Compassionate Capitalism Bonuses
Excellent Article on Kingdom Entrepreneurs:
THE POWER SHIFT AND KINGDOM WEALTH by Morris Ruddick (PDF)
Compassionate Capitalism Pledge
As a Compassionate Capitalist, I promise to:
1. Provide to my customers what they genuinely need, and seek to provide the best products or services possible, at reasonable cost, with no disadvantageous strings attached.
2. Strive to always do honorable business, beyond reproach, with my customers and competitors alike. I will treat everyone with decency (as I expect the same), with respect, and without any deception or dishonesty. I will never engage in usury or needless profiteering.
3. Appreciate my employees and partners, as well as my customers. To a certain extent, my customers are also partners in my business, and they are also representative of the community I seek to serve. I will be fair in my dealings with them, at all times and never enrich myself unnecessarily at their expense.
4. Never, ever, push unwanted, unwarranted or undesired products that can potentially harm a customers’ relationship with his/her God and/or family; or his finances and general well-being. I will not supplant the things that matter the most in life with short-term joy.
5. To strive to always do what is right for mankind at large, and not merely my business. I recognize my business is still dependent on the general welfare of my main customer, which is all of humanity.
Relevant Quotes on Benevolence:
“When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding the solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about the lives of the poor. Charity appeases our consciences.”
- Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
“If you go out into the real world, you cannot miss seeing that the poor are poor not because they are untrained or illiterate but because they cannot retain the returns of their labor. They have no control over capital, and it is the ability to control capital that gives people the power to rise out of poverty.”
- Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
“Hebrew word for "charity" tzedakah, simply means "justice" and as this suggests, for Jews, giving to the poor is no optional extra but an essential part of living a just life.”
- Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World
Articles on Tzedakah
(Source: Wikipedia)
Tzedakah or ?'daqah in Classical Hebrew (Hebrew: ?????; Arabic: ?????) is a Hebrew word literally meaning righteousness but commonly used to signify charity.[1] It is based on the Hebrew word (???, tzadik) meaning righteousness, fairness or justice. In Judaism, tzedakah refers to the religious obligation to do what is right and just, which Judaism emphasises are important parts of living a spiritual life. Maimonides says that, while the second highest form of tzedakah is to anonymously give donations to unknown recipients, the highest form is to give a gift, loan, or partnership that will result in the recipient supporting himself instead of living upon others. Unlike philanthropy or charity, which are completely voluntary, tzedakah is seen as a religious obligation, which must be performed regardless of financial standing, and must even be performed by poor people. Tzedakah is considered to be one of the three main acts that can annul a less than favorable heavenly decree.
(Source: Judaism 101 - http://www.jewfaq.org/tzedakah.htm)
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.
Traditional Jews give at least ten percent of their income to charity. Traditional Jewish homes commonly have a pushke, a box for collecting coins for the poor, and coins are routinely placed in the box. Jewish youths are continually going from door to door collecting for various worthy causes. A standard mourner's prayer includes a statement that the mourner will make a donation to charity in memory of the deceased. In many ways, charitable donation has taken the place of animal sacrifice in Jewish life: giving to charity is an almost instinctive Jewish response to express thanks to G-d, to ask forgiveness from G-d, or to request a favor from G-d. According to Jewish tradition, the spiritual benefit of giving to the poor is so great that a beggar actually does the giver a favor by giving a person the opportunity to perform tzedakah.
Business Week's 2006 list of The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists included at least 15 Jews. The Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of the top 50 charitable donors in 2008 included sixteen Jews, according to a JTA article. In other words, Jews, who are only about 2% of the American population, are 30% of America's most generous donors. Similarly, a 2003 study (reported in the Jewish Journal) found that 24.5% of all "mega-donors" (people who donate more than $10 million a year to charity) are Jewish. Nor is Jewish generosity limited to Jewish causes: while a few of the Jews in BW's "Top 50" list Jewish causes among their primary charitable targets, most don't. Indeed, the Jewish Journal article laments the fact that the overwhelming majority of those Jewish mega-donations aren't going to specifically Jewish causes.
The Meaning of the Word "Tzedakah"
"Tzedakah" is the Hebrew word for the acts that we call "charity" in English: giving aid, assistance and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. However, the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity. The word "charity" suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and powerful for the benefit of the poor and needy. The word "tzedakah" is derived from the Hebrew root Tzadei-Dalet-Qof, meaning righteousness, justice or fairness. In Judaism, giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act; it is simply an act of justice and righteousness, the performance of a duty, giving the poor their due.
The Obligation of Tzedakah
Giving to the poor is an obligation in Judaism, a duty that cannot be forsaken even by those who are themselves in need. Some sages have said that tzedakah is the highest of all commandments, equal to all of them combined, and that a person who does not perform tzedakah is equivalent to an idol worshipper. This is probably hyperbole, but it illustrates the importance of tzedakah in Jewish thought. Tzedakah is one of the three acts that gain us forgiveness from our sins. The High Holiday liturgy repeatedly states that G-d has inscribed a judgment against all who have sinned, but teshuvah (repentance), tefilah (prayer) and tzedakah can alleviate the decree. See Days of Awe.
According to Jewish law, we are required to give one-tenth of our income to the poor. This is generally interpreted as one-tenth of our net income after payment of taxes. Taxes themselves do not fulfill our obligation to give tzedakah, even though a significant portion of tax revenues in America and many other countries are used to provide for the poor and needy. Those who are dependent on public assistance or living on the edge of subsistence may give less, but must still give to the extent they are able; however, no person should give so much that he would become a public burden.
The obligation to perform tzedakah can be fulfilled by giving money to the poor, to health care institutions, to synagogues or to educational institutions. It can also be fulfilled by supporting your children beyond the age when you are legally required to, or supporting your parents in their old age. The obligation includes giving to both Jews and gentiles; contrary to popular belief, Jews do not just "take care of our own." Quite the contrary, a study reported in the Jewish Journal indicated that Jewish "mega-donors" (who give more than $10 million a year to charity) found that only 6% of their mega-dollars went to specifically Jewish causes.
Judaism acknowledges that many people who ask for charity have no genuine need. In fact, the Talmud suggests that this is a good thing: if all people who asked for charity were in genuine need, we would be subject to punishment (from G-d) for refusing anyone who asked. The existence of frauds diminishes our liability for failing to give to all who ask, because we have some legitimate basis for doubting the beggar's sincerity. It is permissible to investigate the legitimacy of a charity before donating to it.
We have an obligation to avoid becoming in need of tzedakah. A person should take any work that is available, even if he thinks it is beneath his dignity, to avoid becoming a public charge.
However, if a person is truly in need and has no way to obtain money on his own he should not feel embarrassed to accept tzedakah. No person should feel too proud to take money from others. In fact, it is considered a transgression to refuse tzedakah. One source says that to make yourself suffer by refusing to accept tzedakah is equivalent to shedding your own blood.
Levels of Tzedakah
Certain kinds of tzedakah are considered more meritorious than others. The Talmud describes these different levels of tzedakah, and Rambam organized them into a list. The levels of charity, from the least meritorious to the most meritorious, are:
- Giving begrudgingly
- Giving less that you should, but giving it cheerfully.
- Giving after being asked
- Giving before being asked
- Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity
- Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient doesn't know your identity
- Giving when neither party knows the other's identity
- Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant
