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What a horse taught me about charity
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
When I first began studying Biblical Hebrew and Greek, I learned about the ancient meaning of words like virtue, truth, justice, faith, light, wisdom and many others. These words have many shades of meaning that can’t always be captured fully by a translation.
One of the most interesting words was tzedakah, a Hebrew word usually translated as “righteousness.” This word was always connected with the law of Moses, which offered the Israelites a blueprint for a just and good society in which the poor, the widowed, the orphaned and the stranger were all provided for and given equality under law. As a result, righteousness became synonymous with charity.
Today, many people think of charity as giving money to organizations that will meet the needs of people in trouble of some kind, whether they be nearby or far away. And that is one facet of good works.
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