The image I most closely associate with the Jewish concept of tzedakah (charity) comes from my childhood. I remember little boxes, emblazoned with the Israeli flag, at my Hebrew school. Each had a small slot for coins on top — a kind of Zionist-looking piggybank.
Panhandlers, beggars, bums, street musicians with their hats out and all other folks looking for handouts have long been part of society and will continue to be as long as money is the dominant factor in our world.
Post-recession America is beginning to open its wallet to charities again, but is not giving as generously to religious institutions.
While charitable donations from individuals rose nearly 4 percent overall in 2011, according to the annual "Giving USA" report, donations to houses of worship and other religious bodies dropped by 1.7 percent -- a decrease for the second year in a row.
After God delivered his people from Egypt, he prepared them to enter the Promised Land. In all his instructions, God told them, “For there will never cease to be poor in the land.
In a recent post the question was posed, “Why is there unequal wealth distribution?” Michael Lewis is the author of books like “Liar’s Poker” and “Moneyball.”