★A Meditation on Generosity [ladder of charity]

˚Living My Blessings Upon Blessings  

Posted on 15/04/2014. Last edited on 06/10/2019.

to read article in its entirety Why It is Necessary to Give

Charitable giving is a part of most Americans’ lives. According to Independent Sector, 89 percent of U.S. households made a charitable contribution in 2001, giving an average of \\

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Choosing how and where to give is not an easy process. In her 2003 book, Rambam’s Ladder: A Meditation on Generosity and Why It Is Necessary to Give, former Wall Street Journal writer Julie Salamon explored the subject through research and interviews with experts in the field as well as her own experience as a resident of Greenwich Village, a mother of two, and a volunteer leader for a community-based organization.

In December, Philanthropy News Digest spoke with Salamon about her study of charitable giving, the steps in Rambam’s “ladder of charity,” and her experiences as a nonprofit board member.

Ms. Salamon, a culture writer and critic for the New York Times, formerly was a reporter and film critic for the Wall Street Journal. Her work has been published in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Bazaar, and the New Republic, and she is the author of six books: White Lies, a novel; The Devil’s Candy, a study of Hollywood filmmaking gone awry; The Net of Dreams, a family memoir; The Christmas Tree, a novella; and Facing the Wind, a story of a crime and its lingering effects on people.

Salamon earned a B.A. degree from Tufts University and a J.D. degree from New York University Law School. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.

to read article in its entirety-Why It is Necessary to Give

I call the:

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    first of the eight steps on the ladder- Reluctance: To give begrudgingly. At this level Maimonides says the person gives with a frowning countenance.
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    The second step is Proportion: To give less to the poor than is proper, but to do so cheerfully.
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    The third step is Solicitation: To hand money to the poor after being asked.
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    The fourth is Shame: To hand money to the poor before being asked, but risk making the recipient feel shame.
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    The fifth is Boundaries: To give to someone you don’t know, but allow your name to be known.
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    The sixth is Corruption: To give to someone you know, but who doesn’t know from whom he is receiving help.
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    The seventh is Anonymity: To give to someone you don’t know, and to do so anonymously.
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    And the eighth and final step is Responsibility: The gift of self-reliance. To hand someone a gift or a loan, or to enter into a partnership with him, or to find work for him, so that he will never have to beg again.
  • ~ ~ ~
    The chapters in the book explore each of these steps through interviews and my experiences. ***Julie Salamon, Author***

A Folktale -Dan L’Chaf Zchut
Giving The Benefit Of The Doubt

***_Dan L’Chaf Zchut means Giving the Benefit of the Doubt_***

Generosity Is of the Spirit

Once there was a rabbi who was gentle and understanding and tried to practice the Golden Rule of Rabbi Hillel.*

One day, a needy man came to him and asked that he lend him ten rubles.

“My wife is sick and I have no money to pay the doctor,” he complained bitterly.

Not having any cash with him, the rabbi gave him a silver candlestick. “Go and pawn it for ten rubles,” he told the man. “I’ll redeem it later myself.”

Some time after the rabbi went to redeem his candlestick from the pawnbroker. To his surprise he found that it wasn’t ten rubles but twenty-five that the man had drawn against it.

“That man is a swindler, Rabbi!” the pawnbroker indignantly assured him. “The nerve of him—not only doesn’t he redeem your candlestick, but he borrowed more money than you permitted him!”

“You’re wrong,” the rabbi answered him, mildly. “This unfortunate man is very modest and considerate. Just think, he needed twenty-five rubles but didn’t have the heart to ask me for more than ten!”

*Here is the story of Hillel’s Golden Rule:

Once there was a gentile who came before Shammai, and said to him: “Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” Shammai pushed him aside with the measuring stick he was holding. The same fellow came before Hillel, and Hillel converted him, saying: “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it.”