On giving alms

In the text, Abraham von Worms suggests that we should follow the example Abramelin set for him and give ten gold florins (or their equivalent) to the person who gave us the text, so they may distribute it to 72 poor people who will recite Psalms 51 and 130 in exchange. Fulfilling this obligation is a little difficult for me since I wasn't given the text by another human being - I found it independently and am carrying out the ritual on my own, without any mentor or coach, based on my own reading and interpretations. Since there is noone to give alms for me, I have decided I need to take on that obligation myself.

Florins are no longer made nor is gold used as currency, and determining their value in Abraham's time is nearly impossible - Dehn says 10 florins would have contained about an ounce of gold, which is currently worth about ​$3000 US, and other sources say the purchasing power of a florin was anywhere from $40-$1000 USD in today's money. The higher ends are out of my budget, and it seems improbable that Abraham would have carried that much cash in a strange land at a time when traveler's checks and letters of credit were already in use or that Abramelin would expect him to have it. Dehn and Mathers both note the numerological significance of 10 and 72, so I have decided on the following means of giving to the poor over the course of the ritual that keeps these numbers, provides a small but meaningful amount to each person in question, and fits with Jewish philosophical ideals that charity is best given in a way where neither the giver or receiver know the other. (In fact, as I was preparing to write this I learned that Maimomides describes a way of giving very similar to what I'd come up with.)

I will prepare 72 envelopes hand-addressed to "A person in need". Each one will contain $10 USD (enough for a hot meal or some groceries, or do to a load of laundry, or buy minutes for a prepaid phone, or a day pass for the bus, etc.) with a short note asking the reader to recite the text of the attached psalm, half having one and half having the other, and to pay it forward when they have the ability to in the future (Acts 2:44-45; And all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.)

Whenever I go out into the world I will carry several of these envelopes with me and keep my eyes open for people who appear to be in need, especially people who appear to be homeless and who I have not seen before. When I find such a person, I will approach them, hand them an envelope or place it near them, and leave without waiting for them to open it. If I give out at least three of these envelopes a week I will have given $720 to 72 people by the end of the six months - if I am able to give this away quickly enough, I will do this twice so I have distributed each psalm at least 72 times.

This is just the minimum of what I intend to do. Abraham advises us to always be looking for a way to give alms, so I will keep my eyes open for spontaneous opportunities for charity. I will also, for reasons I'll go into in my next post, be making donations to the ACLU, Amnesty International, and other charities which assist people who are being mistreated or abused by their government.