A tzedakah box () or pushke () is a receptacle for charitable donations in

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

History

Jewish cemetery Otwock Karczew Anielin IMGP6721

The earliest mention of a tzedakah box is in connection with the priest

Jehoiada Jehoiada ( ''Yəhōyāḏā‘'', "Yahweh knows") in the Hebrew Bible, was a prominent priest in the kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Ahaziah (reigned c. 842 - 841 BCE), Athaliah (reigned c. 841–835 BCE), and Joash (reigned c. 836–79 ...

, who crafted a chest with a hole in its lid, positioning it next to the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

's main entrance on the southern side of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. Within this chest, all offerings were placed to establish a fund for repairing of the sacred structure. According to the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

featured thirteen boxes shaped like a

shofar A shofar ( ; from , ) is an ancient musical horn, typically a ram's horn, used for Jewish ritual purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure. The ...

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 Pe'ah (, 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 ...

8:7;

Bava Batra Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; ) 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, to ...

8b. Historically,

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s and '' batei midrash'' were equipped with sets of tzedakah boxes, each bearing an inscription to indicate the designated purpose for the collected funds. Among these boxes were one for ''bedeḳ ha-bayit'' (synagogue repairs), a second for candles in the ''bet ha-midrash'', a third for the ''

Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, 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 language, H ...

'', a fourth for ''malbish 'arummim'' (clothing for the poor), and a fifth for ''gemilat ḥasadim'' (interest-free

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

s for the poor). Finally, a special box bore the inscription ''mattan ba-seter'' ('a secret gift'), into which substantial sums were often contributed by anonymous benefactors who sometimes specified the intended distribution of the funds. Oversight of the tzedakah boxes was entrusted to '' gabba'im''. Tzedakah boxes are also found prominently in private residences and businesses to garner support for charitable causes. A common practice is for children to receive money weekly to place into the tzedakah box just before

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

References

Alms in Judaism Jewish ritual objects Containers {{jewish-ethics-stub

History

See also

References