Tzedakah restores what sin lost

משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה.

"When Adar enters, we increase in simchah (joy)."

The Sefas Emes opens with the well-known teaching that the month of Adar is a time of heightened joy, and he sets out to explain the inner source of that simchah.

הוא שמחת הנדבה שהביאו בנ"י בכל אדר השקלים.

This is the joy of the donation, for Bnei Yisrael would bring the shekalim every Adar.

The joy of Adar is rooted in the annual giving of the half-shekel for the Mishkan and later the Bais Hamikdash — an act of nedavah (free-willed giving) performed with gladness.

ואיתא מצות שקבלו עליהם בשמחה עדיין עושין כו'.

And it is taught: mitzvos that they accepted upon themselves with joy, they still perform.

A mitzvah received with simchah takes permanent root in Klal Yisrael — the joy in which it was accepted is what keeps it alive for all generations.

וכל נדבת ישראל לשמים הי' בשמחה כמ"ש במשכן האנשים על הנשים וכן במקדש בימי דוד וגם בבית שני התנדבו בשמחה ע"ש.

And every donation of Yisrael to Heaven was given with joy, as is written regarding the Mishkan, "the men came together with the women," and likewise in the Mikdash in the days of Dovid, and also in the Second Bais Hamikdash they donated with joy — see there.

Across every era — the desert Mishkan, Dovid HaMelech's preparations, and the Second Bais Hamikdash — the giving toward Hashem's dwelling was always marked by overflowing joy.

לכן נתעורר שמחת עבודת ביהמ"ק בימים אלו.

Therefore the joy of the avodah of the Bais Hamikdash is awakened in these days.

Because Adar was the season of giving toward the Mikdash, these days themselves carry a renewed arousal of the joy that belonged to its avodah.

וגם עתה שאין לנו לא משכן ולא מקדש יש להרבות בצדקה בימים אלו כאשר נתקן אח"כ מתנות לאביונים בחודש הזה.

And even now, when we have neither Mishkan nor Mikdash, one should increase in tzedakah in these days, just as matanos la'evyonim (gifts to the poor) were later established for this month.

In our time, without a Bais Hamikdash, tzedakah takes the place of the shekalim; the Purim mitzvah of gifts to the poor is the channel through which the giving of Adar continues.

ובגלות יש להתחזק במעשה הצדקה שע"י נדבת המשכן נתקנו בני ישראל אחר החטא דכתיב בכל לבבך כו' נפשך כו' מאודך.

And in galus one must strengthen himself in the act of tzedakah, for through the donation of the Mishkan Bnei Yisrael were rectified after the cheit (sin), as it is written, "with all your heart… your soul… your might."

The Mishkan repaired the damage of the cheit ha'egel; the verse of "with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might" (Devarim 6:5) maps onto three stages of that repair, which the Sefas Emes now unfolds.

וכל זה קיימו בנ"י ביציאת מצרים שנמשכו אחריו ית' כמ"ש לכתך אחרי במדבר זה בכל לבבך.

And all of this Bnei Yisrael fulfilled: at yetzias Mitzrayim they were drawn after Him, as it is written, "your following Me into the wilderness" — this corresponds to "with all your heart."

The first stage, "with all your heart," was achieved at the Exodus, when Bnei Yisrael followed Hashem into the barren desert out of pure-hearted devotion (Yirmiyahu 2:2).

ובמתן תורה בכל נפשך כמ"ש נפשי יצאה בדברו ונתקדשו נפשות בנ"י במתן תורה.

And at Mattan Torah, "with all your soul," as it is written, "my soul departed as He spoke," for the souls of Bnei Yisrael were sanctified at Mattan Torah.

The second stage, "with all your soul," was reached at Sinai, where the very neshamos of Bnei Yisrael were elevated and sanctified by the encounter with the Divine word.

אח"כ בנדבת המשכן נתקיים בכל מאודך.

Afterward, in the donation of the Mishkan, "with all your might" was fulfilled.

The final stage, "with all your might" — understood by Chazal as "with all your money" — was completed through giving one's possessions to the building of the Mishkan.

לכן נתן הקב"ה נכסים לאדם שיוכל למצוא עזר גם בימי ירידה ע"י מעשה הצדקה.

Therefore HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave a person possessions, so that even in days of descent he can find help through the act of tzedakah.

Wealth is given to a person precisely so that, even when he falls spiritually, he has a means of repair — giving from his possessions for the sake of Hashem.

שכמו שאדם נותן מנכסיו השייכים לו בעבור רצונו ית'.

For just as a person gives from his possessions that belong to him for the sake of His will,

When a person surrenders what is truly his own to fulfill ratzon Hashem (the will of Hashem), he demonstrates that nothing he owns is held back from Him.

כן זוכה שיחזירו לו המדריגות שנאבדו ממנו ע"י החטא כמ"ש מתן אדם ירחיב לו וכמ"ש במ"א:

So too he merits that the levels he lost through the cheit are restored to him, as it is written, "a man's gift makes room for him" (Mishlei 18:16), and as is explained elsewhere.

Measure for measure, the one who gives of himself for Hashem is repaid by having the spiritual levels he forfeited through sin given back to him — his gift literally "makes room" for his return.

Summary: The joy of Adar flows from the simchah of giving the shekalim toward Hashem's dwelling. Even in galus, tzedakah continues that avodah and, like the donation of the Mishkan that repaired the cheit, it completes "with all your might" — for by surrendering one's own possessions for ratzon Hashem, a person merits to have the spiritual levels lost through sin restored to him.