Charitable giving

Deuteronomy 24:19-21 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean [it] afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

We talk about giving but what do groups like the Jews Believe about Giving? We know they are a blessed group of people. If you didn't know how blessed they are, look up the statistics. 9% of Jews have been past winners of the Nobel peace prize, and have 25-35% representation on the Forbes richest people in the world year in year out. Most of the tech inventions you know of, biggest companies in the world etc stem from founders who have a Jewish lineage. 

This is no accident because of the spiritual heritage they have. They are children of Abraham and carry the blessing that was promised to Abraham. Today most Jews don't even believe in the New Testament but the old testament. They also have other sacred writings and texts which are the backbone of their belief system. Some of those are the Tanakh which is the old testament hebrew Bible and the Talmud which is the oral law. The Tanakh is divided into three major parts, the Torah which is the law, the Nevi'im or the prophets and the Ketuvim or the writings. 

The Torah says “You are forbidden to reap the whole harvest; a remnant in the corner must be left for the poor.” This was expounded in yesterday's blog while the Talmud stresses that “You’re only as wealthy as the amount you are able to give.” 

If they have grounded their lives in a giving culture through sacred texts, we ought to emulate the same for this is part and parcel of their success.