Jewish Beliefs about Rights, Equality and Social Justice » Tzedakah: Judaism on Rich and Poor

Giving as a duty

In Rich and Poor: Charity, Justice and Compassion you learned that religions ask the wealthy to help the poor. Judaism has its own word for this. It is Tzedakah. The word comes from tzedek, which means justice or righteousness.

That matters. The English word charity suggests a kind gift that you do not have to give. In Judaism, Tzedakah is a mitzvah (a commandment from the Almighty), so giving is a duty and not a favour. Jews believe that the Almighty owns the world (see Creation, Humanity and Tikkun Olam), so money is something people look after and share, not something that belongs to them alone. Giving to a person in need is simply doing what is right.

The Torah says that there will always be people in need, and so it commands: "open your hand" to them (Deuteronomy 15:11). There is no point at which a Jew can say the work is finished.

Key terms:

• Tzedakah (recap from Evil, Suffering and the Jewish Community): the Jewish duty to give to those in need, based on the idea of justice.
• Tithe: a tenth of your income, set aside for those in need.
• Pushke: a small collecting box kept at home for Tzedakah.
• Gemilut chasadim: acts of loving-kindness.
• Pe'ah and leket: the corner of a field and the dropped ears of grain, left for the poor.

Making Tzedakah a habit

Jewish communities also gather gifts together. At the festival of Purim, Jews are commanded to give gifts to the poor so that everyone can celebrate (Esther 9:22). At the Pesach Seder meal, families open by inviting all who are hungry to come and eat.

Maimonides' ladder of giving

Maimonides was a great medieval Jewish teacher. You will meet him again in Paper 2. He wrote that there are eight levels of Tzedakah, like rungs on a ladder. From the lowest to the highest, the standard list runs as follows.

1. Giving unwillingly.
2. Giving less than you should, but cheerfully.
3. Giving only after being asked.
4. Giving before being asked.
5. Giving when the poor person knows who gave, but the giver does not know who receives.
6. Giving when the giver knows who receives, but the poor person does not know who gave.
7. Giving when neither knows the other.
8. Helping a person to support themselves, by a gift or loan, by going into business with them, or by finding them work, so that they no longer need help.

The ladder teaches two things. How you give matters as much as what you give: gifts should protect the dignity of the person who receives them. And the best help is the kind that ends the need. This links to the old saying that it is better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish, which you met in the shared lesson.

The Torah's laws for the poor

Tzedakah is not just a later custom. The Torah puts care for the poor into the law of farming. In Leviticus 19:9-10, farmers must not harvest right to the edge of the field (pe'ah) and must not pick up ears of grain that fall while reaping (leket, the gleanings). These are left "for the poor and the stranger". The farmer also leaves a sheaf which was forgotten in the field (Deuteronomy 24:19).

This law has three important features. It treats food for the poor as their right, not as a gift to be handed out kindly. The poor must work to collect it, which keeps their dignity. And it includes the stranger, so the duty reaches beyond the Jewish community. The Book of Ruth shows it in action: Ruth gathers grain in the fields of Boaz and so feeds herself and her family.

Acts of loving-kindness

Gemilut chasadim means acts of loving-kindness. A famous saying in the Mishnah (Pirkei Avot 1:2) says the world stands on three things: the Torah, worship and acts of loving-kindness. Examples include visiting the sick, offering hospitality and lending money without interest.

The rabbis of the Talmud taught that gemilut chasadim goes further than Tzedakah. Tzedakah is giving money. Loving-kindness can be given with time and care as well as money, it can be given to rich and poor alike, and it can be done for the dead as well as the living (Talmud, Sukkah 49b). So a person with little money can still do it.

Generosity in Jewish communities today

You learned about Jewish Care and Mitzvah Day in Justice, Crime and Its Causes: Jewish Care and the Synagogue. They are further examples of the same idea.

Different views and the ideals

Almost all Jews agree that Tzedakah is a duty. They differ over how to put it into practice. Orthodox Jews stress that it is a commandment in Jewish law and often give to the community's own needs first. Many Progressive (Reform and Liberal) Jews also stress social justice and tikkun olam (repairing the world), and work with other groups on poverty. These are broad trends: individual Jews vary.

The three ideals from the shared lesson show up clearly. Justice: the poor have a right to help. Compassion: the Torah asks Jews to feel for those in need and "open your hand". Charity: practical giving, shaped by the eight levels.

Exam-style question

(a) Identify three ways that Jews put Tzedakah into practice. [3 marks, AO1]

(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about helping the poor in this religion. [4 marks, AO1]

(c) Choose one religion. Explain why the wealthy should support the poor in this religion. [6 marks, AO1 and AO2]

(d) "Giving money to charity is the best way to help the poor." Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks, AO1 and AO2]