Personal Transformation, Religion, Judaism 

Award-winning storyteller Barbara Diamond Goldin has collected and retold twenty-four stories about tzedakah in this inspiring volume. Some of these stories are based on oral tales like "The Two Beggars " which is from Afghanistan and "The Rabbi's Blessing " which is from Tunisia. Some stories like "A Town of Baruchs" and "The Rabbi and the Rag Dealer" are Hasidic in origin while others like "Ox and Herbs" and "The Two Keys " are from much older sources. Some of the stories are based on midrashic tales. The Hebrew word tzedakah is often translated as "charity " but it actually means "justice" or "righteousness." According to the Jewish Sages tzedakah means we have an obligation to give to those in need not only when we are feeling generous but on a regular basis. Barbara Diamond Goldin has brought these stories of tzedakah together in the hope that they will inspire the young and the old the rich and the poor to give to those in need and to adopt a righteous sensibility and sensitivity akin to the commandment of performing acts of loving-kindness. By performing these mitzvoth we all engage in tikkun olam repair of the world and according to the Sages each good deed we perform in the physical world creates an angel in the metaphysical world. This book should encourage readers to create their own angels and to recapture the significance of the mitzvah of tzedakah to the Jewish community even to the world today.