The Mishna in Pirkei Avot (chapter 5, mishna 13) tells us that there are four kinds of people that give charity. The first one wants to give, but he doesn't want others to give. This man says, “Wow, this is such an opportunity! I don't want to share it. I want to take it just for myself.” That's not good, because if you really believe in the power of Sedaka , you want to share with everybody. Rav Sholom Schwadron tells a story about Rav Yonatan Eybeschutz, that occurred a few hundred years ago. Rav Eybeschutz had a havruta who was a little bit of a zealot. This man was upset that the church was displaying their cross right in front of their shul, so he decided to knock the cross down late one night. Unfortunately, he got caught and was put in jail. They were planning to burn him at the stake for this terrible act (which of course, we don't condone). The church guard took the responsibility of guarding this man, and, as there is corruption everywhere, he went to Rav Yonatan Eybeschutz, who was the rabbi of the town, and made an offer. “For a fee of $$$$, I will deliver this man back to you.” And that's what he did. He left the door open for the man to escape. Where did Rav Eybeschutz get the money? When the congregants heard that this man was locked up, they took up a collection, but Rav Yonatan had money saved up for his daughter's wedding and he used that money instead. The people came to him afterwards and said, “ We want to pay, we want to be part of it .” But he said, “ Sorry, I took care of already.” The next day, the guard came to Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz and said that the people he worked for realized that he had purposely left the door open. “ I trust you. I see how you were willing to save your fellow Jew, so I'm going to give you back the money you gave me, and my assets. I'm running away. But if I return, I want to come back and get it back from you.” The next day, this guard was found dead. He was drowned in a river. Rabbi Yonatan’s wife was elated. They had laid out the money, and, like we said yesterday, v’Natenu, you give the money, it comes back to you. It came back to them! She was elated, but her husband was very, very upset. He wondered how and why they had gotten all the money back so fast. The same money they that they gave, they got back, and more?! He felt that something was wrong. It didn’t sound like they want his mitzvah. He fasted for three consecutive days, and did a Taanit Halom, where he put a question under his pillow. In the morning, he received his answer. “ You're correct. Your mitzvah was rejected from a reward in the world to come. You received all your award in this world. And the reason was because you were not willing to share the mitzvah with your congregation. They wanted a portion of this special mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyim; they raised the money as well, and you should have let them have part of the mitzvah. You rejected them, so your mitzvah was rejected.” Unbelievable! It's great to believe in the power of a mitzvah, and it’s wonderful to believe in Sedaka, but you can't just be in it for yourself. You have to share it with other people as well. There's a joke like this, about a man who was bragging on Purim about how he had this unbelievable Ani/poor person who was poverty stricken…. with no money, no food. His friend, wanting to help out, asked, “ Who is he?” But the man answered, “ I'm not going to share him with you! I want to save him for myself. I want to give it to him!” Of course, it's a joke, but we're not in it for ourselves. And not only are we in it for the people that need the money, but we want to have mercy on everyone around us and give them the opportunity as well. And then our mitzvah is accepted. So, getting back to our Sedaka appeal this week for Lev Chana: If one person were to come up and give me $150,000, which is the area of what I need, that would be nice. But it wouldn't be right. We want everyone to have a portion in the Mitzvah. So, if there are about a thousand or so people receiving this, and each person would give a $100 or $150, we could cover it. We have to give everyone a chance, to give everyone a zechut . Of course, if you want to give more, you can give more. But don't take the whole thing for yourself. Share the Mitzvah. Believe that the power of Sedaka is great, but at the same time, have Ahavat Yisrael and share it with others. Have a wonderful day. To donate: Click this link, https://www.rayze.it/levchana/ Zelle or email Rabbisutton@gmail.com Or mail a check to Lev Chana 1059 East 10 th St Brooklyn NY 11230