Tzadakah Paragraphs

Charity vs. Tzadakah

Even though you may think that charity and tzadakah are the same thing they are very different from each other. Charity means from the heart. Charity you give when you want. Judaism does not command charity. Tzadakah means justice. You must give Tzadakah as commanded by Judaism. Tzadakah you should give whether you are feeling generous or stingy. Tzadakah is only commanded for Jews. They are the same because; they both involve giving, you can give more than one way, they both help, they both are important. Those are some of the similarities and differences between charity and tzadakah.

Eight Levels of Tzadakah

There are eight levels to tzadakah; these eight levels were created by, Maimondes (a.k.a. Rambam). One of the important ones is give anonymously, this means to give and not want anything in return. The highest level is giving so that a man can become self-supportive. A way to describe this would be to mention the saying: give a man a fish, he’ll have food for a day, teach a man to fish, he’ll have food for a year. This means to teach so that someone can provide himself or herself with food, and not have to rely on tzadakah as much. These are two of the levels I think are most important.

Can Kids Give Tzadakah

Yes, but not the same way as adults. First of all, kids usually don’t have enough money to give more than $1 for tzadakah, even though it sort of helps, it is only $1. But, kids can give time, and I believe that time is more important than money, because with time, you think about whom you’re helping; you don’t just say here you go, take it.
So next time you want to help, try volunteering at a soup kitchen or some other place.


How are Tzadakah and Judaism Related?

They are related because, first of all tzadakah is a Jewish word and it is commanded by Judaism to give tzadakah whenever you can, however this only applies to Jews. All though any other religious people can give tzadakah though. Tzadakah is basically Hebrew for Charity whenever you can. Tzadakah is for Jews mostly.

Ways to give

There are many ways to give. Several good ones are: giving money, giving anonymously, giving time, giving 15% of your profit, and giving help. There are many other things that I could mention but I wont mention any more. Basically this means that if you give time, money, etc., you’re still giving tzadakah. If you want to give tzadakah one of these ways, find an organization that you believe in, and start a fundraiser, do a raffle, get involved.

-Bram S. 6B, Apr. 29th, 2008