tzedekah: to whom we give and why
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Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 7:5
בא העני ושאל די מחסורו ואין יד הנותן משגת נותן לו כפי השגת ידו וכמה עד חמישית נכסיו מצוה מן המובחר, ואחד מעשרה בנכסיו בינוני, פחות מכאן עין רעה, ולעולם לא ימנע עצמו משלישית השקל בשנה, וכל הנותן פחות מזה לא קיים מצוה, ואפילו עני המתפרנס מן הצדקה חייב ליתן צדקה לאחר.
Mishneh_Torah,_Gifts_to_the_Poor.7.5
If a poor person comes and asks according to his or her need and the giver cannot afford to give, the giver should give according to his ability. And how much is that? The greatest way to fulfill this commandment is to give up to one fifth of your wealth. The average way to fulfill this commandment is to give 10% of your wealth. Less than this is considered an evil eye. One should never give less than 1/3 of a shekel in a year, and anyone who gives less than this has not fulfilled the commandment. Even a poor person who is supported by tzedakah is obligated to give tzedakah to another. [AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What is 10% of your income? Would it be possible for you to give that amount each year? What ramifications would it have on your lifestyle?
2. What is the significance of the last line of this text?

Aruch HaShulchan, Laws of Tzedakah 251:3, 5
Translation Original
The Tur writes in the name of Rav Saadia Gaon: “A person’s own livelihood takes precedence over that of anyone else, and one is not required to give tzedakah until he [or she] has acquired a livelihood, as it says: “And your fellow will live with you” (Leviticus 25:36), meaning your life takes priority over that of your fellow’s. A person who earns a living, like that of an important land owner, that allows him to eat bread, meat and spices and dress nicely, should certainly give a tenth or a fifth of his or her income. [AJWS translation]
כתב הטור שם רב סעדיה גאון חייב אדם להקדים פרנסתו לכל אדם ואינו חייב לתת צדקה עד שיהיה לו פרנסתו שנאמר וחי אחיך עמך, חייך קודמין לחיי אחיך. האיש שמרויח פרנסתו כבעל בית חשוב שאוכל כראוי לחם ובשר ותבשילין ולובש ומכסה א"ע כראוי וודאי דחייב בצדקה מעשר או חומש מפרנסתו.
Suggested Discussion Questions

1. According to this text, what constitutes affluence?
2. How does this text map onto our society? In what ways are we all living in affluence?
3. What does it mean to take precedence over? How might we define such priorities today?

BabylonianTalmud, Baba Metzia 71a
בבא מציעא ע״א א:ג׳
דתני רב יוסף (שמות כ"ב) אם כסף תלוה את עמי את העני עמך, עמי ונכרי - עמי קודם, עני ועשיר - עני קודם, ענייך ועניי עירך - ענייך קודמין, עניי עירך ועניי עיר אחרת - עניי עירך קודמין.
Bava Metzia 71a:3
R. Joseph learnt: "If you lend money to any of my people that are poor with you" [this teaches, if the choice lies between] a Jew and a non-Jew, a Jew has preference; the poor or the rich the poor takes precedence; your poor [i.e. your relatives] and the [general] poor of your town, your poor come first; the poor of your city and the poor of another town the poor of your own town have prior rights. [Soncino translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What causes us to attend to the needs of some over the needs of others?
2. How do both acknowledge that we prioritize our giving and at the same time work to end all hardship?

BabylonianTalmud, Gittin 61a
גיטין ס״א א:ה׳
ת"ר: מפרנסים עניי נכרים עם עניי ישראל, ומבקרין חולי נכרים עם חולי ישראל, וקוברין מתי נכרים עם מתי ישראל, מפני דרכי שלום.
Gittin 61a:5
Our Rabbis taught: We sustain the non-Jewish poor with the Jewish poor, visit the non-Jewish sick with the Jewish sick, and bury the non-Jewish dead with the Jewish dead, for the sake of peace. [AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What does the "for the sake of peace" mean? Can we talk about peace as positive, not as self-serving?
2. How do we reconcile this text with the common tendency to care for our own first?