Continuing the discussion about the power of tzedakah, our Gemara on Amud Aleph tells us about a Gentile king who flouted his family’s hoarding of wealth, and instead donated his assets to charity. 

תנו רבנן: מעשה במונבז המלך, שבזבז אוצרותיו ואוצרות אבותיו בשני בצורת, וחברו עליו אחיו ובית אביו, ואמרו לו: אבותיך גנזו והוסיפו על של אבותם, ואתה מבזבזם! אמר להם: אבותי גנזו למטה, ואני גנזתי למעלה – שנאמר: ״אמת מארץ תצמח, וצדק משמים נשקף״. אבותי גנזו במקום שהיד שולטת בו, ואני גנזתי במקום שאין היד שולטת בו – שנאמר: ״צדק ומשפט מכון כסאך״.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving King Munbaz, who liberally gave away his treasures and the treasures of his ancestors in the years of drought, distributing the money to the poor. His brothers and his father’s household joined together against him to protest against his actions, and they said to him: Your ancestors stored up money in their treasuries and added to the treasures of their ancestors, and you are liberally distributing it all to the poor. King Munbaz said to them: Not so, my ancestors stored up below, whereas I am storing above.

Munbaz, (or Chazal speaking for his intentions) offers a proof text from Tehilim (85:12):

Truth will spring out of the earth and righteousness will look down from heaven” 

The righteous deeds that one has performed are stored up in heaven. My ancestors stored up treasures in a place where the human hand can reach, and so their treasures could have been robbed, whereas I am storing up treasures in a place where the human hand cannot reach, and so they are secure, as it is stated: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psalms 89:15).

It is an interesting expression, “The truth shall spring out of the Earth.“ And, how does that induce the sequitur, “righteousness will look down heaven“?

Based on what we saw in yesterday’s blog post, Psychology of the Daf, Bava Basra 10, we could say that human choice and morality, by undergoing self awareness and self recognition, arouses the attribute of mercy from heaven. When humans live an autonomous moral existence, emulating God, it channels the ability for His blessings, which go beyond rationality and beyond the letter of the law. When the human consciousness ascertains the truth, comprehending the model by which God created the world, to bestow unlimited kindness, man is then aroused to perform acts of kindness as well. This arousal itself, and this moral awakening, bring about a transformed existence that goes beyond the physical dimension and allows spiritual abundance to manifest. The final stage in his process will be with the advent of the Messiah, when human moral attainment, and a spirit of love and benevolence will lead to the elevation of this world to a different plane. Once man has reached his moral maturity, a new kind of existence will be ushered in, which is about spiritual connection. The flow of this energy will eliminate the trials and pains of physicality, which are subject to entropic forces and evil. (See Tanya, Part IV, Iggeres HaKodesh, Chapter 6 where I believe a similar idea is expressed in kabbalistic terminology.)

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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