The Spiritual Benefits of Giving Tzedakah

Rabbinic sources, both ancient and modern, suggest that tzedakah plays an important role in the spiritual life of the donor.

By Rachel Scheinerman

(Getty)

Judaism has always prioritized care for the poor. But it has not always seen charity as a boon to the giver.

In the Hebrew Bible, significant institutions and laws establish care for the poor as well as widows, orphans and strangers — all structurally vulnerable members of society. The practice of pe’ah, leaving gleanings in the field during harvest for the poor to collect, allowed the poor to feed themselves on a yearly basis. Similarly, during the shmita (sabbatical year), during which privately owned land was not cultivated, the poor were permitted to eat whatever grew spontaneously. Food assistance also came regularly in the third and sixth years of the sabbatical cycle when tithes were separated from the harvest specifically to feed the poor.

In addition to food aid, the Hebrew Bible provided for financial aid, primarily in the form of loans. Not only were these loans interest-free, so that the recipient did not sink deeper into debt, if unpaid they were forgiven in the shmita year, giving those caught in a cycle of poverty a reliable fresh start. Deuteronomy 15:7–11 specifically enjoins people of means not to hold back from making loans even in the fifth and sixth years of the sabbatical cycle, when they know those loans are unlikely to be repaid.

The biblical laws were meant to ensure a steady stream of food and loan opportunities for the poor, feeding them in times of need and giving them the tools to climb out of poverty. For the most part, the system was designed to care for the poor without the need for individuals to spontaneously give direct charity. Nonetheless, that kind of generosity was both lauded and encouraged. Deuteronomy 15:10–11 declares: “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you: Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.” This statement is both an acknowledgement that poverty persists despite the biblically mandated structures designed to combat it, and an appeal to individuals of means to take it upon themselves to become part of that solution.

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There are texts of the Hebrew Bible that not only laud charitable giving, but raise it to a significant religious ideal. Famously, the prophet Isaiah exhorts Israel that God wants them to feed the poor and clothe the naked far more than God wants potentially theatrical demonstrations of religious piety, like fasting and sacrifice.

The Book of Proverbs (28:27) takes this a step further, promising material reward for those who choose to aid those who are less fortunate: “Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.”

Despite the many verses and voices in the Hebrew Bible advocating care for the poor, nowhere does it directly refer to charity using the now ubiquitous Jewish term tzedakah, literally righteousness. That idea developed later in the rabbinic period. And with it came the radical notion that supporting the poor is not merely good for those who are strapped, it is essential for the giver. In fact, it may even be more important for the giver than the recipient. Consider this passage from the Talmud:

And this is the question that Turnus Rufus the wicked asked Rabbi Akiva: If your God loves the poor, for what reason does He not support them Himself? Rabbi Akiva said to him: He commands us to sustain the poor, so that through them and the charity we give them we will be saved from the judgment of Gehenna. (Bava Batra 10a)

In the view of Rabbi Akiva, tzedakah is necessary not for the recipient, but for the giver, because it is through tzedakah that the giver is spared from divine punishment. There are many other talmudic stories and teachings that deliver a similar message. For example:

The sages taught: There was an incident involving King Munbaz, who liberally gave away his treasures and the treasures of his ancestors in the years of drought. His brothers and his father’s household joined together against him, and they said to him: Your ancestors stored up monies and added to the treasures of their ancestors, and you are liberally distributing it all to the poor. King Munbaz said to them: Not so, my ancestors stored up below, whereas I am storing above, as it is stated: “Truth will spring out of the earth and righteousness will look down from heaven” (Psalms 85:12). My ancestors stored up treasures in a place where the human hand can reach, whereas I am storing up treasures in a place where the human hand cannot reach, as it is stated: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psalms 89:15).

This family clearly believes wealth creates security. But the eloquent king, who is criticized by his father and brother for dissipating the family fortune, explains that his acts of tzedakah create an even more secure future for himself and his progeny. After all, earthly treasure can be plundered. But divine reward amassed by giving away that treasure to the poor can never be taken away.

The 20th century thinker and theologian Rabbi Louis Jacobs, writing about the designation of charity as righteousness, explained that the point is that all condescension should be removed from charitable giving, because rewards for the giver are just as significant as those for the recipient — and quite possibly greater.