There is no more important action a Jew can do than giving tzedakah. “We are obligated to be careful with regard to the mitzvah of charity to a greater extent than all other positive commandments, because charity is an identifying mark for a righteous person, a descendant of Abraham, our patriarch, as it says, (Breisheet 18:19) ‘For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do tzedakah umishpat, righteousness and justice’" (Rambam, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:1).
As the Rambam highlights, we are Jews because of our dedication to the mitzva of tzedakah. G-d chose Abraham because, and only, because G-d knew he would teach his children the importance of tzedakah and mishpat, righteousness and justice[1].
It is thus fitting that the first mention of the mitzva of tzedakah is in the midst of a series of mishpatim, laws to ensure the just running of society. “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor; exact no interest from them” (Shemot 22:24).
Surprisingly, the Torah does not clearly or directly command one to give tzedakah. Rather the focus seems to be on the prohibition of lending money with interest. Of course, one can only charge interest if someone owes you money. Thus the Torah tells us that if you happen to lend money then you may not charge interest[2]. Reading the Torah at its most basic level it is hard to see any command to give tzedakah.
Yet our Sages read beneath the surface and saw in this verse such a command, interpreting the word eem, to mean not if, but when[3]. One is required to lend to the poor and required to do so without charging interest. Charging interest turns an act of kindness into a business opportunity where one takes advantage of the needy to make some more money. Business has an important place in Judaism but not here[4].
The most detailed biblical source for the mitzva of tzedakah follows a similar pattern. “If there be among you a poor man, one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God gives thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother. thou shalt open thy hand wide to him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks” (Devarim 15:7-8).
Here too the Torah is describing the obligation to lend money to the needy. And here too the context is not the giving of tzedakah but rather the laws of shmitta, the sabbatical year. In sefer Vayikra (see chapter 25) the Torah discusses the agricultural laws relating to shmitta. In sefer Devarim the Torah introduces a new aspect of shmitta, namely that outstanding loans are cancelled in the shmitta year. Well aware of human nature, the Torah warns us that we dare not cease from lending money as the shmitta year approaches.
One immediately notices that in both instances the mitzva to help the poor is by giving a loan, not a gift. Why this is so is not hard to see. The Torah wants us to help the poor to become self-sufficient, and not to have to endlessly support someone. Paying the University tuition of someone who can’t afford it is much better than supporting someone so that they need not support themselves. The former will (we hope) one day be able to pay the loan back.
But why does the Torah not command us directly and clearly to give tzedakah[5]? In thinking of this question another crucial mitzva came to mind, that of belief in G-d. The Rambam derives the mitzva to believe in G-d from the opening of the aseret hadibrot, “I am the Lord your G-d who took you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage” (Shemot 20:2). Here too there is no direct command to believe in G-d.
The mitzva of tzedakah and the mitzva to believe in G-d are so basic to Judaism they can’t be directly commanded. They are the basis upon which Judaism is built. One is the basis of our relationship with G-d and one with our relationship to man.
Without these mitzvot there is no Judaism. A pesach seder, a mezuzah, fasting on Yom kippur, shofar only have meaning if one believes there is a G-d, who created the world and took us out of Egypt. And while an atheist can and should do the many “mitzvot” between man and man, without tzedakah, there is no Judaism. It is why G-d choose Abraham and it is how we help others, build communities, and serve G-d.
[1] While tzedakah encompasses more than charity, giving to others is the primary way we display our righteousness.
[2] Unlike the aseret hadibrot and most other mitzvot that follow in the Torah, parshat Mishpatim is basically a series of case studies. If (or perhaps when) you do X then Y. If you hit your parents then…if you steal an ox or a sheep then…if you dig a pit then…if your ox gores then…are just a few of the many such scenarios the Torah presents. The mitzva of tzedakah is no exception to this formulation.
As we attempt to partially explain why this is so by tzedakah, it behooves us to try to explain this formulation in all other cases too. Why did the Torah not just say, don’t hit your parents, don’t steal an ox (or anything else) or don’t let your ox gore?
[3] As to why the Torah would write if, if it means when please see here
[4] As the economic world underwent transformation and interest became indispensable for economic growth, the rabbis developed a mechanism for converting a business loan, a debtor-creditor relationship, into a business partnership, one benefitting all. Nonetheless, business and philanthropy are two separate (even if related) areas of economic activity and the mitzva to lend money to the poor interest free should be done by all.
Ironically from a practical perspective, the Sages have in essence turned this verse on its head. Instead of disallowing interest in those cases where one gives a loan, we are obligated to lend money and in many instances are allowed to charge “interest”. Such is the need for careful study of the Torah with an awareness that it must be applied anew in every generation. As our Sages teach “every day the Torah should be like new” (see Rashi Devarim 26:16).
[5] Interestingly, when it comes to leket, peah and maaser ani, mitzvot incumbent on farmers only the Torah does directly command these. Note however, that these are gifts and not loans.