Tzedakah

Resources for alleviating poverty.

The lives of Abraham and Job provide us with two models for confronting poverty.

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." How many fish do we buy, and how many nets?

The Rabbis regulated the giving and receiving of tzedakah even while recognizing that how one gives may be as important as how much one gives.

One spiritual leader's approach to the relationship between giving and taking.

Jewish texts discuss how much to give and to whom.

History and Development of Tzedakah. Jewish Tzedakah. Charitable Giving.

Although often translated as “charity,” tzedakah is not equivalent to charity. Rather, its root means “justice.”

The Bible backed up its exhortations to assist the poor with laws and practices that gave poor people a claim to a share of society’s wealth.

A contemporary Conservative rabbi reviews the Jewish legal literature for guidance on how much to ask about a person who solicits us for tzedakah--or whether to give to all who request our help.