The Story of TZEDAQAH
TZEDAQAH is a difficult word for
English speakers to understand. At first glance it appears to mean something
that simply makes no sense -- a combination of charity and justice.
In English, charity is voluntary while justice is mandatory. This problem was
created when translators incorrectly linked the Hebrew word charity
to TZEDAQAH. They should have linked it to loyalty.
TZEDAQAH is a combination of loyalty
and justice.
1. Loyalty to the
community
in conduct and honesty.
2. Justice by
eliminating things that decrease SHALOM or create disorder in the
community.
There
is a far cry between TZEDAQAH, with its implications of social
justice, and the word “charity.” In the case of “charity”,
the recipient sees himself beholden to the donor, whose action is
voluntary. TZEDAQAH, on the other hand, has to be
performed as a matter of obligation and the recipient is in no
way indebted to the donor. The needy have a right to TZEDAQAH,
while those possessing means have a duty to give it. Even a person
who receives TZEDAQAH must in turn give TZEDAQAH.
In the Jewish culture, people
do not ultimately own everything. What people have is ultimately
God's and He merely lends it to people. He gives it to people
in trust and one of the conditions of that trust is that “people
must share what they own with people who have less than they have.”
TZEDAQAH is the foundation of social justice because acts
of TZEDAQAH
fulfill
legal and moral obligations of community members to do what is right in all
relationships. Acts of TZEDAQAH are concrete acts, not abstract notions.
Members
of the community must be taught about TZEDAQAH because it is
not an inherent human characteristic. It is a learned trait
resulting from the sustained performance of obligations through
the constant pursuit of justice by performing acts of TZEDAQAH.
TZEDAQAH
& SHALOM
Isaiah’s prophesy (32:11-18)
helps us see the big picture better.
_____________________________________
“Tremble,
you complacent ones! Quake, O confident ones. Strip yourself naked and put cloth
around your loins. Beat your breasts, lamenting for pleasant fields and fruitful
vines.
Thorns
and briers shall spring up on the land of My people, even over the houses of
joy in the jubilant cities, because the palace has been forsaken, the multitude
of the city has been abandoned, rampart and tower are instead caves until forever,
a joy for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks – until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high.
Then the desert becomes
a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. MISHPAT (justice) shall dwell
in the desert, and TZEDAQAH shall reside in the fruitful field. The work of TZEDAQAH will be SHALOM, and
the service of TZEDAQAH will be tranquility and safety until eternity. And My people will dwell in homes of SHALOM
– safe homes in secure resting places.”
_____________________________________
Now
let’s review what we learned in the discussions about TOV, TZEDAQAH
and SHALOM -- and put the pieces together.
●
Acts of TZEDAQAH measure TOV and increase SHALOM.
●
Acts of TZEDAQAH demonstrate one’s loyalty and faithfulness to the
community.
●
Acts of TZEDAQAH are acts of justice because they eliminate things
that decrease SHALOM or disrupt order in the community.
●
Failure to do acts of TZEDAQAH measure evil and decrease
SHALOM and/or disrupts order in the community.
●
Failure to do acts of TZEDAQAH is being disloyal and unfaithful to the
community.
●
Failure to do acts of TZEDAQAH makes a person guilty of a crime because
SHALOM is decrease.
A person who does
acts of TZEDAQAH is called a TZADIQ –
a good and/or
innocent person.
A person who fails
to do acts of TZEDAQAH is called –
an evil
and/or guilty person.
Understanding
this is an absolutely essential requirement for understanding the Jewish
Scriptures and the teachings of the Jewish Jesus.
The status of each
person – innocent or guilty –
at the moment of death or on the Great
Day of Judgment,
determines his or her
ultimate destiny.
I
will continue this discussion in my next email.
May
your Shalom increase,
Jim
Myers
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