This essay covers five things about Tzedakah:
1. Charity vs. Tzedakah
2. Levels of Tzedakah
3. Can kids perform Tzedakah?
4. What does Tzedakah have to do with Judaism?
5. How should Tzedakah be given?
1. Charity vs. Tzedakah
Giving money to charity and giving money to Tzedakah are both great things to do but, in my opinion, Tzedakah is a better way of helping someone than charity. Charity is giving money and to some people, like Bill Gates, is very easy to do. All you have to do is write a cheque for some amount of money and send it to a charity. Some charities are unreliable or keep a percentage of the money for themselves. Also a lot of people give to charity just to have their name on a wing of a hospital or be put in the paper. Tzedakah is more of a do-it-yourself approach. When giving Tzedakah you are supposed to give anonymously and give from your heart not because you have to. When giving Tzedakah you don’t just give money but you also give people your time. Tzedakah is supposed to be given consistently. Tzedakah is not only about helping people but it is also good to teach people how to help themselves and to make the world a better place. In conclusion charity is good, but Tzedakah is like charity 2.0!
2. Levels of Tzedakah
There are eight levels of Tzedakah. In my opinion the key to Tzedakah it is not so much what you give to Tzedakah, but how you give it. What I mean by this is, you could spend three years helping at Canucks place but not mean it and do it because you have to, or help for one month and do what your doing from your heart and enjoy what you are doing just because you are helping someone. The second way, from the heart, is a higher level of Tzedakah and, even though you are helping for less time, you will be a higher level of person.
3. Can kids perform Tzedakah?
Yes. Kids can perform Tzedakah! Kids can perform Tzedakah because a form of Tzedakah is giving your time to volunteer. I think that giving time is even better then giving money. You can never earn back time. Also even giving one dollar or fifty cents is giving Tzedakah if you give it properly.
4. What does Tzedakah have to do with Judaism?
I think Tzedakah has a lot to do with Judaism. One thing is Tzedakah is a Jewish word and was created by Jews. Jews have been giving Tzedakah since the biblical times. In biblical times you were supposed to leave 10% of your field for the poor. Tzedakah has a little bit more meaning than charity, Tzedakah is about giving but also about making yourself a better person, and that is what the Torah is all about. Tzedakah is also a very important thing in Judaism, before Shabbat a lot of Jews give Tzedakah, and it is a part of becoming a Static (a righteous person). Tzedakah may be a Jewish thing, but that doesn’t mean that only Jews can do it. Tzedakah is something everyone can do!
5. How should Tzedakah be given?
Tzedakah should not be given for selfish reasons! In most cases you should give money anonymously, so the person you are giving to does not feel embarrassed or like he needs to pay you back. That is the reason in the biblical time people would give Tzedakah by leaving 10% of their fields for poor people to take themselves. You should be giving Tzedakah from your heart. Meaning you should be giving for the sake of giving and helping or making someone happy. Another fantastic way of giving Tzedakah is helping them support themselves. If you give someone one hundred dollars they are set for a week. If you give someone a job they are able to help themselves and no longer need you. There is an expression that sums up what I am trying to say: “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.” One last good way to give is to give a person Tzedakah before he or she asks you for it.
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