By Yisrael Yitzchak Rosenfeld
This week we find ourselves in Parashat Pinchas. The very name itself opens a profound doorway. On a deeper level, it can be read as two parts:
Pan and Chas.
- Pan (פן) reminds us of Panim—the face.
In the Torah, the face represents revelation. When we see a person’s face, we immediately recognize who they are. When we see only their back, however, a certain uncertainty always remains. The face reveals identity.
- Chas means compassion, mercy, and loving kindness.
Thus, Pinchas already carries a profound message within his very name:
The revelation of mercy.
The face of compassion becomes visible—precisely in a Torah portion whose events, on the surface, seem anything but merciful. Yet there is an even deeper layer.
The word Chas (חס) consists of the letters Chet (ח) and Samekh (ס). These two letters form the essential two-letter root of one of the most central concepts in Kabbalah:
Chesed.
Chesed is composed of Chet (ח), Samekh (ס), and Dalet (ד). Structurally speaking, Chesed is nothing more than Chas extending itself toward the Dalet (ד).
What does the Dalet symbolize?
Its very name comes from the word Dal (דל)—
- the poor person,
- the needy one,
- the individual
who stands before another with empty hands.
In the inner dimension of Torah, the Dalet also represents the Shechinah—the indwelling Presence of Hashem.
The Zohar describes Malchut, the lowest of the Sefirot, as Aniyah—poor—because it possesses nothing of its own. It receives everything. It is the pure vessel. This reveals the deepest meaning of Chesed:
The loving generosity of the giver flows into the empty vessel of the receiver.
Therefore, when we give to even a single person, we are not merely helping an individual. We are giving to the Shechinah itself.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a) teaches that every human being is an Olam Katan—an entire world in miniature. The whole is reflected within the individual. Whoever gives to one person ultimately gives to all of creation. This idea becomes even deeper when seen in the four-letter Name of Hashem—
Yud–Heh–Vav–Heh (י־ה־ו־ה).
- Its very structure describes the act of Tzedakah. The Yud (י) is but a single point. It resembles a coin—a concentrated drop of Divine blessing descending from Above.
- The first Heh (ה), whose numerical value is five, contains within its form both a Dalet (ד) and a Yud (י). Together they spell Yad (יד)—the hand. It is the hand Above holding the coin.
- The Vav (ו) is the extension. It is the outstretched arm—the connection between the giver and the receiver.
- Finally, the last Heh (ה) is the open hand below—the vessel ready to receive. Thus, the very Name of Hashem describes the process of giving.
Every time we give Tzedakah, we are not simply performing an external mitzvah. With our own hands, we trace the letters of His Name. For this reason, the Torah allows us to test Hashem in only one area. The prophet Malachi (3:10) declares:
“Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse… and test Me now in this,” says Hashem of Hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of Heaven and pour out blessing beyond measure.”
“Bechanuni na bazot”—”Test Me in this.”
Only regarding Tzedakah does Hashem Himself invite us to experience this connection between giving and receiving. For Tzedakah aligns a person with the inner structure of the Divine Name. Whoever gives aligns himself with a reality in which giving itself is woven into the very order of Creation. The Talmud (Sukkah 49b) expresses this even more strongly:
“Tzedakah is greater than all the sacrifices.”
Likewise, the Rambam writes in Hilchot Matanot Aniyim (10:2) that no one has ever become poor through giving Tzedakah, and that no harm ever results from generosity. He bases this on Proverbs 28:27:
“Whoever gives to the poor will never lack.”
The mathematics of Heaven follow a different logic than the mathematics of earth. The Baal HaTanya, in his Iggeret HaKodesh, goes even further. He teaches that in the era immediately preceding the coming of Mashiach, Tzedakah becomes the greatest form of Tikkun—spiritual rectification.
No other mitzvah refines the soul so powerfully during this period or prepares both humanity and the world for the final Redemption. For this reason, the Chassidic masters teach that every act of generosity is answered by manyfold blessing from Above. Not because we manipulate a spiritual system.
Rather, because we align ourselves with the inner logic of Creation.
The hand below opens. The hand Above responds. Yet it is precisely here that our deepest inner work begins. Perhaps while reading these words, a quiet voice arises within:
“If I give, I will receive much more in return.”
That voice should neither be suppressed nor condemned. It is the Ratzon LeKabel—the desire to receive for oneself. That desire is not evil. It is the raw material of the human soul. But if it remains the sole motivation for giving, the mitzvah loses its highest light.
The deepest form of Tzedakah is giving for the sake of giving itself.
The act itself becomes the reward. For through it, the soul is refined, the collective consciousness is elevated, and the world is brought closer to the era described by the Baal HaTanya, the first Rebbe of Chabad. When that calculating voice arises while giving, that is precisely the moment to pray:
“Master of the Universe, let my giving be pure.
Help me give simply for the sake of giving.
Allow me to recognize Your Shechinah in the one who is in need.
May my compassion reach the Dalet.
May the very act of giving become my reward.”
Heaven continues to give in return. The promise of “Bechanuni na bazot” remains true. Yet the highest souls— those whom the Baal HaSulam describes as people who have transformed their Ratzon LeKabel into Ratzon LeHashpia—the desire to bestow— give without calculation.
They give because giving connects them with the Giver.
They give because it creates deveikut—cleaving to Hashem. That is the leveltoward which we are meant to grow. And even if our intentions are not yet perfectly pure, every act remains infinitely precious.
For without the deed itself, there would be no opportunity afterward to examine our own intentions and continually narrow the gap between where we are today and our potential for true altruism.
May we, during this week of Parashat Pinchas, become living expressions of that very name:
People through whose hands the Face of Mercy becomes visible.
