A Higher Form of Giving

When the Jewish people returned from their exile in Babylon, there was a shortage of wood for the altar in the Holy Temple.

To remedy this crisis, certain families would donate wood to be used by those who had none of their own. They would simply bring the wood to the Temple, and when one had no wood for his offering, he would use that wood without knowing who had donated it.

This represents charity in its highest form, where the giver is unaware of the identity of the recipient, and the recipient is unaware of the identity of the giver.

Each of these contributions was marked by a ceremony on the date of the donation, but it was the family that contributed on the twentieth of Av that had the greatest merit.