ON THE HOLY CUSTOM OF BUYING ALIYAHS
People get what they need from wherever they are. We Jews, when we left Egypt, were heavenly, so we got our bread from heaven – manna. If, G-d forbid, you live in a garbage pail, that’s where you get your money from. Sadly enough, we waste so much money on unimportant things, much more than we really want or can afford.
So our holy rabbis, with infinite compassion, initiated the most holy custom of buying aliyahs on the High Holidays, which fixes the two evils: (1) We connect our money to the Torah so much that the money for the next year will come from Heaven, like the Torah. (2) The Torah – every word, every letter – is of earth shaking importance. So, hopefully, all my money will be connected to the Torah and will only be spent on important and absolutely beautiful things.