The Power of Tzedakah By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

We are all familiar with the Chazal, “Tzedakah tatzil mi’moves – charity saves from death.” One may wonder why it doesn’t say that Shabbos saves from death, or tefillin.

The great Rabbi Yisroel of Rizhin tells us that the reason tzedakah has this unusual power is because many times when a person gives tzedakah, he is not sure if he can really give as much as he is giving, or he exerts himself beyond his limitations to give tzedakah. So too, Hashem says, “In the merit of this person’s effort in extending himself to give tzedakah, I will make sure that the years that he is given will be extended as well.”