Israel fires at Golan Heights Demonstrators - Mikdash HaMoshaich - RayEl

Israeli army fires at Golan Heights demonstrators

Israeli security forces have opened fire at pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on the Syrian border. State-run Syrian television reports at least 20 protesters killed and over 200 others wounded.

Hundreds of Palestinians have gathered on Sunday on Syria’s border with Israel. The protesters attempted to storm the border fence, when Israeli soldiers fired warning shots into the air. But this seemed only to inflame the crowd.

Tzedakah: Charity

Once in a comedy message board, we were listing oxymorons like “jumbo shrimp,” “military intelligence” and “athletic scholarship.” Somebody posted “Jewish charity” on the list. Normally, I have a pretty good sense of humor when it comes to jokes about cheap Jews, but that one bothered me, because charity is a fundamental part of the Jewish way of life.

Charity (Tzedakah): Charity Throughout Jewish History

The Bible itself legislates several laws which are in effect a sort of tax for the benefit of the poor. Among these are leket, shikhḥah, and pe’ah as well as the special tithe for the poor (see ma’aser ). The institution of the sabbatical year (see Sabbatical Year and Jubilee) was in order “that the poor of the people may eat” (Ex. 23: 11) as well as to cancel debts about which the warning was given: “If there be among you a needy man, one of your brethren, within thy gates, in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother;

Maimonides’ Eight Levels of Charity

There are eight levels of charity, each greater than the next.

[1] The greatest level, above which there is no greater, is to support a fellow Jew by endowing him with a gift or loan, or entering into a partnership with him, or finding employment for him, in order to strengthen his hand until he need no longer be dependent upon others . . .