Moshe ben Maimon (1135-1204) was a Jewish rabbi,
physician and philosopher. He is most commonly known by his Greek name, Moses
Maimonides (or more formally Rabbi Moses ben Maimonides), and subsequently many
Jewish works refer to him by the acronym of his title and name, RaMBaM or
Rambam.
According
to Rambam, 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.
[2]
A lesser level of charity is to give to the poor without knowing to whom one
gives, and without the recipient knowing from whom he received. For this is performing a mitzvah
solely for the sake of Heaven. This is like the “anonymous fund” that was in
the
[3]
A lesser level of charity is when one knows to whom one gives, but the
recipient does not know his benefactor. The
greatest sages used to walk about in secret and put coins in the doors of the
poor. It is worthy and truly good to do this if those who are responsible for
distributing charity are not trustworthy.
[4]
A lesser level of charity is when one does not know to whom one gives, but the
poor person does know his benefactor. The
greatest sages used to tie coins into their robes and throw them behind their
backs, and the poor would come up and pick the coins out of their robes so that
they would not be ashamed.
[5]
A lesser level of charity is when one gives to the poor person directly into
his hand, but gives before being asked.
[6]
A lesser level of charity is when one gives to the poor person after being
asked.
[7]
A lesser level of charity is when one gives inadequately, but gives gladly and
with a smile.
[8]
A lesser level of charity is when one gives unwillingly.