When a Good Deed is Actually a Sin
One of my biggest challenges is choosing between all the million wonderful things that I need and want to do. It's not easy trying to figure out who and what to say yes to, who and what to say no to... And what to do first, what to do second... and what to push off indefinitely. But as I read today's Mitzvah of the day, I was reminded of just how much the right order of priorities matters. The mitzvah is that it's forbidden to switch around the order of how we give our donations. Instead, we need to follow the specific order of the Torah - First separating gifts of our first fruits to be given to the Priests in Jerusalem, then separating 1/50th of whatever is left for the Priests, then 1/10th of whatever is left for the Levites, and finally 1/10th of whatever is left, to be eaten by the owner in Jerusalem. If this order was not followed, and one separated the later tithe before an earlier one, even though he was doing a good thing, he has actually transgressed t