- Why Tzedakah Is Compared to Planting
- The Alter Rebbe explains the deeper meaning of calling charity “sowing”.
- When a seed is planted, the resulting stalk or fruit is not simply the original seed enlarged.
- The seed itself decomposes and loses its original form.
- The Hidden Power of Growth
- The remarkable growth comes from the earth’s hidden power of vegetation (koach hatzomeach).
- The seed merely triggers and reveals this hidden power.
- Once activated, the earth produces something far greater than the original seed:
- One grain yields many stalks.
- One seed can produce abundant fruit.
- A Spiritual Parallel
- The same principle applies to tzedakah.
- The charity given by a person is not itself the source of the immense spiritual revelation that follows.
- Rather, it serves as the catalyst that awakens a much higher Divine source.
- More Than Measure for Measure
- What grows from the act of charity is infinitely greater than the act itself.
- Just as the fruit is far superior to the seed planted, the Divine response greatly exceeds the original gift.
- Awakening Hidden Divine Kindness
- The giving of tzedakah activates hidden reservoirs of Divine kindness and mercy.
- These higher levels were already present, just as the earth already possessed the power of growth.
- The act of giving simply brings them into revelation.
- “An Awakening from Below”
- In the language of Kabbalah, the seed resembles:
It’aruta d’letata (an awakening from below)
- The Arizal calls this:
Mayin Nukvin (“feminine waters”)
- Human effort rises upward and stimulates a far greater response from Above.
- The Real Source of the Blessing
- Just as the earth’s power produces the grain, the true source of spiritual blessing is Hashem’s infinite kindness.
- Tzedakah does not create this Divine kindness.
- It reveals and draws it into the world.