Dear Readers,
Gil’s Jewish Email columns began on his popular America Online feature called "Judaism Today: Where Do I Fit?". Gil welcomes any additional questions or comments about this topic or any other Jewish issue. Email him at GilMann@beingjewish.org.

In a prior issue of Being Jewish, I read suggestions of ways to give something different to others each night of Chanukah. [Readers, you can find these suggestions on our website at these two addresses: http://www.beingjewish.org/magazine/ winter2000/article3.html and http://www.beingjewish. org/magazine/winter2001/article3.html.] 

I’d like to pass on to you 8 more gifts that you can share with readers this Chanukah: 

1.The Gift of Listening 
2.The Gift of Affection 
3.The Gift of Laughter 
4.The Gift of A Written Note 
5.The Gift of A Compliment 
6.The Gift of A Favor 
7.The Gift of Solitude 
8.The Gift of a Cheerful Disposition. 

These are gifts I hope you either give or receive. 

E 

Dear E: 

I loved your list… so much so that you can see I am sharing it with our readers. Worthy of noting is that the cost of these gifts in money is zero! To the recipient however, the value could be priceless. 

This time of year, much is made of this being the "season of giving." Much is also made about this time of year being centered on buying presents, pressure to complete shopping, materialism, etc. The ideals behind giving are much higher than this of course. 

In every issue of Being Jewish,we try to make a point of including at least one story under the category of Giving and Being Jewish because giving is such an important principle in Judaism. With the season of giving upon us, I thought I’d share a bit of what Judaism says about giving. 

Many Jews do not realize that tzedakah, the Hebrew word for giving, does not mean charity. According to Webster, the root of the word charity is caritas or carus, meaning respectively Christian love or dearness. In other words, charity is being moved by the heart to give. A beautiful concept, but it does not guarantee giving. 

The Jewish concept of giving comes from the word tzedek or justice. Jews are told to give as part of an obligation to "do the right thing"— whether we are moved to or not. A Christian friend who was active in his church once told me he admires this Jewish idea. His experience of "passing the plate" with the hope that churchgoers will care enough or feel moved to give, in his view, was less preferable than the Jewish obligation to give. 

On the other hand, I’ve heard many Jews complain about feeling pressured to give as an obligation. A nice combination of the two philosophies of giving is to feel moved in your heart to want to fulfill the obligation of tzedakah. 

That’s how I feel because I love and care about the Jewish emphasis on obligation and justice (and human dignity — more about that in a second). I think we should be required to share and give of what we have been blessed to have, in an effort to make the world a more just place — as not everyone has the same blessings. 

We see this in the Torah, where farmers were instructed to leave the corners of their fields and some of their vines unharvested for the poor and the stranger to gather (Leviticus 19:9-11). 

This remarkable innovation is one of the first things written about the Jewish idea of giving. Explained in the words of one commentator as God demanding justice for the disadvantaged, every citizen shares in the responsibility of easing the burdens of the poor. 

As you can see, the emphasis is on justice. I was particularly struck by the forceful words of the famous Rav Kook who said that an individual who refuses to assist the poor is a thief, stealing from what belongs to others! Judaism has always taught that all we possess — our land, our bodies, and even our time — are not really ours. They are temporary gifts given to us by God, so we are obliged to share what we have been given with others. 

In the sixth century Rabbi Moses Alshikh went so far as to say "One does not even own one’s income until one has separated out the portion for the poor; one holds that money briefly, in trust for the poor." 

Discussion of the poor brings up another motivation that guides tzedakah — the principal of raising human dignity. I remember being "wowed" when I learned that Jewish law says that the poor must also give tzedakah — even if they’re on welfare! The reason: giving benefits the giver. A poor person can gain dignity by knowing that they were able to help someone in need! 

Literally volumes have been written to guide Jews about the obligation to share what we have through tzedakah. Perhaps the most famous of these guides is the 12th-century ranking of levels of tzedakah by Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Miamonides or the Rambam). 

I’ve rearranged Rambam’s guide into a "Top 8 list"— with credit to David Letterman. Though I’ve read this list many times, I always find reading it again to be worthwhile: 

Top 8 Ways to Give Tzedakah 
(Ranked from least- to most-admirable ways to give) 

#8: Giving begrudgingly 
#7: Giving less than you should, but giving it cheerfully 
#6: Giving after being asked 
#5: Giving before being asked 
#4: Giving when you do not know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient knows your identity 
#3: Giving when you know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient doesn’t know your identity 
#2: Giving when neither party knows the other’s identity And the most admirable and highest level of giving tzedakah is 
#1: Giving that enables the recipient to become self-reliant 

This Chanukah, beyond the usual presents you give, may I suggest you also share the gift of this list with your friends and family? I’ll also suggest a modern take on this list, the book Rambam’s Ladder by Julie Salamon, inspired in part by the outpouring of public giving that followed 9-11. 

Happy Chanukah! 

Gil  

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