Q&A: A Reason for Charity
A Reason for Charity
Question
Hello,
I wanted to ask whether, according to Jewish law, there is any point in making a vow in order to speed up receiving something.
For example: Jephthah asked to win a war and said that he would offer up the first thing to come out of his house.
I’m asking because out of sheer desperation I said to myself that if I happen to get a job I really want, I’ll donate my entire first salary to charity.
Now I understand that charity is a blessed thing regardless of the reason, but my question is whether there is any point to doing something like this?
Answer
In my opinion, no. Because I assume there is no divine intervention in the world (except perhaps in sporadic cases). So even if you assume that such a vow gives you merit before Him—and I doubt even that—it still should not be expected to manifest in the world. It could even involve the prohibition of divination, because you are assuming that getting the job happened because of help from the Holy One, blessed be He.