explanations why you became wealthy.

Then what is the claim behind the invitation to "try out" tithing income?

First of all, there are very impressive stories of clear cases where:

• a. anyone would say that this person is rich;
• b. it is difficult to pin the cause on some "natural" process or mere "coincidence" and/or the perceived "meaning" of events strongly invites the miraculous interpretation.

Your case might be such a clear one, and so you are invited to "try it out".

Secondly, to see the result is in effect to see a miracle. One who is prepared to see miracles in life, will find many; but even one who is not so prepared to see one, is likely to see the miracle of the material reward of tithing income. It is in this regard that tithing income is unique.

In addition, there are two important caveats:

1. You must not "cheat". That is, you must really tithe your income properly, and not just sort of do it or almost do it. This requires a bit of learning about how it's done as well as a good deal of integrity.
2. Although tithing brings wealth, other things bring poverty - haughtiness being the major one. So in some cases, tithing may simply prevent the poverty without resulting in obvious wealth.

But don't be discouraged. The general rule remains:
The more you give, the more you get.
Try it out!

		The Joy Of Charity
new material		www.joyoflife.org.il	about this site