Tzedakah Value: Tzedakah Tzedek means “justice”. Tzedakah comes from tzedek. Charity is a matter of the heart. Tzedakah is an obligation. Even if one doesn’t feel like it, Jews are supposed to give tzedakah. The Jewish tradition has rules for tzedakah. One is supposed to give at least ten percent of one’s income to tzedakah. No one is supposed to give more than thirty percent. These limits come from rules the Bible gives for Jewish farmers. One had to leave the corners of one’s fields, anything dropped and anything forgotten to the poor to harvest for themselves. One had to take a portion of one’s field and give it to God’s purposes, including the poor. The prophet Hosea teaches, “Plant tzedakah on your own and you will harvest kindness” (10:12). The midrash expands the idea by saying, “The poor person does more for the rich person than the rich person does for the poor.” (Exodus Rabbah 34:8)
89
