Calculate with care.

Do not use guesswork or estimates in calculating your tzedakah obligation (see Calculating Ma’aser (Tithe)). One should give a tenth or a fifth of his or her income to tzedakah (see How Much Should I Give?). The precise calculation of one’s tzedakah obligation has important spiritual ramifications(1). If one gives a fifth, he or she should calculate two separate amounts of a tenth each(2).

Give cheerfully and with compassion.

Commiserate with the poor and console them(3). One who gives grudgingly loses his merit even if the gift is very large(4). If one is asked for tzedakah and hasn’t the money, he should not rebuke the poor. He should show them a good heart and explain his desire to give if he could afford to. In any event, it is forbidden to send a poor person away empty handed even if that means giving just a dried fig(5). The Arizal says that one should stand while giving tzedakah. Some say one should give tzedakah with the right hand.(6)

Make it easy on recipients.

Each community should establish tzedakah collectors/administrators so the poor need not go from house to house collecting(7). But, don’t discourage the poor from collecting door-to-door on the argument that it will reduce revenues to the general fund(8)

For the needy who refuse tzedakah. 

In the case of needy who refuse tzedakah, one should give tzedakah in the guise of a gift or a loan or (in the case of the G-d fearing) the donor should engage in commerce on behalf of the poor person and give him or her the profit.(9)

No bragging.

Don’t boast about your contributions to tzedakah, but it is okay to put one’s name on gifts donated for community use(10)

Establish a separate tzedakah fund.

One should establish a tzedakah fund which he or she then holds in trust for its ultimate recipients(11). As income is earned, one tenth or more (see How Much Should I Give?) should be placed in the account from which tzedakah is then dispensed as the occasion arises. Once put in the fund, money should no longer be considered the property of the donor. Instead the donor becomes the fund’s administrator(12). There are rules about whether the donor may borrow from or lend to the fund(13), what happens if the donor loses the money(14) and whether and how the donor can invest the funds(15).

Maimonides’ eight levels of giving arranged from best to least good.(16)

Give the recipient the wherewithal to become self-supporting
Neither the donor nor the recipient knows the other
The donor knows the recipient but the recipient is unaware of the donor
The recipient knows the donor but the donor does not know the recipient
The donor gives without being solicited
The donor gives after being solicited
The donor gives less than he should but does so cheerfully
The donor is pained by the act of giving

Avoid vows

One must be careful in regard to making vows, explicitly or implicitly, in connection with giving tzedakah. Many modern authorities hold that giving a tenth of one’s income to tzedakah is a (commendable) custom and not required either by Torah or rabbinic law. (Others hold that giving a tenth is required by the Torah or the rabbis)(17). However, there is agreement that someone who regularly engages in the practice of tithing his income eventually converts it to a personal obligation. Therefore, it is suggested that when one decides to give a tenth of income it should be with the explicit understanding that he is not binding himself with a vow(18). Similarly, one should explcitly have in mind that contributions to particular individuals or institutions do not establish precedents for giving to those recipients in the future(19). It is permissible to make a monetary pledge if one is given an aliyah and makes a “Mi sheberach”(20). For a detailed discussion of vows and tzedakah, see Blau chapter 4.

Disclaimer. The information on this page is an introduction to selected topics related to tzedakah. It is designed to help individuals understand the issues and formulate questions. It is not an authoritative guide for practical personal policies with regard to tzedakah. Specific questions should be posed to a competent authority.

Notes. See Introduction and Summary for full citations of the sources.

1. Ahavat Chesed end of chapter 20, Albert p. 49, Blau p. 111, Oppenheimer p.23 Return to text

2. Albert p. 50 Return to text

3. Mishneh Torah 9:4, Aruch HaShulcah 249.13, Blau p. 20 Return to text

4. Mishneh Torah 9:4, Aruch HaShulchan 249.13 Return to text

5. Mishneh Torah 7:7, Albert p. 162, Blau p. 20 Return to text

6. Blau p. 1 Return to text

7. Ibid. p. 43-44 Return to text

8. Ibid. p. 44 Return to text

9. Blau p. 37 Return to text

10. Aruch Ha Shulchan, 249.21; Blau p. 24 See discussion in Blau regarding putting one’s name on a gift after it has been made. Return to text

11. Albert pp. 50-54 Return to text

12. Blau 111, Oppenheimer p. 25 Return to text

13. Blau p. 113-114, Oppenheimer p. 33 Return to text

14. Domb p. 126, Oppenheimer p. 28 Return to text

15. Oppenheimer p. 41 Return to text

16. Mishneh Torah 10:7-14 Return to text

17. Domb (p 26ff) brings sources that variously hold that giving a tenth of money income to tzedakah is (a) a Torah law, (b) a rabbinic law, and (c) a custom, and points out the difference between Ashekenazic and Sephardic traditions in this regard (pp. 29ff). Return to text

18. Ahavat Chesed chapter 18, Blau p. 102 Return to text

19. Blau p. 61. Oppenheimer p. 33 Return to text

20. Blau p. 61 Return to text

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