Tzedakah: Aspiring to a Hi gher Ethic 169

is in danger of losing all the merit of his gift; charity needs to be given in order to provide for the needs of the community.

What then is the reason that giving charity with improper intention is so problematic?

One answer is that there is a difference between using honor as a motivator and viewing it as a true goal. A person who excels in his studies in order to obtain recognition strives to eventually surpass this level, to discard this crutch. But if the entire purpose of the good deed is for honor, then there is no spiritual progress at all

Another answer is that in the case of charity giving, an improper intention can actually contradict the entire concept of this important commandment. The Torah doesn't just tell us to provide the needs of the poor; the first thing it tells us is“Don't harden your heart”(Deuteronomy 15:7). A critical aspect of the commandment of charity giving is to open our hearts as well as our wallets and identify and commiserate with the recipient. A person who is giving out ofa desire to boast and exalt himself is not only missing the point, he is accomplishing the exact opposite of the true object of this important mandate.

A charitable donor is certainly entitled to ask that reasonable recognition be provided in return for the gift, and the charitable Organization may and even should acknowledge generosity in this way. However, the giver should be certain that his main objective is to identify with the needs of the recipient; his desire for recognition should be an encouragement, and not the reason for the donation. Boasting and basking in recognition work against this important condition."

: Rabbi Meir ’s response is highly instructive. He begins by giving the impression that naming a building for a major donor would be a reasonable act of acknowledging“the generosity of donors by Perpetuating their names.” However, his citation of Rabbi Adret’s leshuvah® puts this permissive stance within a narrow context: one individual has provided the entirety of the funds for the given project.