Tz'dakah: Privilege, Dignity, Joy

...Benjamin then provided for them from his own money...

...Maimonides' Eight Degrees outline safeguards against causing a Tz'dakah-recipient any Bushah...

...The Halachah provides for an adjustment period for one who has lost his wealth...

...That is the Mitzvah to the fullest degree...

...Were the Jews to wait for threats and emergencies,—Israel, vital institutions around the world, and individuals in great need everywhere would not survive...

...The most basic law is summarized by the Shulchan Aruch...

...How, then, can we cause it in others...

...Giving is by no means seen as a burden, and the rewards, in many senses, are vast...

...but they must give...

...His doors were open to all four directions, and anyone who came in hungry would leave satisfied...

...Our Jewish sources offer us many such patterns of Tz'dakah-living...

...There are sickness and trial, but the words speak also of sublimity and exaltation...

...This was a sign of wealth and honor, as is known from Hainan's leading Mordechai through the streets of Shushan on the king's horse...

...Physically and psychologically he must come to terms with his new condition...

...And the most famous of all Tz'dakah-rules, Maimonides' Eight Degrees, beginning with assisting others to earn their own livelihood, down to giving be-grudgingly, but still giving...

...Once, when food was scarce, a woman came to him and said, "Rabbi, feed me...

...Being a Mensch-through-Tz'da-kah means taking the initiative to find the people and times and situations where we can best apply our powers for Tikkun Olam...

...When nothing else can be done, something can always be done...

...And her blessing is a blessing and a wish for all Jews...

...And though this summary points to a dry tract of systematic legalities, to the contrary, the Halachot reflect sensitivities of a unique quality, providing guidance through the very human conditions of pain, hunger—and exhilaration and the joining of souls...

...In between are six stages which insure the integrity of the giver and the recipient...

...Menschlich people would leave money there in secret and those who had become poor would come and take, in secret...

...Tz'dakah provides inner and outer limits, and we are reminded that there is no benefit to society in a person's self-imposed impoverishment, even for some grand altruistic purpose...

...No one ever becomes poor from giving Tz'dakah, no misfortune or harm comes as a result, as it is written, 'The result of Tz'dakah will be Shalom.'" The lyrical passages—and the legal material as well—explain that Tz'dakah is a Zechut, a privilege, and it must be acted out with Simcha Shel Mitzvah, the joy of doing Mitzvahs...

...Kavod is honor, dignity, esteem, self-respect...

...They hid from him, but he went running after them...

...Her vision, her energy and radiance, the kindnesses and soothing words that emanate from her soul are a model and an inspiration...

...Furthermore, in times when food was scarce, he would leave wheat and barley outside the door, so that anyone who was too embarrassed to come and take in the daytime could come unnoticed at night to take what he needed...

...Kavod and Bushah A half-dozen times the Talmud proclaims: Gadol Kevod Habriot, The dignity of God's creatures is extremely great...

...And— When Tz'dakah-collectors would see Elazar of Birata, they would hide from him, because he would give them all that he had with him...

...We are also told that there was a Secret Chamber in the Temple, and in every major town...

...Halachot—A Small Selection of the Laws of Tz'dakah Over the longest stretch of time, the phenomenon of Tz'dakah was examined and re-examined, applied and re-applied...

...Though charity and philanthropy have been stripped to a bare meaning of giving money, originally they suggested acts of love, action motivated by an inner caring for others...

...It would become a guide for generations, offering enrichment for the individual and the possibility of Tikkun Olam— repairing the broken pieces of the world...

...Once, we are told, the community found a horse for just such a man, but no one was found to lead the man through the streets...

...Why else would the Halachah state "Even a poor person who is receiving Tz'dakah must give Tz'dakah" if it were not a privilege...

...People will survive more readily without food than without their self-respect...

...One should give up to a fifth of one's possessions...

...According to the Aruch Ha Shulchan, a code of law written in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, inheritance money and wedding gift-money are also subject to Tz'dakah...

...We have many Menschen to imitate—in our long history, and in the Jewish community today...

...The Halachic literature is extensive, and that in itself is a Jewish expression: detailed guides for the innumerable encounters a Jew experiences in his life...

...Questions of priorities, who is worthy of receiving, who are proper Tz'dakah-collectors for the community, bequests, and a full range of related topics are all explained in the literature...

...Even when stretched out on a bed, suffering from the flu or dysentery or even cancer...

...Simcha—Joy, and Zechut—Privilege Uncommon teachings: "Give away a tenth, so that you might become wealthy...

...He replied, "I swear that there is nothing in the Tz'dakah fund...

...As Abraham would leave his tent and run to greet the wayfarers, so, too, are we obliged to run to meet Tz'dakah-occasions at all times...

...Maimonides mentions another all-important concept: a Jew must not give everything away...

...We are instructed to treat each creature with Kavod, and to avoid any situation which might lead to Bushah, embarrassment, shame, humiliation...

...Furthermore, Tz'dakah requires a certain aggressiveness: we are instructed to seek out situations where we may offer our personal resources...

...This is not Chassidut—saintli-ness, but rather Shtut—foolishness...

...More than a thousand years before that, Rabbi Yehudah taught that Tz'dakah in some way, in many ways, supersedes Death...

...The basic material is in Maimonides' Mishna Torah and the Shulchan Aruch, while the more refined points are to be found in the other codes as well as the questions and answers exchanged with various rabbis over the years...

...By taking away the obligation to give, you are depriving the person and denying him a sense of Kavod—self-respect...

...And from the same period, an anonymous sage observed that two of the most prominent characteristics of the Jews are their life-patterns of Rachmanut and G'milut Chassadim: their striking sense of caring and their acts of prodigious personal kindness...

