740. Three Gifts

“And the Lord your God will keep for you the covenant and the Hesed [mercy/grace/].” The Creator gave three good gifts to Israel: merciful ones, shy, and alms givers, as it is written, “will keep … and the Hesed [also means alms giving]” (Jerusalem Talmud, Chapter 1, 45).

“Merciful ones” means being givers, as in “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.”

Shy means that one feels shame when he receives in order to please himself. Otherwise, he will not have a need to work in order to bestow.

Almsgiving is also the quality of bestowal, for mercy pertains to charity, when one has mercy on the poor. This pertains specifically to a time when one does not feel the taste of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], and then it is considered that all his actions are regarded as Tzedakah [righteousness/charity].

Almsgiving pertains to both poor and rich, meaning that even if one already has a taste in Torah and Mitzvot, now he must exert because afterward, he will repay him equally for his labor, except he must believe him that he will pay him back later.

It therefore follows that there are two kinds of work:

1) Charity, when one exerts in Torah and Mitzvot and does not want any reward other than his work.

2) When he feels that he is not giving charity, meaning he is certain that afterward, he will receive reward for the labor.

Here, the main lack is in time, meaning that if one receives immediately following the labor, it is regarded as selling and buying, the way one gives money and receives something in return. But when one must wait for the return, as in “To do them today and to receive the reward for them tomorrow,” this is already regarded as a loan and as almsgiving.

Man should acquire for himself these three gifts, meaning to try to be liked by the Creator so He will give him the three above-mentioned gifts, since usually, when someone is liked, he is given gifts.

However, before one is rewarded with gifts, a person is inherently incapable of doing such deeds, and only through upbringing can one come to the above.

However, this is not wholeness, since what one receives through rearing is regarded as without intention, meaning he does not have a choice, namely that everything he does is compulsory, and what is compulsory is neither condemned nor praised, since one does not do out of one’s own volition, but because of a desire that the environment induced within him. If he were in a different environment, he would do completely different things than what he does.

However, when we receive this gift from the Creator, this is called “wholeness,” and then he does everything out of his own volition.