Zedaka

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Zedaka Box (Pushke), Charleston, 1820, silver, National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia .
Zedaka bags, coins on a fur-like surface.

Zedaka ( Hebrew צְדָקָה), also Tzedaka , translated: “Charity”, is a Jewish commandment . Zedaka plays an important role in the Jewish tradition . Jewish men and women are equally committed to it.

According to Maimonides, there are eight stages of the Zedaka:

  1. Highest level: To give the needy the opportunity to feed themselves independently (help for self-help).
  2. Be charitable in a way that the donor and the needy do not know about each other.
  3. The benefactor knows who he is giving to, but the poor person does not learn the identity of the donor.
  4. The giver does not know the identity of the needy, but he knows the donor.
  5. Give before being asked.
  6. Giving after being asked.
  7. Not enough, but given with kindness.
  8. Give with rudeness.

Word origin

Zedaka is derived from the Hebrew word for justice . Most tzedakah but with charity (or Charity translated). The Hebrew word for charity isחֶסֶד Hesed . In terms of content, there is a contradiction between Hesed, Charity and Zedaka, which cannot be easily translated into German and for which there is no direct corresponding word.

Meaning of the term

The concept of Zedaka means that Jews are obliged to give of what God has entrusted to them in order to share and heal the world . So it is still imposed on the poorest Jewish adult alms recipient to give a little of what he has received and has. Only emergency aid and help to ward off death and illness are excluded from this. According to the principle “measure for measure”, which is derived from the Torah word “eye for eye”, which is often misunderstood in Christian tradition, Jews are obliged to give to their fellow man to whom they owe nothing, as they are entrusted by God, although God owes them nothing. The Zedaka concept is based on the responsibility of every Jew, which results from Israel's covenant with God. In this respect, zedaka is not a virtue , but a duty, not a personal distinction, but just right and fair, not generosity, but Tikkun Olam . Zedaka goes in its meaning clearly beyond the meaning of the German word charity , which happens sporadically and unconditionally, is actually considered a generous , distinguishing virtue, which distinguishes a person. Zedaka is part of Judaism. Judaism is not a belief that is the salient feature of Christianity, but rather a practice that is subject to the divine command to do Zedaka.

History of the Jewish Women's Association

In addition to helping those in need, Zedaka alms also had the effect of countering poverty-related crime. Jews later organized help for the needy in the ghettos . It was about actions often organized by women, which can be seen as the beginnings of modern social work . In the 16th century, Jewish organizations gradually arose to offer help with funerals ( Chewra Kadisha ) or weddings. In the second half of the 19th century, more and more aid organizations were founded by women. Mostly it was bourgeois women who justified their work with the Zedaka commandment. Some women criticized the unprofessional charity and looked for alternatives to social help. One of these reactions was the founding of the Jewish Women's Association (JFB) and the Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany .

gallery

  • Zedaka box on Jewish gravestone (Eliezer Ari). Otwock Jewish Cemetery , Poland.

  • Zedaka box on Jewish tombstone. Otwock Jewish Cemetery , Poland.

  • Zedaka box on Jewish tombstone. Jewish cemetery (Pappenheim) .

  • JNF collection box (Pushke). The blue box of the Jewish National Fund , which collected donations for the construction of the Jewish home in Israel in the early years.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maimonides, Mishne Torah, Hilchot Mat'not Ani'im 10: 1, 7-14
  2. ^ William Stern: Parascha: Schoftim - Exact translation ( Memento from July 22, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). Chabad Lubawitsch Munich, accessed on August 31, 2011: “The usual translation for ZEDAKA is 'charity'. However, the exact Hebrew word for 'charity' would be Hesed. This word is not used here, rather it is speaking of Zedaka; and here too there is a contrast between the two expressions. "

Literature and media

  • Georg Heuberger (Ed.): Zedaka. Jewish social work through the ages. 75 years of the Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany 1917–1992 . Catalog for the exhibition in the Jewish Museum of the City of Frankfurt am Main, December 3, 1992 - February 28, 1993. Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main, 1992. ISBN 3-9802125-4-8
  • Benjamin (Benny) Bloch: Zedaka - the justice . In: Jews in Germany after 1945 , Vol. 1, 1999, p. 176; also in: Tribüne, Frankfurt am Main, vol. 38, 1999, no. 149, pp. 127-139.
  • Minka Pradelski , Eduard Erne (directors): Zedaka: Jewish integration work in Germany (60 min. VHS video recording of a television report), 2003
  • Alyssa M. Gray: Zedaka. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 6: Ta-Z. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02506-7 , pp. 503-507.

Web links

Commons : Zedaka cans  - collection of images, videos and audio files