Secrets of the wealth of Jews

For a while I have been reading the writings of Dag Haward-Mils on how tithing can make you rich...giving 10 percent of all your income for holy use, into the works of God. I have also read some local publications on how Batswana have continued on a downward spiral to poverty whilst Pastors are swimming in abundance.

Whilst I cannot dispute such observations, I wish to bring you to the facts on Tithing, what does the Bible say: "Malachi 3: 8 - 10: Can a man rob God yes you have robbed me on tithes and offerings; as such u are under a curse;......bring all tithes and offerings and test if I will not open the flood gates of Heaven and pour such a blessing you will not have room enough to receive it (expansion);

I will ward off the attacks of your enemy, your harvest shall be made certain, those who fight you shall fall for your sake, the works of your hands shall be blessed; the nations shall call you blessed"...isn't this the testimony of the Jews today:

Traditional Jewish law and practice has included various forms of tithing since ancient times. Traditional Jews commonly practice ma'aser kesafim (tithing 10 percent of their income to charity) and take challah.

In modern Israel, Jews continue to follow the laws of agricultural tithing, e.g., terumah, ma'aser rishon, terumat ma'aser, and ma'aser sheni. Farmers had to offer a tenth of their harvest, while craftsmen had to offer a tenth of their production;

King Solomon paid tithes; Abraham paid tithes, Nehemiah paid tithes, Moses paid tithes and this is what Jesus Christ planted the seeds of the New Testament while acting and speaking in harmony with the law of the Old Covenant. It is for this reason that He also commanded a cleansed leper to obey the Law of Moses.

The Israelites of the Bible and the Israelites of today are solid on one thing; they paid tithes; they give and they give big; What makes the Jews different from most people is that they allowed the Bible (the Old Testament of course) to dictate their culture. It has shaped their values and beliefs and thousands of years have not eroded the fundamentals of what they believe about God. They have followed the principles of giving to the dot and the results speak for themselves. To this date they are the richest people in the world whilst they comprise less than 1 percent of the world population.

Jewish giving (a few examples)
There are, perhaps, 13,000,000 to 15,000,000 Jews in a world of six billion people. Jews are so few in number that in a room of 1,000 people representing the world's population, only two would be Jewish
In the USA 2010 Mega-donors gave a total of $29,308,756,000. Of the 502 mega-givers, 123 (24.5 percent) were Jewish. These Jewish donors made 188 (21.7 percent) of the 865 total gifts, contributing $5,260,700,000 (18 percent) of the megagift dollars

Giving to education totaled $16.7 billion. There were 425 general gifts totaling over $13.58 billion, representing 63 percent of all gifts and 56 percent of all monies. Jews gave 137 gifts for a total of $3 billion.

Among Jewish mega-givers, the Soros family (George, Paul and Daisy) dominated giving to public society benefit.

Of the $722.5 million given to public society benefit, which represents 14percent of Jewish mega-gift dollars, $645 million (89 percent) came from a Soros. Two of the gifts went to immigrant issues, $50 million to fight discrimination against immigrants, and another $50 million to assist immigrants seeking graduate education in America. More than anything else, these gifts reflect the empathy that they undoubtedly feel for new Americans, having themselves emigrated from Hungary, and thus appear not to be indicative of an interest among Jewish philanthropists in immigrant causes.

What Jews believe about giving
In his book, Dag Heward- Mills observed this about the Jews: Jews believe that charitable giving benefits the giver They give money away because on some deep level they recognise that doing so benefits the giver more than it does the recipient. Jews do not give away money because it's always rational to do so; but in spite of the fact that it is often irrational. Jews give away money not because it is irrational but because it is right.

One of the most important habits that anyone interested in increasing wealth should acquire is giving away money. This appears paradoxical.

You must not live beyond your means but give beyond your means. Dag Heward-Mills further observes that people are suspicious of doing business with desperate people. "Desperate people make others uncomfortable...apart from anything else their pathetic eagerness makes others doubt the value of the prospective purchase. One of the best ways of overcoming that appearance of desperate eagerness is to make yourself feel rich.

If you feel rich another deal would be nice but not critical. The best way to accomplish this is through giving". Most countries and people who constantly receive aid rarely rise up and prosper. In fact receiving gifts and donations have been known to kill business initiative.

Jews believe that donating money is like investing; it increases what comes back to you; it also trains you to become an effective investor. If you have generosity of spirit to give money away, you also have the courage to seek profit by placing it at risk; Jews believe that people are creators not consumers; givers not takers; that people tend to be gracious givers rather than takers.

Jews principles on giving
The Talmud...you are only as wealthy as the amount you are able to give; The Torah..."You are forbidden to reap the whole harvest - a remnant (tithe) must be given to the poor.

The Tzedakah: a portion of our income (Tithe) is granted to us by God to distribute to the poor. In that way the Almighty gives each of us the privilege of participating with him as a junior partner in sustaining life...allowing mortals to share in the divine process of sustaining life is a kindness of cosmic proportions.

Jewish tradition encourages each of us to set aside a 10th (or as much as a fifth) of our income for tzedakah .

This is known as a monetary tithe, or ma'aser kesofim . As the Chofetz Chaim notes, the process of tithing tightens the partnership bonds between the donor and the Almighty. The donor is a partner with the Almighty in sustaining the world. At the same time by tithing, the donor brings God in as a partner, so to speak, in his business affairs.

We must be grateful to the poor who provide the opportunity to give tzedakah and who should therefore be treated with honor and respect.

Jewish dominance - facts are facts
15 percent of the world's richest are Jews
85 percent College age Jews in college
23 percent Top 100 wealthy Canadians
17 percent Nobel Physiology and Medicine
40 percent of Forbes Richest People are Jews

You can fast and pray and cry, when it comes to finances; its only through giving that you can break through from poverty; you give not because you are in abundance but because you want to break into abundance.
Yes some Pastors have mishandled the tithe and it can't be encouraged at all and cannot go unchecked...but it does not in any way affect your covenant with God, do your part and let those who steal from God face the full wrath of God's power.