Chapter
7
You
will be Established with Righteousness
Contents:
Jerusalem is redeemed with
charity, as is written “Zion will be redeemed with justice; and those who
return to her, with righteousness [Isa.
1:27] [in Hebrew, the term for money given to the poor is ‘
righteousness’ — that is, the deed is considered a righteous one; in English,
the term used is ‘charity’]. It
also says: “You will be established with righteousness [i.e., charity] and your
children’s peace will be abundant” [Isa.
54:13]. You will be
established with charity is considered both a decree and a sign of grace. God wished to bring merit to all of
Israel, the close ones and those far away, with the commandment to build
Jerusalem. Therefore he decreed
that Jerusalem would be built with charity. Every man of Israel must participate in the building and
expansion of the heritage of God: “expand the site of your tent” [Isa. 54:2] etc., all the more so during a
time and with commandments connected with Jerusalem and building it. Help in building Jerusalem is
obligatory to compensate for what all Israel in general and in particular
obtain from Jerusalem. Our
brethren of Israel who still reside in the exile receive from their brethren
who dwell in Jerusalem and are building it, thousands even tens of thousands
more than what they contribute to Jersualem, even when the contribution is
generous. For all the abundance of
salvation, blessing, redemption, lovingkindness and mercy, success, health,
etc., etc. of Israel wherever they
are, comes only from Jerusalem and building it
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