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Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:7 (cf. Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, 249: 6-13)רמבם, הלכות מתנות עניים י:ז Original Text:שמנה מעלות יש בצדקה זו למעלה מזו, מעלה גדולה שאין למעלה ממנה זה המחזיק ביד ישראל שמך ונותן לו מתנה או הלואה או עושה עמו שותפות או ממציא לו מלאכה כדי לחזק את ידו עד שלא יצטרך לבריות לשאול, ועל זה נאמר והחזקת בו גר ותושב וחי עמך כלומר החזק בו עד שלא יפול ויצטרך. פחות מזה הנותן צדקה לעניים ולא ידע למי נתן ולא ידע העני ממי לקח, שהרי זו מצוה לשמה, כגון לשכת חשאים שהיתה במקדש, שהיו הצדיקים נותנין בה בחשאי והעניים בני טובים מתפרנסין ממנה בחשאי, וקרוב לזה הנותן לתוך קופה של צדקה, ולא יתן אדם לתוך קופה של צדקה אלא אם כן יודע שהממונה נאמן וחכם ויודע להנהיג כשורה כר' חנניה בן תרדיון. פחות מזה שידע הנותן למי יתן ולא ידע העני ממי לקח, כגון גדולי החכמים שהיו הולכין בסתר ומשליכין המעות בפתחי העניים, וכזה ראוי לעשות ומעלה טובה היא אם אין הממונין בצדקה נוהגין כשורה. פחות מזה שידע העני ממי נטל ולא ידע הנותן, כגון גדולי החכמים שהיו צוררים המעות בסדיניהן ומפשילין לאחוריהן ובאין העניים ונוטלין כדי שלא יהיה להן בושה. פחות מזה שיתן לו בידו קודם שישאל. פחות מזה שיתן לו אחר שישאל. פחות מזה שיתן לו פחות מן הראוי בסבר פנים יפות. פחות מזה שיתן לו בעצב. Translation:There are eight degrees of tzedakah, each higher than the next. The highest degree, exceeded by none, is that of the person who assists a poor person by providing him with a gift or a loan or by accepting him into a business partnership or by helping him find employment – in a word, by putting him where he can dispense with other people’s aid. With reference to such aid, it is said, “You shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you” (Vayikra [Leviticus] 25:35), which means strengthen him in such a manner that his falling into want is prevented. Below this is that of the person who gives tzedakah to poor people, but the giver doesn’t know to whom he is giving nor does the recipient know from whom he is receiving. This constitutes giving for its own sake. This is similar to the Secret Office that was in the Temple. There the righteous ones gave secretly and the poor people would be sustained from it anonymously. This is similar to giving to a tzedakah collection. But one should only give to a tzedakah collection if he knows that the overseer is trustworthy and wise and conducts himself fairly, like Rabbi Channaniah ben Tradyon. Below this is a situation in which the giver knows to whom he is giving but the poor person does not know from whom he is receiving. This is like the great sages who used to walk in secret and put coins into the doors of poor people. It is worthy and truly good to do this if those who are responsible for collecting tzedakah are not trustworthy. Below this is a situation in which the poor person knows from whom he is receiving, but the giver does not know the recipient. This is like the great sages who used to bundle coins in their scarves and roll them up over their backs and poor people would come and collect without being embarrassed. Below this is one who gives before being asked. Below this is one who gives after being asked. Below this is one who gives less than what is appropriate but gives it happily. Below this is one who gives unhappily. Suggested Discussion Questions:1. In Rambam's ladder of giving, what role does shame play in his hierarchy?
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What pattern or order do you see in the categories that Maimonides
sets forth? What principles lead him to organize his hierarchy of giving
in this order?
Which of these eight levels would you categorize as tzedek, and
which as tzedakah?
Maimonides teaches us that tzedakah is about assisting those in immediate
need. But tzedakah is not just about the transfer of money from donor
to beneficiary. It is also about the attitude of the donor and the dignity of
the recipient. Maimonides’ levels help us understand that the donor is not
superior, nor the recipient inferior, and that tzedakah should not contribute
to the aggrandizement of the former nor the denegration of the latter.
Judaism teaches that poverty is not a stigma and it should not define the
social status or worth of an individual. It is a condition, somewhat like hunger,
that with proper social structures and individual determination can be
overcome. It is also a condition that, but for the grace of God, might occur
to any one of us.
Why does our attitude make a difference in the way we give?
What are the various purposes in giving tzedakah? How might they
be best achieved?
Do you think that the level of humility which Maimonides sets as an
ideal is realistic?
Jacob Neusner explains giving to the poor this way:
“When we give to the poor, we must do so in a such a way that the
equality of the giver and the receiver is acknowledged. This is not an act of grace or an expression of affection. It is an act of respect, an expression of duty. We give not because we feel like it, but because it is our obligation. We do so in a way that will not make us feel superior, and in a way that will not make the poor person feel inferior.”
Jacob Neusner Tzedakah: Can Jewish Philanthropy Buy Jewish Survival?
(Rossel Books. 1982, p. 13)
This is a difficult attitude to maintain, on both sides. Participants will likely
consider it very difficult to achieve this attitude of humility, but that is one
of the characteristics which distinguishes charity from tzedakah.
There is one other important way to distinguish an act of tzedek from an
act of tzedakah. One seeks to be preventive and the other reactive. Both
are necessary. As the Sages explain: It takes one person to support something
before it falls, but after it falls, even five people may not be able to lift
it (see Rashi’s commentary on Leviticus 25:35). It is often more efficient,
certainly more just, and always kinder, to prevent a person or family from falling into a circumstance of poverty than to support them when they are
needy. The latter must be done once they are already needy, but the world
would be a better place if the inequities were addressed before people
became impoverished.
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