Tzedakah

Avinu Malkeinu Prayer — Deal with us charitably and kindly...

Baba Bathra 9a — Charity is equal in importance to all other commandments combined.

Baba Bathra 9a — One who gives charity in secret in greater than Moses.

Baba Bathra 9a — When a [poor] man says, “Provide me with clothes,” he should be investigated [lest he be found to be a cheat]; when he says, “Feed me,” he should not be investigated [but fed immediately, lest he starve to death during the investigation].

Baba Batra 10a — All the charity and deeds of kindness that the children of Israel perform in this world promote peace and good understanding between them and G-d.

Baba Batra 10a — Great in charity, for it brings near Israel\'s deliverance.

Baba Batra 9b — Rabbi Yitzchak said, “Whoever gives even a small coin to a poor man receives six blessings, but whoever speaks reassuringly to him receives eleven blessings.”

Baba Batra 9b — One who gives charity in secret is greater than Moses.

Bava Batra 10a — One who gives even a pruta (the least valuable coin) to the poor merits to receive the presence of G-d.

Brachot 58b — Rabbi Chana ben Chanila “would keep his hand in his pocket, so that when a poor person would ask for money, he would not feel humiliated.”

Chagiga 5a — Rabbi Yanai once saw a man give money to a poor man publicly. He said, “It would have been better for you not to have given him anything rather than giving to him as you did, causing him embarrassment.”

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 — For there will never cease to be needy people in your land, which is why I command you; open your hand to the poor and needy.

Deuteronomy 16:17 — Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the L-rd you G-d that He has given thee.

Devarim 15:10 — And your heart shall not be grieved when you give him.

Devarim 15:11 — You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.

Devarim 15:7-8 — If, however, there is a needy person among you…do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. Rather you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs.

Devarim 19:28-29 — At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall lay it up inside your gates...and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Devarim 24:19-20 — When you reap your harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; that the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

Devarim 4:19-22 — When you cut down your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands... And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

Esther 9:22 — They should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions to one another, and gifts to the poor.

Esther 9:22 — They were to observe them as days of feasting and rejoicing, and for sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.

Gittin 61a — We support the non-Jewish poor along with the poor of Israel.

Gittin 7b — Even a poor man who himself survives on charity should give charity.

Isaiah 58:7 — Share your bread with the hungry and make the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked clothe them.

Ketubot 50a — A person shouldn’t give more than a fifth of his income [to tzedakah], lest he himself come to be in need of charity.

Ketuvot 68a — If a person closes his eyes to avoid giving [any] charity, it is as if he committed idolatry.

Ketuvot 68a — Our Rabbis taught: If a man pretends to have a blind eye, a swollen belly, or a shrunken leg, he will not leave this world before actually coming into such a condition. One who accepts charity and is not in need of it, his end will be that he will not leave this world before he comes to such a situation.

Leviticus Rabbah 34:10 — The blessing of tzedakah is greater for the person who gives than for the person who receives.

Leviticus Rabbah 34:5 — G-d made rich people and poor people so that they should benefit each other.

Ma Yakar Prayer — Extend Your kindness to those who know You, and Your charity to the upright of heart.

Maimonides, Mishneh Torah 10:7 — There are eight rungs in charity. The highest is when you help a man to help himself.

Mishlei 10:2 — Charity saves from death.

Mishlei 14:21 — He who is kind to the poor, happy is he.

Mishlei 21:3 — Doing charity and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Mishlei 22:2 — The rich and poor meet together; God is the maker of them all.

Mishlei 3:9-10 — Honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits of your crop.

Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, “Laws Concerning Gifts to the Poor,” 10:7 — There are eight degrees of charity, each one higher than the next.

Nedarim 81a — Do not neglect the children of the poor, for from them will go forth the Law.

Pele Yoetz — Wealth is the greater test of character than poverty.

Pesachim 8a-b — If a person says, “I am giving this coin to charity so that my child will live,” or “so that I will make it into the next world,” he is regarded as completely righteous [his self-centered motives notwithstanding].

Pirkei Avot 2:8 — Hillel used to say, The more tzedakah, the more shalom.

Pirkei Avot 3:7 — Rabbi Elazar of Bartota said: “Give unto Him of what is His, seeing that you and all you have is His.”

Pirkei Avot 5:13 — He who gives (charity) and wants others to give is pious.

Prayer recited after Shema — ...Who humbles the haughty and lifts the lowly...and helps the poor...

Proverbs 10:2 — Treasures of wickedness will not avail, but charity will save from death.

Proverbs 18:11 — A rich man\'s wealth is his strong city...

Proverbs 19:17 — He who gives graciously to the poor makes a loan to G-d.

Proverbs 19:6 — Even the eminent seek favor from a philanthropist, and everyone befriends a bestower of gifts.

Proverbs 28:27 — He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack...

Psalm 140:12 — Pursue the cause of the poor, the rights of the needy.

Psalm 33:5 — He loves charity and justice...

Psalms 112:9 — He who gives freely to the poor, his beneficence lasts, and lasts, and his strength is exalted in honor.

Psalms 41:2 — Happy is he that considereth the poor.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov — A person\'s drive for profit should be prompted the desire to give tzedakah.

Shabbat 139a — Jerusalem will only be redeemed through tzedakah.

Shabbat 151b — Rabbi Hiyya advised his wife, “When a poor man comes to the door, be quick to give him food so that the same may be done to your children.” She exclaimed, “You are cursing our children [with the suggestion that they may become beggars].” But Rabbi Hiyya replied, “There is a wheel which revolves in this world.”

Shabbat 63a — One who lends money is greater than one who performs charity, and one who forms a partnership is greater than all.

Shekalim 5:6 — There was a secret chamber in the Beit HaMikdash where pious people would leave money in secret and those who had been well-to-do but had become poor would come and take in secret.

Succa 49b — Our Rabbis taught: Deeds of loving kindness are superior to charity in three respects. Charity can be accomplished only with money; deeds of loving kindness can be accomplished through personal involvement as well as with money. Charity can be given only to the poor; deeds of loving kindness can be done for both poor and rich. Charity applies only to the living; deeds of loving kindness apply to both the living and the dead.

Talmud Sukkah 49b — Whoever does charity and justice is regarded as if he filled the whole world with kindness.

Tehillim 33:5 — He loves charity and justice; the earth is filled with the loving kindness of the Lord.

Tosefta Peah 4:17 — If someone says he will give charity and he does so, he gets a reward for speech and reward for action.

Tosefta Peah 4:21 — Charity and loving kindness intercede greatly and promote peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven.

Vayikra 19:9-10 — And when you reap the harvest in your land, you shall not reap the corners of your field; neither shall you gather the gleaning of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the single grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.

Vayikra 25:35 — And when your brother will become poor and you will extend your hand to him.

Yalkut Psalms 859 — Charity and acts of kindness are equal to the whole Torah.