Our friend Shelly asked:: 
Speaking of finances….Malachi 3:10….tell what that means to you in regarding to tithing?

Gidon’s answer:
This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible regarding tithing, and Jewish sources point out that it is the only time we are allowed to test God.
Here are a few verses that say how testing God is negative: https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/6-16.htm but this verse specifically says Test me in this!

Devra and I have been doing our best to tithe our income (according to certain calculation parameters) since shortly after we got married. We had many years of tightness, and thank God recently things have gotten easier financially (having five less mouths in the house to feed might have something to do with it:-) but we always considered it a blessing to be able to give of our own to others.

For most of us, the 51% or 99% of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, it is hard to part with money voluntarily. But to believe that we are philanthropists, who get such delight from giving away, from being able to give away, is a great empowerer I think.

Incredibly (imho) Americans give less than 5% to charity, even 1% according to Google, with 44% not giving any!

Judaism does not seem to have the “tithe to your place of worship and that’s it” concept that many churches I understand have. It’s a free for all, with nonprofits vying for your charity, and you decide what you want to give to. Devra and I reviewed our values, and decided this year to give relatively significant monthly gifts to organizations that promote those values. These are usually outlier values, thinking that more attractive missions and organizations (feed the poor, comfort the sick, support Torah institutions) will by definition attract more donors and more donations.

What do you think of that? Did I address your concerns?