The power of the Tzedakah
Story number 1
One day, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin who was the great disciple of the Vilna Gaon, gave a lecture on Guemara to his students at the Yeshiva. There were many questions he could not solve. The subject concerned the Shatnez (linen and wool blend, forbidden by the Torah to wear). The Rabbi completed his course without answering all the questions. That night he had a dream, and in his dream, a man came to meet him and said, "Come we'll still study once together this tractate, this page of Guemara over which you have many questions." And this man explained in a masterful way the subject matter, answering all his questions. Fascinated by this lecture, the Rabbi said, "I remember you, you were a simple tailor in the city, and you could barely read Hebrew, now how can you just explain me a so complex Guemara?" And the man replied: "Yes, but I had a good practice, I had a Tzedakah box on my desk, and each amount I earned, I set aside 50% in this Tzedakah box to support the study of Torah in our city, and thanks to that now, in the world to come, I study the Torah as a great scholar."
Story number 2
A man in the United-States was very meticulous relatively to the mitzvah of Maasser. The Rabbi of the city asked the question: "Why do you pay so much attention to Maaser?" And the man said that in his youth, there was a shopkeeper in his town who gave his monthly Maasser to the Rav who taught the children; this Rav was a simple and needy, but a great Tzaddik. One day, this shopkeeper made an extraordinary case, and as usual he took Maaser from the fortune he won to give to the Rav above-mentioned, but the Rav refused saying that he did not need such a huge sum for his Parnassa, and the Rav proposed to the shopkeeper the following deal. He said "In my classroom, I have two children who are very talented, but yet they are very poor, and according to me, he said, if they are sent to study in one of the great Yeshivot, with great rabbis, they can become great Torah scholars. I propose that the money you won, this Maasser you proposed to me, we will offer it to their parents, provided that they send their children to study in one of the great Yeshivot." The shopkeeper agreed; children went to study in famous Yeshivot, and indeed, they have become great Torah scholars. This is Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky, two of the greatest scholars of America of the previous generation.
Story number 3
A man who lived modestly and each time deduced 10% for Maasser, made once a big deal, and on the fortune he won, he had great difficulty to take 10%, and had taken only 3% for Tzedakah. And this man said that some time after, going to work, he slipped and broke his foot. He had to be in plaster for several weeks. When he was fully healed, he was counting the money he lost with doctors, medication and convalescence; it corresponded exactly to 7% of Maasser he removed from the Mitzvah of Tzedakah. "In conclusion, he said, we must choose: either to devote one’s Maasser to Tzedakah or so for medical expenses."
Story number 4
After a miscarriage, a woman pregnant again, was very afraid to do another miscarriage. Her husband went home the Chazon Ish to tell him about their problems and their concerns. The Chazon Ish told them "If only you agree to take the Maasser for Tzedakah, everything will be fine," and indeed, everything went well. After a few months, she delivered a child in the normal way and the Chazon Ish was the Sandak.