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The importance of TZEDAQAH, "doing righteous acts ” is stressed throughout Yeshua’s teachings. One of the most famous is found in Matthew 6:19-23, a lesson that was taught on the mountain that day too.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal. Lay up for yourselves treasures with God,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and
steal. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body
is the eye. If you have a good eye, your whole body will be full of light. But if you
have an evil eye, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light
that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
The underlined words are idioms and they are nightmares for translators of modern Bibles who usually fail to recognize them. An idiom is a word or phrase that cannot be translated literally into another language because the meaning cannot be understood by defining its component parts. The best way to explain idioms is to give examples an American will recognize (idiom is underlined):
(1) He really put his foot in his mouth.
(2) It's raining cats and dogs outside.
(3) I'll do it when the cows come home.
(4) Stop beating around the bush.
(5) It costs an arm and a leg.
(6) Don't put all of your eggs in one basket.
What would someone think if they tried to understand the sentences above by taking the underlined words literally? Picture the sentences that way and you will probably start laughing. Below are the real meanings of the idioms Yeshua used above:
(1) good eye – a generous person who does acts of TZEDAQAH.
(2) evil eye – a stingy greedy person who gives nothing to those in need.
Now let's update the translation above:
The lamp of the body is the eye.
If you are generous and do acts of TZEDAQAH for those in need,
your whole body will be full of light.
But if you are stingy and greedy, and give nothing to those in need,
your whole body will be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
It is important to keep in mind that Yeshua's teachings may contain more than just the simple meanings. Earlier I pointed out that light and life are often used interchangeably. Being aware of this reveals something very interesting that some of his followers would probably realize:
The lamp of the body is the eye.
If you are generous and
son who does acts of TZEDAQAH for those in need,
your whole body will be full of life.
But if you are a stingy greedy person who does not do acts of TZEDAQAH for those in need,
your whole body will be full of death.
If therefore the life that is in you is death, how great is that death!
So, how does one “lay up treasures with God”? It is by doing acts of TZEDAQAH. Why should people layup treasures with God? For the answer we must return to them words of Isaiah again (58:10):
And if you let out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light shall rise in the darkness and your darkness shall be like noon.
Now let’s take another look, but this time with what we learned about:
And if you let out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your life shall rise in death and your death shall be like life.
This is clearly seen in what is undoubtedly the most important words Yeshua ever taught (Matthew 25:31-46):
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy messengers with him,
then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him,
and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
He will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left.
The King will say to those on his right hand:
“Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world because
I was hungry and you gave me food;
I was thirsty and you gave me drink;
I was a stranger and you took me in;
I was naked and you clothed me;
I was sick and you visited me;
I was in prison and you came to me.”
The righteous will answer him, saying:
“Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you?
Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?”
The King will answer and say to them:
“Amen! Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
He will then say to those on the left hand:
“Depart from me, you cursed,
into the judgment OLAM prepared for the adversary and his messengers,
because I was hungry and you gave me no food;
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink;
I was a stranger and you did not take me in,
naked and you did not clothe me, sick
and in prison and you did not visit me.”
They will also answer him, saying:
“Master, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
and did not minister to you?”
He will answer them, saying:
“Amen!
Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
These will go away into eternal punishment,
but those who did TZEDAQAH will go away into life eternal.