Vayeitzei

As Yaakov leaves באר שבע he passes the future place of the Beis Hamikdash and falls asleep. Hashem appears to him in a dream, promises him the land of Israel with children as populous as the dirt on the ground & that He will be with him & watch over him. Yaakov wakes up, incredulous that he slept in such a holy place as the house of Hashem.

The posuk then recounts what happened next: וידר יעקב נדר לאמר אם יהיה אלקים עמדי ושמרני בדרך הזה אשר אנכי הולך ונתן לי לחם לאכל ובגד ללבש. Yaakov swore that if Hashem will be with me & watch me on this road that I am traveling, give me food to eat & clothes to wear, I will return to my father’s house & Hashem will be a God to me. Then this stone shall become His house & from all that He gives me, I will give back a tenth to the poor.

It seems as if Yaakov's faith is conditional," if You will watch over me then you will be a God to me" & then he ends with, “ if it all works out then I will give a tenth back to You by giving to the poor.” How is that the goal of him coming back unscathed? Can Yaakov's faith be conditional? Is charity the ultimate goal if the conditions are met?

A story is told about one of the wealthy men of Jerusalem, מר אורנשטיין ,who lived at the edge of Meah Shearim who always gave generously to help out other people. One day a poor man who was collecting money to marry off his daughter came to him. Expecting a small donation, imagine this poor man’s surprise when the rich man offered to pay for the entire wedding! Seeing that the poor man was taken aback; in order to appease him, the rich man said I will pay on one condition, that you invite me to the wedding. The poor man readily agreed & took the money.

Ecstatic, the poor man went home & told his wife & daughter the great news so they began preparing for the great day. The day finally arrived; everything was prepared. All the guests were there as the chupa was about to start when the father suddenly remembered his promise to the rich man. He realized that, in all the excitement, he forgot to invite him. Not wanting to go back on his word, he stopped the wedding & explained to all assembled what had happened. He then suggested that they all go as a group to the rich man’s house & bring him back to the wedding.

Meanwhile, at the home of מר אורנשטיין ,Arabs had broken into his home, forced him to open his safes & had taken all that was there. However, they weren't satisfied with that & proceeded to tie up מר אורנשטיין & his wife demanding more money & jewelry. As the thieves were about to start beating them, the sounds of trumpets & hundreds of people marching toward the house interrupted them. When they heard the noise, they became frightened & fled, leaving everything behind.

When the wedding party entered מר אורנשטיין 's house, they found him & his wife tied to the beds. They quickly untied them & מר אורנשטיין told them all that transpired, concluding that had they not showed up at that minute, chances are that my wife and I wouldn't still be alive! צדקה תציל ממות.

Yaakov's faith wasn't conditional. No matter what transpired he was going to be faithful to Hashem. Perhaps this is why the goal was צדקה for the gemara tells us that if someone gives צדקה even on the condition that his son should live it’s still considered as complete charity. Even if the person’s son doesn't live, the charity was still given wholeheartedly. We can extend this thinking to Yaakov. He based his condition on charity to ensure that he would make it back, for צדקה saves from death. By pledging to give צדקה no matter what, he showed that his faith was really unconditional which teaches us that giving צדקה will save us from all harm and even if for reasons unbeknownst to us it doesn't turn out the way we want; our faith still has to be unshakable!