We are instructed, in this week’s parsha, to “tithe” and take one tenth of all we earn and give it to charity. The basis of this commandment is that our money is not our own. Yes, we worked hard to earn it, but we received it for another purpose making us conduits through which the money passes to the world. There is a way to transform our entire working day into a mitzvah and a tool for further growth.
The Alter Rebbe writes that if a person thinks about the charity that he will give as he’s working, then all his efforts and earnings become subsumed and elevated in the divine act of tithing.
Let’s begin the new month of Elul thinking about giving and making the world a better place.