Knowra Tzedakah Tzedakah Tzedakah is the Jewish obligation to give financial or material support to people in need. It frames giving as justice and responsibility, not merely voluntary generosity.
Tzedek : A Hebrew concept of justice, righteousness, and what is right. Tzedakah derives from this idea of justice, which shapes its account of giving.
Maimonides' eight levels of charity : A hierarchy of giving described by Maimonides, ranking forms of support by dignity and independence. Its highest level helps a person become self-sufficient without public dependence.
Tzedakah fund : A pool of money collected to provide assistance to people in need. A communal fund gathers resources for distribution beyond individual acts of giving.
Charity : Voluntary giving of money, goods, or services to help people in need. Tzedakah makes support a duty of justice, unlike charity understood chiefly as voluntary generosity.
Mitzvah : A commandment or religious duty in Judaism. Tzedakah is treated as a mitzvah, grounding aid in religious obligation.
Giving anonymously : A form of giving in which the donor, recipient, or both remain unidentified. Anonymity can protect recipients from shame and donors from seeking recognition.
Jewish federations : Community organizations that coordinate fundraising and support for Jewish communal needs. Federations channel donations into local and wider networks of assistance.
Philanthropy : The organized use of private resources to promote public welfare or social causes. Philanthropy often emphasizes donor choice, while tzedakah begins with obligation toward people in need.
Gemilut chasadim : Acts of loving-kindness in Jewish ethics, including forms of help beyond financial giving. It places material support alongside broader duties of care.
Poverty in Jewish law : Rabbinic legal discussions of need, eligibility, and communal responsibility for poor people. Eligibility and need determine who receives support and what support is owed.
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