Tzedakah...What's It All About?

A lot of people have heard of charity but how many do you think know about tzedakah? Tzedakah is something that Jewish people do to help others. What is the difference between charity and tzedakah? Who can do it? Are there any famous people who have written about tzedakah? Are there some rules about this tzedakah thing? Tzedakah…what’s it all about?

Charity is from the Latin ‘caritas’ which means ‘from the heart’. Charity is something a lot of people do when they are in the mood to help someone. Charity is when you give something when you feel like giving and only then. There are no obligations for a person to give charity. Tzedakah is similar to charity but it has one big difference. Tzedakah is charity with obligation. As Jews we are obligated to give tzedakah. It is something we have to do. And why do we have to do it? If we only give charity when we want to then some people will not get anything or only get things once in a while. Since we are obligated to give tzedakah all of the time we can make sure that people who can not take care of themselves will be taken care of.

Kids can help with tzedakah just as much as anyone else. In preschool on Fridays the teacher always told us to bring money for the tzedakah box. That’s one way that young kids can help give to others. The teachers set an example for us when we were young to give tzedakah and then we followed. Other ways that kids can give are: they can give part of their birthday, holiday or tooth fairy money to tzedakah. Most kids don’t have jobs so the only way they can get money to give to charity is to earn it by doing chores or by giving away some of the money they get as gifts. They can also give tzedakah by doing good deeds for others.

The Rambam, who was a famous Rabbi, philosopher and physician, made up 8 different levels of tzedakah. The lowest level is to give tzedakah to the poor with a bad attitude. People who give tzedakah this way are still giving it, but not with a good feeling. The best way to give tzedakah is to give a poor person the ability to take care of themselves so they don’t need tzedakah any more.

There are some rules in Jewish law about giving tzedakah. You have to give a minimum of 10% and no more than 20% of what you earn in a year. These rules are made so that you don’t give too little so that you are not helping anybody and you don’t give too much so that you hurt yourself. You don’t have to just give money you can also give things in your house that you don’t use anymore like books and blankets, your time like when you visit sick people, or your talents, like when you are giving someone help with their homework.

Tzedakah is a very Jewish concept. It is a way that we can show our appreciation for all the good things that we have in our lives by helping others have those good things too.