Tzedakah (צדקה) — Charity

Core definition

Tzedakah is giving to the poor one — "who has of his own nothing" (דלית לי' מגרמי' כלום) [31633/maamar_017 :: §72; 31621/maamar_023 :: §414]. In the corpus it is not only a mitzvah but a cosmic principle: "the tzedakah's concept is mercy" (רחמים) [58834/maamar_050 :: §19] — the sun's flow to the moon, which "has nothing of her own," is "tzedakah's matter" [31633/maamar_017 :: §83].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Why poor and rich? The question is asked directly: why were poor and rich created, with the poor receiving from the rich — why not all equal? The answer given in the name of the Holy One: "if I make My world equal — chesed and emes, who shall guard it?" — meaning, to whom would they give tzedakah? [31621/maamar_023 :: §445–446; 31633/maamar_017 :: §79–80]. The world's inequality is deliberate, to make room for the giving. The Tikkunei Zohar (27) reads it in the luminaries: "from the great luminary — the secret of the rich; and from the small luminary — the secret of the poor" [31621/maamar_023 :: §447].

"The way of Havayah." "They shall keep the way of Havayah, to do tzedakah and justice": through the avodah in tzedakah and mishpat they draw "His great Name" — for this is "the way of Havayah": making a way for the revelation of the Name Havayah [31621/maamar_023 :: §413]. Of Yackov it is written, "for I have known him... to do tzedakah and justice" — the very purpose of the covenant ("so that Hashem will bring upon Yackov what He spoke of him") [31633/maamar_017 :: §1, §17].

The root of the 613. Yeshayah "established them upon two" — "keep justice and do tzedakah" — for tzedakah and gemilus chasadim are the root of all 613 mitzvos [31633/maamar_017 :: §9, §16]. So Dovid's eleven and Chavakuk's one ("the righteous shall live by his faith" — Yackov, the first believer) are not exemptions from the mitzvos but concentrations: through guarding these, the 613's fulfillment becomes easier [31621/maamar_023 :: §85–86; 31633/maamar_017 :: §10, §18].

Measure for measure. The Chassidic maamar on tzedakah (the Rebbe Rashab's letter of 5649, "Kol ham'rachem") expounds "kol ham'rachem al habriyos, m'rachamim alav min haShamayim": conducting oneself below in the mercies' middah awakens measure-against-measure the mercies of Above — "an inheritance without straits," Yackov's nachalah, "bestowing of above the good's bestowings — spiritual and physical — in the mercies' middah, no end and limit, never stopping" [31654/maamar_012 :: §747–761]. As Rashi says: "if he measures and gives tzedakah to a poor man his palms' full, the Holy One measures in His palms and gives to him" — our measure is limited, His unlimited, yet per our doings [31654/maamar_012 :: §747–756]. The giver "shines the poor man's eyes and receives his blessing," and thereby causes above the mercies' middah's partnering in the judgment's middah [31654/maamar_012 :: §776–778].

Tzedakah vs. mishpat. A 5637 maamar distinguishes the two concepts joined in the verses: tzedakah is mercy (רחמים), while mishpat is investigation and judgment — a carrying-out through strong investigation [58834/maamar_050 :: §17–20]. Between them there are three distinctions: (a) tzedakah is mercy, mishpat is investigation; (b) tzedakah is to assist — "more or less" — where the help is measured by the need; and (c) a third distinction developed at length in the maamar [58834/maamar_050 :: §36–39]. They are "two opposite actions": mercy toward the fellow versus exact justice [58834/maamar_050 :: §21–24].

Tzedakah at all times. "V'oseh tzedakah b'chol et" — "and does tzedakah at all times" — is read as feeding and sustaining his sons and household [31654/maamar_012 :: §163]: the mitzvah begins at home.

Key distinctions

• Tzedakah vs. mishpat: mercy vs. investigation; assisting according to need vs. carrying out according to exact judgment [58834/maamar_050 :: §17–39].
• Tzedakah as mitzvah vs. as cosmic principle: the mitzvah as law ("as its law and halachah" — "important very at Hashem") [58834/maamar_050 :: §6–7]; the principle as the sun-to-moon flow and as mercy's middah awakened above [31633/maamar_017 :: §83; 31654/maamar_012 :: §769–770].
• Our measure vs. His: we measure in limited palms; He gives in His unlimited palms — yet strictly per our doings [31654/maamar_012 :: §756].

Related concepts

• Tzedakah is the root of the mitzvos as acts of gemilus chasadim; its mercy is the earthly counterpart of the divine rachamim; Yackov's way is "to do tzedakah and justice."

Sources

• [31633/maamar_017 :: §1–18, §72–84] — "ki yedativ... la'asos tzedakah u'mishpat"; tzedakah as the root of the 613; giving to one who has nothing; the sun and the moon
• [31621/maamar_023 :: §413–414, §445–447] — "derech Havayah" drawing His great Name; why poor and rich were created
• [31654/maamar_012 :: §163, §293–297, §747–778] — "v'oseh tzedakah b'chol et"; the 5649 letter "Kol ham'rachem"; measure for measure; the mercies' middah awakened above
• [58834/maamar_050 :: §5–39] — the mitzvah as law; tzedakah as mercy vs. mishpat as investigation; the three distinctions