Tzedakah (charity) is equal to all the other commandments combined. – Talmud (Bava Basra 9b)
The Sages of the Talmud mandated that Jews must give 10% of their net income to charity. This is derived from Deut. 26:12 and Lev. 19:9-10. Charitable giving is an integral part of Jewish life. It is customary to give tzedakah every week before Shabbos, before holidays, when celebrating life cycle events (i.e. wedding, bar mitzvah, bris), at a house of mourning. Every year on a loved one’s yahrtzeit (anniversary of death) a Jew pledges to donate charity in memory of the deceased. Even Jews who are poor enough to receive charity should give what they can. Those who are exceptionally wealthy are encouraged to give 20 percent, and many give even more.
The word tzedakah means justice. The Jewish concept of charity is not simply a good deed, but a righteous act that creates a more just society. The goal is to make the recipient self sufficient. We teach our children from an early age to be givers and every Jewish home has a pushka – a charity box for collecting coins to give to the poor. Making and decorating a pushka box is a fun activity for even the youngest children.
Maimonides (1138-1204) teaches that there are eight levels in giving tzedakah, each one higher than the previous. Here they are, in ascending order:
8. When a donor gives grudgingly.
7. When a donor gives less than he should, but gladly with a smile.
6. When one gives directly to the poor when asked.
5. When one gives directly to the poor without being asked.
4. Donations when the recipient knows the identity of the donor, but the donor doesn’t know the identity of the recipient.
3. Donations when the donor knows the identity of the recipient, but the recipient doesn’t know the identity of the donor.
2. Donations when both the donor and recipient are unknown to each other.
1. Helping a person achieve financial independence by giving him a job, a gift or free loan, or another form of support so that he doesn’t have to rely on others.
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Image: Tzedakah motif on Jewish gravestone in Otwock, Poland (photo credit Nikodem Nijaki)
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