With a glint in her eye, my one-year-old daughter grabbed my husband’s wallet from the table, and, in classic toddler fashion, began removing the contents and scattering them all over the room. Suddenly she turned to me and held out a quarter. “Daka!” she said with great enthusiasm (her version of “tzedakah”—Hebrew for charity). Our daily ritual of placing a coin in our charity box had obviously given her the idea that all coins are intended for that purpose. I was in no hurry to correct her, and we immediately went to place the quarter in its “rightful” destination.

Later, I smiled over the incident. If only we could all share my daughter’s single-minded view, I thought, that money is for giving, what a different place the world would be! Of course, money is for both giving and spending. And both giving and spending are means for us to make the world a better place. But there’s something special about giving.

This week, join us for an in-depth look at the art of tzedakah. From the mystical to the purely practical, it’s astonishing what a simple act of charity can accomplish. All in all, I think you’ll agree that to give is truly a gift!

Sarah Ogince,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team