On Giving
You give but little
when you Give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself
that you truly give.
You often say, "I would give,
but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so,
nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live,
for to withhold is to perish.
See first that you yourself
deserve to be a giver,
and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life
while you,
who deem yourself a giver,
are but a witness.
- Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer (1883 – 1931)
(יז) הַצַּדִּיקִים הַגְּמוּרִים וְאַנְשֵׁי מַעֲשֶׂה לֹא יְקַבְּלוּ מַתָּנָה מֵאָדָם. אֶלָּא בּוֹטְחִים בַּה' בָּרוּךְ שְׁמוֹ לֹא בִּנְדִיבִים. וַהֲרֵי נֶאֱמַר (משלי טו כז) "וְשׂוֹנֵא מַתָּנֹת יִחְיֶה": סְלִיקוּ לְהוּ הִלְכוֹת זְכִיָּה וּמַתָּנָה בְּסַ''ד
(17) Sincerely upright men of good works do not accept gifts from men; they trust in God, blessed be he, and not in philanthropists. Indeed, it is written: "He who hates gifts will live" (Proverbs 15:27).
(20) Mordecai recorded these events. And he sent dispatches to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far, (21) charging them to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, every year— (22) the same days on which the Jews enjoyed relief from their foes and the same month which had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy. They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor. (23) The Jews accordingly assumed as an obligation that which they had begun to practice and which Mordecai prescribed for them.
(טז) וְחַיָּב לְחַלֵּק לָעֲנִיִּים בְּיוֹם הַפּוּרִים. אֵין פּוֹחֲתִין מִשְּׁנֵי עֲנִיִּים נוֹתֵן לְכָל אֶחָד מַתָּנָה אַחַת אוֹ מָעוֹת אוֹ מִינֵי תַּבְשִׁיל אוֹ מִינֵי אֳכָלִין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (אסתר ט כב) "וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים", שְׁתֵּי מַתָּנוֹת לִשְׁנֵי עֲנִיִּים. וְאֵין מְדַקְדְּקִין בִּמְעוֹת פּוּרִים אֶלָּא כָּל הַפּוֹשֵׁט יָדוֹ לִטּל נוֹתְנִין לוֹ. וְאֵין מְשַׁנִּין מָעוֹת פּוּרִים לִצְדָקָה אַחֶרֶת:
(יז) מוּטָב לָאָדָם לְהַרְבּוֹת בְּמַתְּנוֹת אֶבְיוֹנִים מִלְּהַרְבּוֹת בִּסְעֻדָּתוֹ וּבְשִׁלּוּחַ מָנוֹת לְרֵעָיו. שֶׁאֵין שָׁם שִׂמְחָה גְּדוֹלָה וּמְפֹאָרָה אֶלָּא לְשַׂמֵּחַ לֵב עֲנִיִּים וִיתוֹמִים וְאַלְמָנוֹת וְגֵרִים. שֶׁהַמְשַׂמֵּחַ לֵב הָאֻמְלָלִים הָאֵלּוּ דּוֹמֶה לַשְּׁכִינָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נז טו) "לְהַחֲיוֹת רוּחַ שְׁפָלִים וּלְהַחֲיוֹת לֵב נִדְכָּאִים":
(16) One is required to distribute charity to the poor on Purim. We do not [give to] less than two poor people. One gives one gift to each one: Coins or types of dishes or types of food. As it states (Esther 9:22) "and gifts to the destitute" — two gifts to two poor people. The applicants for Purim money should not be scrutinized; it should be given to anyone who holds out his hand. Purim money must not be diverted to any other charity.
(17) One should rather spend more money on gifts to the poor than on his Purim banquet and presents to his friends. No joy is greater and more glorious than the joy of gladdening the hearts of the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the strangers. He who gladdens the heart of these unhappy people imitates God, as it is written: "I am … to revive the spirit of the humble, and to put heart into the crushed" (Isaiah 57:15).
(ב) לְעוֹלָם אֵין אָדָם מַעֲנִי מִן הַצְּדָקָה וְאֵין דָּבָר רַע וְלֹא הֶזֵּק נִגְלָל בִּשְׁבִיל הַצְּדָקָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה לב יז) "וְהָיָה מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה שָׁלוֹם." כָּל הַמְרַחֵם מְרַחֲמִין עָלָיו שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יג יח) "וְנָתַן לְךָ רַחֲמִים וְרִחַמְךָ וְהִרְבֶּךָ". וְכָל מִי שֶׁהוּא אַכְזָרִי וְאֵינוֹ מְרַחֵם יֵשׁ לָחוּשׁ לְיַחֲסוֹ. שֶׁאֵין הָאַכְזָרִיּוּת מְצוּיָה אֶלָּא בְּעַכּוּ''ם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה נ מב) "אַכְזָרִי הֵמָּה וְלֹא יְרַחֵמוּ". וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהַנִּלְוֶה עֲלֵיהֶם כְּאַחִים הֵם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יד א) "בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם" וְאִם לֹא יְרַחֵם הָאָח עַל הָאָח מִי יְרַחֵם עָלָיו. וּלְמִי עֲנִיֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל נוֹשְׂאִין עֵינֵיהֶן. הֲלְעַכּוּ''ם שֶׁשּׂוֹנְאִין אוֹתָן וְרוֹדְפִים אַחֲרֵיהֶן. הָא אֵין עֵינֵיהֶן תְּלוּיוֹת אֶלָּא לַאֲחֵיהֶן:
(2) Never has anyone become poor by giving to tzedakah, nor has anything bad ever come of it, nor has any harm occurred because of tzedakah, as it is said, (Isaiah 32:17) The work of righteousness [tzedakah] is peace. Anyone who shows compassion, others will show compassion to him, as it is said, (Deut. 13:18) [May God] show you compassion, and let your compassion increase.177This is a play on the text. The original reads, "and in His compassion increase you," that is, God will multiply your descendants. Here, the compassion itself increases. And if a brother does not show compassion for another brother, then who will have compassion for him? And to whom can the poor of Israel look? To the idolatrous nations that hate them and pursue them? They can only look to rely upon their brothers.
