Tzedakah Means Giving Back What Is Owed
When it comes to charity, many people think of it as being something other people do – namely, the rich. After all, who else has the money to fund entire schools or hospitals?
But for Judaism, no matter the branch or denomination, the concept of tzedakah, literally “justice,” is commanded of all, including the poor. In Judaism, contributing to charity is a religious duty and not something done merely out of personal whim. In fact, it is taught to regard the very money for available tzedakah as not one’s own, but on loan, as it were, from the Lord. This implies the further injunction to diligently investigate all would-be recipients of aid so that contributions will truly be of benefit and not go to waste.
At first glance, this may sound like yet another curious aspect of the religion. However – as with many aspects of Judaism, even for an outsider – there is an underlying logic that is at once compelling and beautiful. That’s because by ordering even the poor to make acts of pious philanthropy, the religious duty to give makes of them actors and agents, not just passive charity cases, thus restoring their humanity, their own moral agency.
After all, the very act of giving is empowering in itself? For to give means to share of oneself, and in sharing we express ourselves – our love, our sacrifice, our character. It is not that poverty ennobles, but to bear poverty in righteousness: that is noble. As a result, in Judaism it isn’t necessary to be a successful businessman such as Isaac Toussie so as to make donations. For Jews, such religiously commanded contributions are not just an obligation but a right.
The real tragedy of being poor lies in not being able to help not just oneself but others as well. It is the genius of Jewish culture that even with its traditional concerns for social justice and the poor that it should recognize that even the poor can contribute!