Tzedekah : Charity

Prev | Table of Contents | Next Meaning of "Tzedakah" | Obligation of Tzedakah | Levels of Tzedakah Tzedakah:  Charity Level:  Intermediate Charity is a fundamental part of the Torah way of life:  Traditional Jews give at least ten percent of their income to charity.  Traditional Jewish homes commonly have a box for collecting coins for the poor, and coins are routinely placed in the box.  Jewish youths are continually going from door to door collecting for various worthy causes.  In many ways, charitable donation has taken the place of animal sacrifice in Jewish life:  giving to charity is an almost instinctive Jewish response to express thanks to God, to ask forgiveness from God, or to request a favor from God.  According to Jewish tradition, the spiritual benefit of giving to the poor is so great that a beggar actually does the giver a favor by giving a person the opportunity to perform tzedakah. The Meaning of "Tzedakah" "Tzedakah" is the Hebrew word for the acts that we call "charity" in English:  giving aid, assistance, and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes.  But the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity.  The word "charity" suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and powerful for the benefit of the poor and needy.  The word "tzedakah" is derived from the Hebrew root Tzade-Dalet-Qof, meaning righteousness, justice, or fairness.  In Judaism, giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act; it is simply an act of justice and righteousness, the performance of a duty, giving the poor their due. The Obligation of Tzedakah Giving to the poor is an obligation in Judaism, a duty that cannot be forsaken even by those who are themselves in need.  Some sages have said that tzedakah is the highest of all commandments, equal to all of them combined, and that a person who does not perform tzedakah is equivalent to an idol worshipper.  Tzedakah is one of the three acts that gain us forgiveness from our sins.  The High Holiday liturgy states that God has inscribed a judgment against all who have sinned, but teshuvah (repentance), tefillah (prayer) and tzedakah can reverse the decree.  See Days of Awe. According to Jewish law, we are required to give one-tenth of our income to the poor.  This is generally interpreted as one-tenth of our net income after payment of taxes.  Those who are dependent on public assistance or living on the edge of subsistence may give less; no one should give so much that he would become a public burden, nor more than twenty percent of his assets even if he would not become a public burden. The obligation to perform tzedakah can be fulfilled by giving money to the poor, to health care institutions, to synagogues, or to educational institutions.  It can also be fulfilled by supporting your children beyond the age when you are legally required to, or supporting your parents in their old age.  The obligation includes giving to both Jews and Gentiles; contrary to popular belief, Jews do not just "take care of our own". Judaism acknowledges that many people who ask for charity have no genuine need.  In fact, the Talmud suggests that this is a good thing:  if all people who asked for charity were in genuine need, we would be subject to punishment (from God) for refusing anyone who asked.  The existence of frauds diminishes our liability for failing to give to all who ask, because we have some legitimate basis for doubting the beggar's sincerity.  It is permissible to investigate the legitimacy of a charity before donating to it. We have an obligation to avoid becoming in need of tzedakah.  A person should take any work that is available, even if he thinks it is beneath his dignity, to avoid becoming a public charge.  In particular, Jewish legal scholars, teachers, and rabbis must make their living at something other than teaching the Oral Torah and relying on charity, even if this entails hardships for them, lest they profane God's name, and lose their part in the World to Come.  Unfortunately, many rabbis have failed to take this seriously in recent generations; some have brazenly gone so far as to say that the public must support them, and that they are forbidden to work. If a person is truly in need, however, and has no way to obtain money on his own, he should not feel embarrassed to accept tzedakah.  No one should feel too proud to take money from others.  In fact, it is considered a transgression to refuse tzedakah.  One who would sooner die than to accept tzedakah, when he must do so in order to survive, is as if he sheds his own blood. Levels of Tzedakah Certain kinds of tzedakah are considered more meritorious than others.  The Talmud describes these different levels of tzedakah, and Maimonides organized them into a list.  The levels of charity, from the least meritorious to the most meritorious, are: Giving begrudgingly Giving less than you should, but giving it cheerfully. Giving after being asked Giving before being asked Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient does not know your identity Giving when neither party knows the other's identity Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!