Reading this thread makes me very optimistic that we are finally catching on to the below-the-radar assimilation that’s plaguing us. This whole segulah-for-whatever is straight out of Marketing101 and a simple extension of the secular idea that you can “buy” happiness. Or in this case, a specific result. Davening is the real segulah, as are chesed and giving tzedakah l’shem shomayim. If you give tzedakah in return for a specific result, you are not performing a mitzvah, you are making a purchase. Perhaps publicizing that there is a particular family is in need of a lot of help is all right, but putting their faces and life stories on the internet is demeaning and an invasion of privacy. Chazal say that when you give tzedakah you must be careful not to embarrass the recipient. Putting a young lady’s face on the internet is certainly not respecting her privacy, nor is exploiting the tears of an orphaned child. We should be prepared to help without any promises of reward in Olam HaZeh.
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