Bechukosai

‎At the end of our parsha, the Torah tells us about separating “maaser” from the cattle, כל אשר יעבר תחת השבט העשירי יהיה קדש, any that passes under the staff, the tenth one is holy. 

Rashi describes the manner of selection by passing all the cattle through a doorway and counting each one as it goes.  The tenth one is hit with a staff with a red pigment on it so that we know which one is holy which will be sacrificed to Hashem. 

The gemara tells us that there is no short cut.  One may think that if he has one hundred animalsto take ten and separate them. Therefore, the Torah stresses עשירי, the tenth, that you can't just take the ten animals & give them; rather each one has to go through the door & you have to count each one until you count ten & then that one is maaser. 

The אהל יעקב asks why was the Torah so stringent on this point? Why does each one need to go through the door & be counted? Why can't we just give as many as we have to in one shot?

He answers that if one would just give the ten animals without the counting, then the ones that are maaser would have nothing to do with the others. However, now that we count each one until the tenth would be the masser one, it makes all of them a little.  When the tenth one is given, it takes away the obligation from all of them ‎.

Another answer was given by רב מרדכי דב טורסקי . Once he went to visit one of his chasidim who was exceptionally, but very miserly. The wealthy man greeted him warmly and was very happy when the rabbi started taking an interest in his possessions. He started giving the rabbi a tour showing off his expensive items. As they went around with the wealthy man showing all his items, the rabbi kept asking "is this all yours?" The man kept answering, ", yes, it's all mine".  When they finished the tour, the wealthy man asked the rabbi why do you keep asking me ‎if it's all mine? 

‎The rabbi answered, “I'm trying to teach you something. Do you know why when you take maaser from the animals you have to count each one before you take the tenth as maaser? For the Torah knows that, at times,  it's difficult for a person to give all his maaser at once.  Let's say someone has a thousand animals & he has to give a hundred at one shot, it's very hard to do. In order to make it easier on a person, the Torah has him count it out, one for me, two for me, three for me until finally he gets to ten & then, after counting out all of his own, it's not so hard to give the tenth away. That's why I kept asking you if it's all yours, for after saying so many times how much you have, it will be easier for you to give from your money to tzedaka. 

This is true really for all aspects of our life, not just maser. If before one complains about something in his life that isn't going as planned, he would stop & count all the blessings that he has, it will be much easier to deal with the things that aren't going as planned. The Torah is giving us the key to how to deal with life; take things one at a time & count your blessings out loud!

‎‎