paragraphs on tzedakah

Paragraphs on tzedakah

The levels of tzedakah were created by Moses Maimonides. Moses Maimonides was a famous rabbi, author, philosopher, physician and a community leader. The levels are listed below from most important to least important.

1. Giving reluctantly and with regret
2. Giving graciously but less than one should
3. Giving what one should but only after being asked.
4. Giving before being asked.
5. Giving without knowing the identity of the recipient, although the recipient knows the identity of the donor.
6. Giving anonymously
7. Giving without knowing the identity of the recipient , and without knowing the identity of the donor
8. Helping the recipient self supporting through a gift or a loan, or by finding employment for the recipient

I think kids can perform the mitzvah of giving tzedakah because it does not matter how old you are to give tzedakah it matters how much that cause means to you. If somebody doesn’t care about that cause he or she might give less than what they would give if they did care. In the Jewish law it tells us we must give the minimum of 10 to 20 percent of our income to tzedakah. There are many ways kids can contribute to tzedakah like picking up garbage at a local park or give food to the food bank.

The word “charity” in Latin means from the heart .When you give charity you can give as little or as much as you want however charity isn’t when your parents ask you to give half of your allowance every week to the cancer foundation. It is when you give it voluntarily. We are not obligated to give charity but we are obligated to give tzedakah. Tzedakah reminds us all what we have been given and that we have to give back. If you are one of the people that live of tzedakah you are still obligated to do acts of kindness instead.

In biblical times the Jewish farmers used to leave the corners of their crops for tzedakah. This is one of the many ways that tzedakah and Judaism are related. The Jewish tradition requires us to give tzedakah. In most Jewish schools we are given tzedakah boxes and we are tought about how we are obligated to give tzedakah and why. The Talmud teaches us that that even if you live off tzedakah you still have to do acts of kindness.


When you give tzedakah it should come from the heart. When you give tzedakah you should be thinking of how lucky you are to be in the position of giving and not getting. When giving tzedakah the minimum is usually 10 to 15 percent of your income.

-Mikaela