August 22, 2021

To the extent that we extend such
charitable gestures toward the poor and underprivileged, the
Torah says, “It will be righteousness (tzedakah, צדקה ) for you
before the Lord your God. In Judaism, the word tzedakah
(righteousness) is synonymous with the word charity.

The laws of the Torah are meant to instill godly character in us.
Godly character Is exemplified in things like paying one’s
employees fairly and promptly. A shrewd businessman would
forestall paying his employees as long as possible so he could
use the money to work toward greater profit. It is an act of
tzedakah to pay his employee as promptly as possible.
Godly character is exemplified in the way a person treats his
animals. The Torah says that a person is not to muzzle an ox
while it is treading out the grain.

You wouldn’t want your
ox eating your profits. But imagine the hungry ox, forced to walk

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over delicious grain all day long, unable to open his mouth to eat.
For the animal, it would be like the mythological figure Tantalus,
who was condemned to forever be hungry and thirsty in Hades.
He is portrayed as standing in a pool of water under a fruit tree
with low lying branches. Every time he reached up for a piece of
fruit, the branches lifted out of his reach. Every time he bent over
to get some water, the water receded away from him. Our
English word “tantalizing” comes from this story.