(ד) והוי מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות כיצד מלמד שאם נתן אדם לחבירו כל מתנות טובות שבעולם ופניו (זעומות) [כבושים] בארץ מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו לא נתן לו כלום אבל המקבל את חבירו בסבר פנים יפות אפי' לא נתן לו כלום מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו נתן לו כל מתנות טובות שבעולם:
(4) Greet everyone with a smile. How so? This teaches that if a person gives his friend all the finest gifts in the world, but does so with a pained face, Scripture considers it as if he had given him nothing. But one who receives his friend with a smile, even if he gives him nothing, Scripture considers it as if he had given him all the finest gifts in the world.
Rav said: One who gives a gift to another must inform him that he is giving it to him. As it is stated: “Only keep My Shabbatot for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations to know that I am God Who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13). When the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave Shabbat to Israel, He told Moses to inform them about it.
The Gemara asks: What does he do to the child, so that his mother will know that he gave him a gift? Abaye said: He should smear him with oil or place blue shadow around his eye in an obvious manner. When the mother of the child notices and asks him about it, he will tell her that so-and-so gave him a piece of bread. The Gemara asks: And now that we are concerned about witchcraft involving oil or eye shadow, what should one who gives a gift do? Rav Pappa said: He should smear him with food of the same type that he gave him to eat.
§ It was taught in the mishna: And the following are notable because of the full-fledged mitzva involved in them, yet are prohibited on Shabbat: One may not consecrate, nor make a donation vow, nor offers gifts of objects for use by the priests or the Temple. The Gemara explains: All these cases are prohibited because of a decree due to their similarity to commerce. These acts, which all involve the transfer of ownership to the Temple treasury, resemble commerce, which is prohibited on a Festival.
A Love Like That
Even after
all this time
the sun never
says to the earth,
"You owe Me."
Look
what happens
with a love like that.
It lights the
whole
sky.
The earth
would die
if the sun stopped
kissing her.
Hafiz (1325-1389) from the collection The Gift. Hafiz was a Persian poet, acclaimed in his lifetime, and still beloved and quoted throughout the world.
Re’eh (5767) – Tzedakah: The Untranslatable Virtue
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Tzedakah cannot be translated because it joins together two concepts that in other languages are opposites, namely charity and justice. Suppose, for example, that I give someone £100. Either he is entitled to it, or he is not. If he is, then my act is a form of justice. If he is not, it is an act of charity. In English (as with the Latin terms caritas and iustitia) a gesture of charity cannot be an act of justice, nor can an act of justice be described as charity. Tzedakah is therefore an unusual term, because it means both.
It arises from the theology of Judaism, which insists on the difference between possession and ownership. Ultimately, all things are owned by G-d, creator of the world. What we possess, we do not own – we merely hold it in trust for G-d. The clearest example is the provision in Leviticus: ‘The land must not be sold permanently because the land is Mine; you are merely strangers and temporary residents in relation to Me’ (Leviticus 25:23).
If there were absolute ownership, there would be a difference between justice (what we are bound to give others) and charity (what we give others out of generosity). The former would be a legally enforceable duty, the latter, at best, the prompting of benevolence or sympathy. In Judaism, however, because we are not owners of our property but merely guardians on G-d’s behalf, we are bound by the conditions of trusteeship, one of which is that we share part of what we have with others in need. What would be regarded as charity in other legal systems is, in Judaism, a strict requirement of the law and can, if necessary, be enforced by the courts.
The nearest English equivalent to tzedakah is the phrase that came into existence alongside the idea of a welfare state, namely social justice (significantly, Friedrich Hayek regarded the concept of social justice as incoherent and self-contradictory). Behind both is the idea that no one should be without the basic requirements of existence, and that those who have more than they need must share some of that surplus with those who have less. This is fundamental to the kind of society the Israelites were charged with creating, namely one in which everyone has a basic right to a dignified life and equal worth as citizens in the covenantal community under the sovereignty of G-d.
Full Piece at http://www.rabbisacks.org/reeh-5767-tzedakah-the-untranslatable-virtue/