By asking these questions, it is clear that giving tzedakah is important to you. Yasher Koach[1] for striving to align your priorities with Jewish values!
The 8 rungs of
tzedakah listed by Maimonides (a.k.a. Rambam)
[2] do not include a prioritization scheme regarding recipients[3]. While Rambam’s rungs do
not include a description of the types of recipients in priority order, there
is such a prioritization scheme in another section of Rambam’s Mishneh Torah
[4], which is based on an interpretation of Exodus 22:24
[5] in the Babylonian Talmud.
[6] According to Rav Huna
[7], one should give tzedakah to
Jewish people before giving to non-Jewish people, one should give money to
poor people before giving to people who aren’t poor, one should give to
your poor
relativesbefore giving to the poor people in your town, and one should give to the poor of
your own town[8] before giving to the poor of
another town. Rav Huna’s teachings indicate that tzedakah should be given in priority order, based on
religio-ethnic,
familial and
geographicalproximity.
The
familial proximity aspect of Rav Huna’s prioritization scheme is reflected in the following teaching from
Sefer HaChassidim[9]: “A rich man used to donate money to the community’s
tzedakah fund and ask the administrator to distribute it the poor. Now, this rich man had an impoverished brother; in fact, all of his relatives were destitute. The rabbi told the rich man, “The money you dole out to the poor through the
tzedakah fund is not
tzedakah. Rather, it causes screams of distress (
tze’akah) to your relatives. It is far better that you give these funds to your needy brother and penniless relatives.” “
Implicit in these teachings is the idea that there are concentric circles of prioritywhen it comes to giving tzedakah. If you consider yourself to be in the center of all of the circles, the recipients who should be given tzedakah first are those who are in the concentric circle closest to the center. As you move further and further away from the center, a lower level of priority should be assigned to each circle of potential tzedakahrecipients.
Based on these Jewish teachings, the following is the list of recipients to whom you should give tzedakah in order of priority from high to low (moving outward from the center of the concentric circles to recipients further away from the center):
1. your poor relatives (familial proximity)
2. poor Jewish people and anti-poverty causes in the Jewish community (religio-ethnic proximity)
(e.g. Jewish Federation, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, NACOEJ: North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry)
3. poor people who live in your ‘local’ town, including Israeli towns
(geographical proximity)
(e.g. your local chapter of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, an organization that provides housing for homeless families)
(e.g. Bayit Ham, an educational program for poor Ethiopian children in Jerusalem, run by Kehillat Moreshet Avraham)
4. poor people who live in another town
(e.g. CROP Walk, ONE Anti-Poverty Campaign)
5. other Jewish causes/organizations that are not anti-poverty causes (religio-ethnic proximity)
(e.g. AIPAC, Camp Ramah, COEJL: Coalition On the Environment and Jewish Life, , Interfaithways, Jewish Federation, Jewish Museum, JNF, JTS, Moving Traditions, Uri L’Tzedek,)
6. other ‘local’ causes/organizations that are not anti-poverty causes,
including Israeli causes/organizations (geographical proximity)
(e.g. your local Jewish Federation, your local library or symphony orchestra)
(e.g. Camp Koby and the Koby Mandell Foundation in Israel, Lifeline for the Old in Jerusalem, Shalva, an association for physically and mentally handicapped children in Israel, Yad VaShem)
7. non-local organizations that are not anti-poverty organizations
(e.g. American Cancer Society, Greenpeace International, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Save Darfur Coaltion, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, World Wildlife Foundation, etc.)
Good luck with your decision-making process as you fulfill the mitzvah of tzedakah!
[1] Literally, the words mean, "May you be assured of strength!" or "May you be 'straightened up' with strength!" As a figure of speech, the expression means, "More power to you!" or "Good job!" This expression is generally used in Ashkenazic synagogues to congratulate someone who has just received an honor on the bimah such as an ark opening or an aliyah to the Torah.
[2] Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Matanot Aniim, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:7
[3] The following is the list of Maimonides’ 8 rungs, in order from lowest (least preferable) to highest (most preferable).
1. giving reluctantly, without being cheerful about it
2. giving cheerfully, but giving a lower amount than one should is able to afford
3. giving, but only when asked by a poor person
4. giving without having to be asked directly to the poor person., with recipient and the giver both knowing each other’s identity
5. giving a donation in such a way that the giver does not the identity of the recipient (however, the recipient does know the identity of the giver)
6. giving a donation in such a way that the recipient doesn’t know the identity of the giver (however, the giver does know the identity of the recipient)
7. giving an anonymous donation to a tzedakah fund, from which money is donated to the poor. (In this scenario, neither the giver nor the recipient know the other’s identity.)
8. giving money that enables a recipient to avoid poverty in the future. (“teaching a person how to fish”= teaching a person a skill or trade, finding him/her a job, or lending him/her money)
Rambam’s list is echoed in the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 249: 6-13
[4] Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Matanot Aniim 7:13:
“The poor person who is your relative takes precedence over all others….and…..the poor person of your own town takes precedence over the poor of other towns.”
[5] “
Im kesef talveh et ami, et ha-ani imach…….” “If/when you lend money to
My nation, the
poor person who is
with you, do not behave towards him as a creditor.”
(Parashat Mishpatim)
[7] Rav Huna’s teachings were transmitted by Rav Yosef,
[8] Some modern sources expand upon Rav Yosef’s teaching by indicating that towns in Israel should be considered to be at the same priority level as “your own town,” with Jerusalem taking precedence over other cities.
[9] translated by Avraham Finkel, Jason Aronson Inc., 1997, pp. 114-115
Answered by: Rabbi Lisa Malik
