Chapter II

Giving charity, praying aloud, changing one's name and changing one's behavior all of which can nullify a harsh decree are aspects of repentance and good deeds. They reflect the spiritual service of a "contrite and broken heart."

An individual with the sensitivity to feel for another observes his fellow man's difficulties and harsh straits with great compassion. He is sympathetic to the other's plight, whether it be ill health or poverty. And his compassion is heightened upon realizing that the person suffering is his moral and spiritual superior.

[In turn, this leads him to the realization that] no man, even the richest, can be sure that tragedy shall not befall him and turn him into a pauper. As the Talmud says:1 "A person must constantly ask G-d that he not become impoverished and needy, for there is a wheel [of fortune] that revolves in the world. Even if G-d protects an individual from need and poverty, he is still not assured that his children will not be stricken with poverty and destitution. Should even his children be wealthy, he is still not sure what will transpire with his grandchildren."

The best assurance [for the continuity of one's wealth] is to give charity. This is as the Talmud2 relates concerning King Munbaz, who distributed the royal treasures to the poor. When asked why he was distributing treasure which had taken his ancestors generations to amass, he replied that his ancestors hid their treasure in cellars and vaults, while he is entrusting it to G-d for safekeeping, for charity is a guarantee against poverty.

When a person ponders all the above [and realizes the precariousness of his personal wealth] he becomes contrite of heart and assists his fellow man in whatever manner possible.

Crying aloud to G-d occurs when a person recognizes that everything which transpires in his life is Providential, and that G-d provides him with more sustenance and health than he deserves. If, Heaven forfend, a person is unwell or unable to make a living, he has only himself to blame, as the Mishnah says:3 "I have conducted myself improperly, and [thus] deprived myself of sustenance."

When a person makes a true accounting and honest reckoning and contemplates this deeply, he will become contrite of heart. He will then pray to G-d from the depth of his heart, saying [as did the Psalmist]:4 "I called to You, O L-rd, and I made supplication to the L-rd: What profit is there in my death, in my going down to the grave? Can earth praise You? Can it proclaim Your truth?" Though it is true that the very earth praises G-d, His purpose in creating human beings is that man, with his intellect, come to understand G-dliness.

In summary: When one is sympathetic to the poverty and pains of his fellow man, and considers that even the very rich, or their children and grandchildren, are not immune from the threat of poverty and need, then one becomes contrite of heart and prays to G-d with a deep and heartfelt cry.