Steps of Charity

There are eight degrees or steps in the duty of charity: The first and lowest is to give, but with reluctance or regret. This is the gift of the hand but not of the heart.

The second is to give cheerfully, but not proportionately to the distress of the sufferer. The third is to give cheerfully and proportionately to the distress of the sufferer. The fourth is to give cheerfully, proportionately, and even unsolicited; but to put it in the poor man’s hand, thereby exciting in him the painful emotion of shame.

The fifth is to give charity in such a way that the distressed may receive the bounty and know their benefactor, without their being known to him. Such was the conduct of some of our ancestors who used to tie up money in the corners of their cloaks, so that the poor might take it unperceived. The sixth, which rises still higher, is to know the object of our bounty, but remain unknown to them.

Such was the conduct of those of our ancestors who used to convey their charitable gifts into poor people’s dwellings; taking care that their own persons and names should remain unknown. The seventh is still more meritorious, namely to bestow charity in such a way that the benefactor may not know the relieved persons, as was done by our charitable forefathers during the existence of the Temple. For there was in that holy building a place called the Chamber of the Silent, wherein the good deposited secretly whatever their generous hearts suggested; and from which the poor were maintained with equal secrecy.

But the eighth and most meritorious of all is to anticipate charity by preventing poverty; namely, to assist the reduced fellow-man, either by a consider- able gift or sum of money, or by teaching him a trade, or by putting him in the way of business, so that he may earn an honest livelihood, and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity. This is the highest step and the summit of charity’s golden ladder.