Parshat Re’eh, 5767: Creating the Space for Abundance

Devarim: 12: 18-20

Abundance is a flow

Chukim (Statutes), the laws of spirituality, often appear to be counter-intuitive. The Law of Abundance is one such Chok. The law of abundance is stated in Mishlei (Proverbs) Chapter 18: “Matan adam yarchiv lo – it is a person’s generosity that creates the space for abundance”.

Abundance is not a static quantity of matter or money. Abundance is a flow, a spring of constantly renewing vitality. The renewal can be in any area: financial, social, family, health, or wisdom. Abundance is not about how much you have but rather it is about the flow of newberacha (blessing) constantly filling the space you have created for it. And herein lies the secret of the law of abundance: To be receptive to abundance one needs to create space. Beracha comes from the word bereichah (a reservoir). The volume of water-flow that a reservoir can receive depends on the space that it has available to contain it.

Creating space

You create space by emptying your life of that which no longer serves you. When you remain attached to things you need to discard, you poison your system and block the flow of beracha, of abundance. Our bodies are designed to discard the superfluous in order to keep us functioning optimally. An important part of our life force is the body’s continuous discarding of that which it does not need and may be harmful. Each outward breath facilitates the next intake of fresh air. Our digestive system continuously clears itself to make a space for that which is new and fresh. Emotionally, socially, intellectually and spiritually we need to develop that same capability: To discard that which blocks the flow of fresh and innovating experiences into our lives to make space for the new.

We see the idea of space-creation expressed in our parsha: Ki yarchiv Hashem…at gevulecha (For[1] Hashem will then create space within your boundaries…). Does the Torah suggest that G-d creates our space, or do we need to create our own space?

The economic and spiritual causality of abundance

The Midrash[2] links the words Ki yarchiv to the verse from Mishlei that I quoted above: “Matan adam yarchiv lo - a person’s generosity creates the space for abundance”. There is a causality to harchava  (the creation of space) but the causality is not linear, it is moral and spiritual. That is why it is a chok, a statute. I have explained in a previous essay[3] that a chok is not a law without reason. It is a law of causality based not in the realm of physics, chemistry or medicine, but in the realm of morality and spirituality. Physical Harchava is the result of moral matanah (generosity).

What is the understanding of this causality? Why should generosity give rise to abundance? Why does giving your wealth away create more wealth for you rather than less?

There is an economic reason for this causality and a more important spiritual reason. The economic reason is that in an environment that values reciprocity, generosity is reciprocated. Each time assets move back and forth through acts of generosity (that does not necessarily mean giving merchandise away, it simply means giving your customer, shareholder, employee, boss, more perceived value than they are investing in you), and reciprocity (such as not only paying for the merchandise or service but giving the vendor loyalty and free publicity, for example), there is an increase in the velocity of money and assets and a concomitant growth in the creation of wealth. 

The spiritual reason is more important though: We have said that abundance, beracha, is not a static measure of quantity or volume, it is a measure of flow. By giving assets away in acts of kindness and generosity, we are demonstrating that we are not attached to the assets but rather to the source from which it comes. Attachment to the asset is a material attachment that blocks beracha, attachment to the source is a spiritual attachment that attracts beracha. When attached to the source of our assets, whether in our business, social or intellectual lives, we make way for fresh flow by generously disposing of that which others need more than we do.

In the Midrash, Rabbi Avahu points out that there is no need to learn the spiritual law of space creation from Mishlei. It is clearly stated in our parsha. In the verse immediately preceding Ki yarchiv the conditions for harchavah (space creation) are clearly stated:Hishamer lechah pen ta’azov at haLevi[4] (Be cautious not to neglect your obligation stated in 12:18 to include the propertyless Levi in your sacrificial and celebratory meals). Again we are taught that generosity is the cause of harchavah.

It is the Shem Mishmuel[5] who most profoundly develops this idea of making room for the source to flow by moving the layers of covering that would otherwise block it. Even with our own inner sources of intuitive wisdom, he says, the flow is increased as we discard the egoistic attachments that block the flow of that intuitive wisdom. By rolling the stone away from the mouth of the spring, theShem Mishmuel says, we release the force of spiritual, intellectual and material abundance.

It is a valuable exercise to take an inventory of all of the attachments which we are holding that do not serve us but instead, block the passage of fresh blessing and renewed abundance. Remove those blockages by generously giving them away to others who need them, therefore, making space for a new level of blessing and abundance on every level.

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