Tzedakah—A Jewish Perspective on Compassion

Admittedly, I plug this blog as the intersection between Christianity and Buddhism. But today I depart and look to our Jewish sisters and brothers for inspiration on this topic of compassion. While in the last couple posts I’ve wanted to be transparent about what I spend on myself and how I can tie this to attempting to do good for others, I realize that transparency could be misconstrued—perhaps as false piety, or worse, hypocrisy, pride or hubris. The following comes to mind:

Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward. When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Those who give in secret will be rewarded. (Matthew 6:1-4).

So, I want to be clear that I’m not searching for kudos or rewards for my feeble attempts to reach out to those in need. Rather, I want to be transparent to hold myself accountable to myself and to others.

I’ve been reading portions of the Mishkan T’Filah, the new prayer book of Reformed Judaism. One of the selections for morning prayer speaks to this.

There are eight degrees in the giving of tzedakah (charity or justice), each one higher than the one before:

1. to give grudgingly, reluctantly, or with regret;

2. to give less than one should, but with grace;

3. to give what one should, but only after being asked;

4. to give before being asked;

5. to give without knowing who will receive it, although the recipient knows the identity of the giver;

6. to give without making known one’s identity;

7. to give so that neither giver nor receiver knows the identity of the other;

8. to help another to become self-supporting, by means of a gift, a loan, or by finding employment for the one in need.

This was written by Maimonides, the medieval Jewish philosopher and rabbi. I think generally I’m at level 2 (giving less than one should, but with some measure of grace and sincere intent). Thus, I have a great opportunity for growth.

How do you rank?