DEUT777 Perhaps because many people give less generously to charity then they should because they are afraid of diminishing their assets, the Shulchan Arukh reassures would-be donors that, "No person will become poor because of giving charity" (Yoreh Deah 247:2; see also Maimonides "Gifts to the Poor" 10:2). In addition, the Torah promises that, in return for giving to the poor, "the Lord your God will bless you in all your efforts and in all your undertakings" [this verse]. [The biblical and rabbinic belief that charitable giving is the right thing to do and will also be rewarded may be behind the rabbinic advice to give charity even during difficult times: "If a man sees that his livelihood is barely sufficient for him, he should still give tzedaka from it. How much more so when his livelihood is good" (Gittin 7a)]. The Talmud makes the even more explicit promise that you should "tithe so that you will become rich" (Ta'anit 9a). Rabbi Tzvi Spitz asked the legal scholar Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv why, in light of such an explicit biblical and talmudic assurances, there are many extremely charitable people who have not been blessed with material success. Rabbi Elyashiv responded: "There are many different types of wealth other than financial prosperity. Some people are rewarded with a great deal of pleasure from their children. Others experience an abundance of energy and robust health. All these may be considered as a reward for having been highly charitable." (Feuer, Tzedakah Treasury, 164.