tzedakah

Tzedakah box (Pushke), Charleston, 1820, silver, National Museum of American Jewish History

Tzedakah

Tzedakah Tzedakah (צדקה‎) is a Hebrew word meaning “righteousness“, but commonly used to signify charity. This concept of “charity” differs from the modern Western understanding of “charity.” The latter is typically understood as a spontaneous act of goodwill and a marker of generosity; tzedakah is an ethical obligation. Tzedakah refers to the religious...

To Offer Hand Handful Help Out Hand Over To Give

Alms

Alms Alms or almsgiving involves giving to others as an act of virtue, either materially or in the sense of providing capabilities (e.g. education) free. It exists in a number of religions and cultures. The word, in the modern English language, comes from the Old English ælmesse, ælmes, from Late Latin eleemosyna, from Greek eleēmosynē (“pity, alms”), from eleēmōn...

Kola Nut Offering African Hands

Alms And Almsgiving

Alms And Almsgiving Any material favour done to assist the needy, and prompted by charity, is (alms and) almsgiving. It is evident, then, that almsgiving implies much more than the transmission of some temporal commodity to the indigent. According to the creed of political economy, every material deed wrought by...