Rabbi’s Corner
Maimonides FAVORITE Day of the Year – December 31^st, the biggest day to GIVE!
Moses ben Maimon, known as Maimonides, or the Rambam was a preeminent Jewish philosopher, scholar and physician in the Middle Ages. Among his many accomplishments was a fourteen volume work known as the Mishna Torah. One of the most widely referred to sections of the Mishneh Torah is that dealing with Tzedahkah. “Laws about Giving to Poor People.”
According to Charity Navigator ONE THIRD of all online charitable giving occurs in December, and 22% of annual giving happens in the last two days of the year, with most donations coming in between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm on December 31^st.
For Americans, this is the last day you can claim a deduction on your 2012 Tax Return. As American Jews, “giving” isn’t JUST about the deduction (hopefully) but an opportunity to perform acts of Tzedahkah. Call it charitable giving. Call it righteous giving. Whatever you personally call it, it is not just a Jewish “tradition,” it is a MITZVAH, that which is commanded by God.
Judaism points to eight Levels of ‘Giving’ or, as you might have learned it in Sunday School “Maimonides’ Ladder of Tzedahkah, where the first level is LEAST preferable, and the eighth the MOST. Think of this ladder as a precursor to David Letterman’s “Top Ten” without the ‘drumroll.’
MAIMONIDES LADDER OF TZEDAHKAH

8. Giving unwillingly.

7. Giving willingly, but inadequately.

6. Giving adequately after being asked.

5. Giving tzedakah before being asked.

4. Giving tzedakah publicly to an unknown recipient.

3. Giving tzedakah anonymously to a known recipient.

2. Giving tzedakah anonymously to an unknown recipient via a trustworthy person (or public fund), that can perform acts of tzedakah with your money.

1. Giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results in the person no longer living by relying upon others. (The root, in America, of “The Hebrew Free Loan Society.”)

Of course Maimonides created his ladder not to reflect one-time end of year giving, but how one should conduct oneself in giving throughout the year. Maimonides’ accountant didn’t clue him in on the ‘tax advantage’ point of view. If he HAD, Maimonides would have created an even HOLIER rung of giving; NON-DEDUCTIBLE!
So as you sit down and look at your “end of the year giving”, ask yourself, “WHAT WOULD MAIMONIDES DO?” Have you clothed the naked, fed the hungry, tended to the needs of the widow, the orphan or the elderly? Have you enabled the sick to be treated and the homeless to be housed? Have you supported scholarships for students and worthy civic causes? Have you given to support the homeland of the Jewish people, or assisted Jews in oppressive regimes to relocate? Have you underwritten Jewish Education, Jewish institutions or (even) your synagogue?
As we’ve learned recently through the ever-increasing number of disasters in this country, we don’t even have to write a check to donate, we just have to punch a few numbers on our cell phones, or surf the net to find charities that reflect our personal values. Click, click, click, and our pocket books can back up our principles.
No matter which step on Maimonides’ Ladder you find yourself, no matter what your comfort zone, no matter how public, how private, or how personal your giving is, your actions are part of a tradition that dates back more than a thousand years, a tradition that finds its roots even further back, in Torah times.
We are so fortunate. The Mayan Calendar didn’t signal the END OF THE WORLD and you still have a few days until December 31^st.
So whether you take the ‘standard deduction’ or ‘itemize’, may your hearts and your checkbook be motivated by the spirit of Maimonides.
Have a Happy and Healthy 2013. Drive safely and NO TEXTING while DRIVING!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rose