The Eight Levels of Charity Printed with permission from "The Chesed Boomerang" by Jack Doueck www.judaicapress.com The Torah (Leviticus 25:35) states: “And if your brother becomes poor, and his means fail him with you, then you shall uphold him.” This verse (among others) provides us with the framework for the mitzvah of charity. According to Jewish tradition there are eight levels of charity. The lowest level, or level eight, is when you give a poor person charity and you show that you are sad about it. The seventh level is when you give less than you should, less than what is expected of you (or less than what the poor man requires), but you at least give it with a smile. The sixth level is when you give the appropriate amount of charity with a smile, but you do it only after the poor man asks you for it. The fifth level is when you give the charity before the poor man asks for it. The fourth level is when you give charity without knowing who, specifically, will benefit from the charity. The poor people know who give the funds (or the food, etc.) but you, the giver, do not know to whom it goes. (This, of course, saves the poor from embarrassment). The third highest level of charity is to give the charity anonymously. In this case, you do know who will receive the money, but the recipient does not know who the kind donor was. (This is actually better because it does not allow him to feel as ashamed). The second highest level of charity is when neither the giver nor the receiver know who is who. The donor does not know to whom the money goes and the recipient does not know where the money came from. This is considered a very high form of charity because it preserves the poor man’s dignity. In fact the Talmud tells of the customs of the first Rabbi Abba. Rabbi Abba used to put money in a scarf and hang the scarf behind him so that the poor could take money freely without him seeing them. He went to great lengths to give charity, and do it without shaming the poor. Rabbi Yona, another great sage, also found a way to maintain the dignity of the receiver. It was told about him that when a person of a wealthy family became impoverished, he would say to him: “My son, I hear that you have been left an inheritance. Take this money as a loan until you can repay it when you receive the inheritance.” However, when the man had taken the money and left, Rabbi Yona would say, “Let it be a gift. He owes me nothing...” The highest level of charity is to uphold him. This occurs when you help find a poor man a job, or when you give him a job, or when you make a partnership with him, or give him a loan. These methods preserve the person’s dignity. The goal is to get the man to “stand on his own two feet” and eventually be able to support himself– to strengthen him, so he will never have to ask for charity again. This is truly to uphold him. Even if you “uphold” a poor man, by purchasing something from him, you have done a great Chesed. Return to 'Our Tradition' Menu