Tzedakah: Aspiring to a Higher Ethic 159

To balance the equation, conversely, Jewish tradition does not expect an individual to be so subservient to communal needs that he or she is required to undergo a substantial alteration in the financial well-being that he or she has come to enjoy. It is for this reason that the rabbis state that while there is an expectation that upstanding members of the community will give at the rate of twenty percent,’ one is not to give at a rate of more than twenty percent, lest tzedakah begin to affect the giver adversely.” If, after all, tzedakah did in fact come to effect the giver’s financial standing materially, compliance with the mandate would become an even more problematic proposition.

Tzedakah, then, from-a Jewish perspective is a requirement that is like taxation in that all members of society are to be“izedakah taxed” at a rate of ten to twenty percent, without regard to financial status. Unlike taxation, however, where the direction of tax proceeds is a matter for communal decision, the use of one’s tzedakah allocation is left in the hands of the individual. Judaism , to be sure, offers guidance as to how this money might most appropriately be apportioned,” but ultimately the allocation choice rests with the giver.

Given this context, it is readily apparent that when a particular Jewish communal institution honors a“big” donor, the honoring, from a Jewish perspective, cannot be because the donor has given a large amount of money— this is, after all, the donor’s obligation; rather, it is because said donor chose that particular institution upon which to lavish funds rather than some other institution. By way of illustrating the point, we do not hold ceremonies to honor those who pay a large amount of tax or publish the names of those whose tax contribution has exceeded a certain limit, even though without these families many bridges, schools, and hospitals would never be built. We do not honor them specially, because we view taxation as just as much a requirement for them as for any other citizen— though the amount they might contribute might be large, they are not in fact doing anything that is considered unusually praiseworthy. Moreover, the