Mitzvah that embraces the whole of humanity

CHARITY IS not something to be done just when the mood takes you but is meant to be a regular part of religious practice. So much so that even the person who himself relies on the charity of others to survive is meant to give a donation, however small, so that he too fulfils the mitzvah of tzedakah.

The Talmud says that to shut your eyes to avoid giving charity is equivalent to idolatry. Such indifference defies the numerous injunctions in the Torah to provide for those who require help.

“If your brother is reduced to poverty… then you shall uphold him,” commands Leviticus 25:35 — a directive which also applies to impoverished strangers in your midst. “If there be among you a needy man, one of your brothers, within any of your gates… you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand,” says Deuteronomy 15:3.

Today, our notion of charity goes well beyond welfare. It encompasses a whole network of philanthropic activity, contributing to the maintenance of Jewish schools and other educational institutions, museums, cultural centres and arts festivals. Together, such ventures are vital for the cause of Jewish sustainability, fostering a sense of common purpose and collective enterprise without which Jewish peoplehood would struggle to withstand the erosion of assimiliation.

Understandably, the primary focus of the community’s charitable arms is the upkeep of Jewish life, at home, in Israel or elsewhere overseas. Given economic conditions in the foreseeable future, a heavier burden may even fall on Jews to support their own institutions as state grants shrink.

But there are still many Jewish organisations which continue to support causes outside the Jewish community, from the victims of international disasters to asylum seekers — independently of course, of the donations Jews individually make to a wide range of general charities.

While biblical law was largely expressed in terms of supporting “your brother”, as well as the resident alien in the land of Israel, the Talmud extended the remit of charity: “We must provide help for the non-Jewish poor as well as for the Jewish poor: we must visit nonJews when they are sick as well as our fellow Jews…” This is done in order to promote “the ways of peace”, mipnei darchei shalom.

You shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand’

You could help a family facing poverty or disability; fund life-saving campaigns; alleviate loneliness — and more. See our guide on the following pages