ויקחו לי תרומה (תרומה כה:ב)

The holy Berditchever Rav zt”l used to hand out all his money for tzedakah (alms). He would even barter his household utensils and other items of value, which enabled him to borrow money from his chassidim and hand it to the poor.

His close acquaintances couldn’t bear seeing the Berditchever Rav giving away everything he possessed. They asked him: “When faced with the mitzvah of tzedakah, do we have to copy the Rebbe and give everything away?”

“This is what I learned from my Rebbe,” – replied the Berditchever Rov – “when I was a yungerman (a young man), I used to sit and learn day and night.  I once encountered one of the Sifrei Mussar (books teaching character improvement) that hailed the importance of reciting the complete Sefer Tehillim (book of Psalms) uninterruptedly. So, I readjusted my daily learning regimen to manage and complete Sefer Tehillim; I used to wake up at dawn, daven with the first minyan, and started saying Tehillim.  One day, as I was up to the last ten kapitlach (chapters), my Rebbe’s shamash (attendant) came into Shul and told me that the Rebbe was calling me. I was very torn about what to do. On the one hand, I took away time from learning Torah, and I was almost finished saying the Sefer Tehillim. On the other hand – just before I am about to complete this feat – I am expected to answer my Rebbe’s call…”

“When I came into the Rebbe,” continued the Berditchever Rav – “he admonished me for tarring. He said: ‘I know what you were occupied with all morning. Why didn’t you come immediately when I summoned you?! I need tzedakah for a Yid’.

“When I heard what the Rebbe needed so desperately from me, I told my Rebbe with a broken heart about my commitment to recite the complete book of Tehillim without a break.  Since I was almost finished when the shamash called me, I wondered: “Who knows what the Rebbe needs so important from me, and I quickly finished the last ten chapters.”

“A donation for a Yid is not important to you?!” exclaimed my Rebbe. “You should know that Hashem has thousands of malachim (angels) in Heaven who sing His praises each day. Do you think Hashem needs your Tehillim? Doing a favor for a Yid – especially donating – is greater than saying Tehillim uninterruptedly.  While a malach can say Tehillim, he cannot give tzedakah to a Yid; however, you do have the possibility to give Tzedakah, which far outweighs the importance of completing the book of Tehillim!”