Tzedakah Box
A tzedakah box () or pushke () is donation box, a receptacle for Tzedakah, charitable donations in Judaism. History The earliest mention of a tzedakah box is in connection with the priest Jehoiada, who crafted a chest with an hole in its lid, positioning it next to the Altar (Bible), altar's main entrance on the southern side of the Solomon's Temple, Temple. Within this chest, all offerings were placed to establish a fund for repairing of the sacred structure. According to the Mishnah, the Second Temple featured thirteen boxes shaped like a shofar into which coins were deposited. The funds within were allocated for various Temple sacrifices and charitable endeavours. In later times, the boxes became repositories for communal contributions intended to provide sustenance for the needy every Friday.Pe'ah 8:7; Bava Batra 8b. Historically, synagogues and ''Beth midrash, batei midrash'' were equipped with sets of tzedakah boxes, each bearing an inscription to indicate the designated pu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bava Batra
Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא בַּתְרָא "The Last Gate") is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law. Originally it, together with Bava Kamma and Bava Metzia, formed a single tractate called ''Nezikin'' (torts or damages). Unlike Bava Kamma and Bava Metzia, this tractate is not the exposition of a certain passage in the Torah. Mishnah The Mishnah is divided into ten chapters, as follows: * Regulations relating to jointly owned property (chapter 1) * Responsibilities of a property owner towards his neighbor (chapter 2) * Established rights of ownership and rights connected with property (chapter 3) * Laws referring to the acquisition of property by purchase, as also what constitutes an unclean vessel when purchased from a Gentile (chapters 4-7) * Laws of inheritance (chapters 8-9) * Laws conc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alms In Judaism
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread practice in a number of different religions and cultures. Etymology The word ''alms'' comes from the Old English ', ', which comes from Late Latin ', from Greek ' ("pity, alms"), from , ' ("merciful"), from , ', meaning "pity or mercy". Buddhism ''Dāna'' in Buddhism In Buddhism, both "almsgiving" and "giving" are called "dāna" (Pāli). Such giving is one of the three elements of the path of practice as formulated by the Buddha for laypeople. This path of practice for laypeople is dāna, sīla, and bhāvanā. Generosity towards other sentient beings is also emphasized in Mahayana as one of the perfections ( paramita). As shown in Lama Tsong Khapa's 'The Abbreviated Points of the Graded Path' (): The giving of alms is the beginning of one's jo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zakat
Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer ('' salat'') in importance. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth to help the needy. It is a mandatory charitable contribution, often considered to be a tax.Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Ṭūsī (2010), ''Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions'', , pp. 131–135. The payment and disputes on zakat have played a major role in the history of Islam, notably during the Ridda wars. Zakat on wealth is based on the value of all of one's possessions. It is customarily 2.5% (or ) of a Muslim's total savings and wealth above a minimum amount known as '' nisab'' each lunar year, but Islamic scholars differ on how much ''nisab'' is and oth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Poor Box
A poor box, alms box, offertory box, or mite box is a box that is used to collect coins for charitable purposes. They can be found in most Christian churches built before the 19th century and were the main source of funds for poor relief before societies decided to organize the process and make the public authorities responsible for this. Contemporary mite boxes are usually made of cardboard and given out to church congregations during the Lenten season. The mite boxes are collected by the church, and the donations are given to the poor. Mite boxes are popular with children because they can fill them with small change, teaching them the principle of giving to the poor. The Mite box promotes the spirit of contributing based on the intent to help others, and not on the monetary amount. History The origin of the ''mite box'' is very old. In 2 Kings 12:9, the priest Jehoiada bored a hole in the lid of a chest and placed it near the first altar, however this was to fund mainten ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and The Exodus from Egypt, and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday. Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honour the day. Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. Variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abrahamic and many other religions. According to '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gabbai
