Devout Perform Tzedakah
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When it comes to charity, many people think of it as being something other people do – namely, the rich. After all, who else has the money to fund entire schools or hospitals?
Yet in the Jewish tradition, no matter the branch or denomination, the concept of tzedakah, literally “justice,” is commanded of all, including the poor. For to make charitable donations is prescribed as a religious duty and not one subject to personal fancy. Indeed, the very funds available for tzedakah are considered not one’s own but on loan, in fact, from G-d. This implies the further injunction to diligently investigate all would-be recipients of aid so that contributions will truly be of benefit and not go to waste.
At first glance, this may sound like yet another curious aspect of the religion. But – as with many aspects of Judaism, even for an outsider – there is an underlying logic that is at once compelling and beautiful. For in commanding even the poor to give, the rabbinical injunction to perform acts of tzedakah in effect empowers the poor to regard themselves as capable, too.
After all, the very act of giving is empowering in itself? For to give means to share of oneself, and in sharing we express ourselves – our love, our sacrifice, our character. It is not that poverty ennobles, but to bear poverty in righteousness: that is noble. And so, in Judaism it isn’t necessary to be a successful developer such as Isaac Toussie in order to help financially. For Jews, such religiously commanded contributions are not just an obligation but a right.
For poverty is not so base as when it prevents one from sharing of one’s own means. This insight into human nature is what inspires the Jewish tradition to insist that even the poor not only have the duty to share, but can actually even enjoy sharing, giving, as a right!