...The terminology indicates some basic distinctions: "Charity" is derived from the Latin root caritas, meaning love, dearness, fondness...

...One tenth is an average percentage, and less is considered miserly...

...One such Tzadeket, a righteous woman of Jerusalem, whose deeds are spoken of with wonder and awe, said good-bye to me with a blessing: Nizkeh Lemitz-vot—may we be privileged to do many Mitzvot together...

...And further: "One should not be arrogant when giving...

...Tz'dakah" is taken from Tze-dek, a Hebrew root meaning justice, that which is right, and it is related to the word Tzaddik, a person who lives according to Tz'dakah and Tzedek, an upright, just, giving life...

...Though he needed only one portion of meat for himself, he would buy two, one bunch of vegetables, he would buy two— one for himself and one for the poor...

...He would leave his hand in his pocket so that [by the immediacy and naturalness of handing him the money] the poor person who would come to ask would not feel humiliated...

...These stories have been handed down for hundreds of years, that we might pause and consider the essence and reality of Menschlichkeit...

...He went out and found a poor person eating meat and drinking wine...

...Benjamin the Tzaddik was the supervisor of the community's Tz'dakah-funds...

...When you see that your resources are limited, make use of them for Tz'dakah...

...And Holiness...

...In the early stages, even a horse to ride on, and a servant to run before horse, must be provided...

...Tz'dakah includes this feeling, of course, but it goes beyond it...

...Indeed, two poor people may give each other identical gifts for their Purim means...

...It is a significant educational opportunity for Jewish youth entering Jewish adulthood...

...Again: "Anyone who runs to do Tz'dakah will always find the necessary funds...

...Emotions and body-languages are ephemeral...

...The recipients are required to give—according to some opinions—even if it is certain that a percentage was already taken from the money before it was given to them...

...Their purpose was to create a design-and-flow of ideas and deeds that would mold the raw stuff of Human Being into intense Menschlichkeit...

...Situations vary day by day...

...Centuries transform the vision of life...

...The process continues, correlating the rules and The Way Things Are...

...Their conclusions, and their personal example, demonstrate how critical Tz'dakah is in the search for Menschlichkeit...

...Or angry at the world or a partner or parent or business DANNY SEGEL TZ'DAKAH: PRIVILEGE, JOY, DIGNITY associate...

...Bitterness in the soul—everyone has felt it at some time...

...Because it is right, just, in the very nature of being created in the image of God...

...and the appropriate recipients for his Tz'dakah-word...

...One day, he was on his way to the market to purchase something for his daughter's wedding when the Tz'dakah-collectors saw him...

...Tz'dakah was to be a distinctly Jewish mode of giving of one's money and possessions, time and energy...

...These are the people about whom it is said, "There is no need to make elaborate gravestones for the Tzaddikim—their words and deeds are their memory...

...They observed the ways of God's creatures and meticulously explored the Jewish sacred texts, producing a new matrix for living Jewishly...

...When he told his father what he had seen, his father said, "Give him more, for his soul is bitter...

...Tz'dakah transcends the individual's immediate moods and demands that—even if there is no particular feeling of love at a certain moment—still, there is an obligation, a requirement to give...

...Whether or not one is feeling miserable or hostile or obsessed with doubts and personal concerns, Tz'dakah clearly demands a positive response...

...Over seventeen hundred years ago, Yannai Rabbah rebuked a man who gave to the poor too openly, causing them shame...

...No one's prying eyes to cause shame...

...Conclusion: Stories, an Aphorism, and a Wish Rabbi Tanhum set a pattern in his life...

...Hill el himself—Hillel HaZaken, the Elder Hillel, did it—because the dignity of God's creatures is so great...

...Lower and lower on the scale are encounters which lack certain desirable characteristics and qualities, though all eight degrees are still considered a fulfillment of the Mitzvah...

...This aspect of the life to Tz'dakah is expressed in two elegant Talmudic tales: Rabbi Chana bar Chanila'i had sixty bakers in his house day and night, baking for anyone who needed bread...

...What benefit is there, Our Teacher is saying, if we provide a family with a meal or clothing, if we shame them in the process...

...Did not Chana bar Chanila'i leave wheat and barley outside, so the poor could come at night and take, unnoticed, with dignity...

...Humiliation, shame—everyone has felt these non-forgettable emotions at some time...

...Since the earliest days of the Common Era, our Chachamim, our Rebbis, gathered in houses of study to scrutinize Life—not as an intellectual or philosophical exercise, but rather as a passionate engagement...

...The Shulchan Aruch states: "One should give pleasantly, joyously, with a good heart, showing sympathy for the poor, sharing in his sensations of pain and sorrow...

...Better not to have given him anything than to have given and caused his humiliation...

...Tales will be told of their work, their insights, their sweetness and warmth...

...She said, "If you do not feed me, a woman and her seven children will die...

...The Talmud, the Midrash, and the later Law Codes are documents of their words, their Hala-chah-laws, and their specific biographies...

...How, then, can we cause it in others...

...The same rule applies to bar and bat mitzvah money, according to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin...

...We are not to wait for imminent disaster, such as the Yom Kippur War or a siege at the B'nai B'rith building in order to give...

...Tz'dakah is constant and consistent, hinting at eternity...

...The Talmud teaches: "When a person gives even a prutah—the smallest coin—he is privileged to sense God's Intimate Presence...

...Philanthropy" comes from a combination of two Greek roots—philia, love, and anthro-pos, man...

...And another story: Abba bar Ba gave money to his son Shmuel to distribute to the poor...

...Even when depressed...

...Kavod and Bushah in relation to ourselves, as well as to others...