tzedakah

English

Alternative forms

• tsedakah, tzedaka, zedakah

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew צְדָקָה (“charity”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡səˈdakə/

Noun

tzedakah (usually uncountable, plural tzedakahs)

1. (Judaism) The Jewish tradition of charity.

Usage notes

The description as "charity" is a rough approximation. While charity typically refers to the voluntary giving of money to someone less fortunate, tzedakah is obligatory and unrelated to the affluence of giver or receiver; Jews are required to give of their own resources to others and even those whose entire livelihood comes from receiving tzedakah are required to give tzedakah in turn. Tzedakah can take the form of any resource: money, time, advice, etc. Thus, according to Jewish tradition, the highest form of tzedakah is to give a person a job or partnership that will allow him to sustain himself without receiving tzedakah.

See also

• chesed
• sadaqa