A ''gabbai'' ( he, גבאי), also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes spelled ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to churchwarden) is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some way. The role may be undertaken on a voluntary or paid basis. A ''shamash'' (literally 'servant') or ''gabbai'' can also mean an assistant to a rabbi (particularly the secretary or personal assistant to a Hasidic rebbe). In ma'amad, the Council of Elders (or "the board of directors") of the communities of Sephardi Jews, the position of ''gabbai'' was that of the treasurer. Etymology The word ''gabbai'' is Hebrew and, in Talmudic times, meant "collector of taxes or charity" or "treasurer". The term ''shamash'' is sometimes used for the ''gabbai'', the caretaker or "man of all work" in a synagogue. Duties While the specific set of duties vary from synagogue to synagogue, a gabbai's responsibilities will typically include ensuring that the religious services ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that debt until it is repaid as well as to repay the principal amount borrowed. The document evidencing the debt (e.g., a promissory note) will normally specify, among other things, the principal amount of money borrowed, the interest rate the lender is charging, and the date of repayment. A loan entails the reallocation of the subject asset(s) for a period of time, between the lender and the borrower. The interest provides an incentive for the lender to engage in the loan. In a legal loan, each of these obligations and restrictions is enforced by contract, which can also place the borrower under additional restrictions known as loan covenants. Although this article focuses on monetary loans, in practice, any material object might be lent. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah ( he, תלמוד תורה, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew, the scriptures (especially the Torah), and the Talmud (and ''halakha''). This was meant to prepare them for ''yeshiva'' or, particularly in the movement's modern form, for Jewish education at a high school level. The Talmud Torah was modeled after the '' cheder'', a traditional form of schooling whose essential elements it incorporated, with changes appropriate to its public form rather than the ''cheder's'' private financing through less formal or institutionalized mechanisms, including tuition fees and donations. In the United States, the term ''Talmud Torah'' refers to the afternoon program for boys and girls after attending public school. This form of Jewish education was prevalent from the mid–19th century through " ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Beth Midrash
A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesset''), although the two are often coextensive. In Yiddish the ''beth midrash'' may be referred to as a ''zal'', i.e. "hall". ''Beis midrash'' can also refer to a ''yeshiva gedola'', the undergraduate-level program in Orthodox, for boys over 12th grade. The Arabic term ''madrasah'' is derived from the same Semitic root, and refers to any type of educational institution. The root דרש means "to seek nowledge and is then generalized to mean "expound". History Early rabbinic literature, including the Mishnah, makes mention of the ''beth midrash'' as an institution distinct from the ''beth din'' and Sanhedrin. It was meant as a place of Torah study and interpretation, as well as the development of ''halakha'' (the practical application ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worship. Synagogues have a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels), where Jews attend religious Services or special ceremonies (including Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs or Bat Mitzvahs, Confirmations, choir performances, or even children's plays), have rooms for study, social hall(s), administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious school and Hebrew school, sometimes Jewish preschools, and often have many places to sit and congregate; display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork throughout; and sometimes have items of some Jewish historical significance or history about the Synagogue itself, on display. Synagogues are consecrated spaces used for the purpose of Jewish prayer, study, assembly, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pe'ah
Pe'ah ( he, פֵּאָה, lit. "Corner") is the second tractate of ''Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. This tractate begins the discussion of topics related to agriculture, the main focus of this ''seder'' (order) of the Mishnah. The tractate discusses the laws of gifts to the poor when a person harvests their field, vineyards or trees, based on commandments in the Torah. The tractate also deals with the laws of giving charity in general. The tractate is called Pe'ah because the first part of the tractate deals with the laws of Pe'ah, while the remaining part of the tractate deals with a number of other related topics. In addition to the Mishnah, a tractate Pe'ah exists in the Jerusalem Talmud (commenting on the Mishnah tractate), but not in the Babylonian Talmud. Topics This tractate discusses the gifts due to the poor when fields, vineyards or trees are harvested, and the laws of giving charity in general. Six categories of obligations are discu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |