Tzedakah
tzeh-DAH-kah · צדקה · Hebrew
What does tzedakah mean?
Tzedakah is usually translated as “charity,” but the word actually comes from tzedek, meaning justice or righteousness. In Jewish tradition, giving to people in need isn’t framed as optional generosity, it’s framed as an obligation of fairness: giving people what they’re owed.
Justice, not generosity
English “charity” comes from the Latin word for love, a gift from the heart. Tzedakah comes from a root about what’s right. That distinction matters: it means giving isn’t treated as a nice extra for people who can afford it, it’s treated as a basic duty, built into how a community is supposed to run.
Root word
Tzedek: justice, righteousness, fairness.
Maimonides and the eight levels
The medieval scholar Maimonides ranked tzedakah into eight levels, from grudging giving at the bottom up to the highest form: helping someone become self-sufficient, through a loan, a job, or a partnership, so they no longer need to rely on charity at all. The ranking says something the word already implies: the goal isn’t just to give, it’s to fix the underlying problem. Traditions vary on exactly how these levels get applied day to day, but the ranking itself is one of the most widely cited frameworks in Jewish giving.
How we build it in
We give 10% of net profits to Jewish community charities on every order, a program we call Tzedakah Time.
We put this word on a shirt. See the collection.