Part I: The Obligation to Give
(כב) עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר אֵת כָּל תְּבוּאַת זַרְעֶךָ הַיֹּצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה שָׁנָה שָׁנָה.
(22) Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, that which is brought forth in the field year by year.
כִּי יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת לְבָבְךָ וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת יָדְךָ מֵאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן. כִּי פָתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת יָדְךָ לוֹ וְהַעֲבֵט תַּעֲבִיטֶנּוּ דֵּי מַחְסֹרוֹ אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ. הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ פֶּן יִהְיֶה דָבָר עִם לְבָבְךָ בְלִיַּעַל לֵאמֹר קָרְבָה שְׁנַת הַשֶּׁבַע שְׁנַת הַשְּׁמִטָּה וְרָעָה עֵינְךָ בְּאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן וְלֹא תִתֵּן לוֹ וְקָרָא עָלֶיךָ אֶל ה' וְהָיָה בְךָ חֵטְא. נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן לוֹ וְלֹא יֵרַע לְבָבְךָ בְּתִתְּךָ לוֹ כִּי בִּגְלַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּכָל מַעֲשֶׂךָ וּבְכֹל מִשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ. כִּי לֹא יֶחְדַּל אֶבְיוֹן מִקֶּרֶב הָאָרֶץ עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ לֵאמֹר פָּתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת יָדְךָ לְאָחִיךָ לַעֲנִיֶּךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ בְּאַרְצֶךָ.
If there will be among you a needy person, from one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him, and you shall lend him sufficient for his needs, which he is lacking. Beware, lest there be in your heart an unfaithful thought, saying, "The seventh year, the year of release has approached," and you will begrudge your needy brother and not give him, and he will cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin to you. You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; for because of this thing the Lord, your God, will bless you in all your work and in all your endeavors. For there will never cease to be needy within the land. Therefore, I command you, saying, you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor one, and to your needy one in your land.
Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement which applies evidence and reason to determining the most effective ways to improve the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism
Peter Singer, “The Logic of Effective Altruism” 2015
http://bostonreview.net/forum/peter-singer-logic-effective-altruism
Effective altruism is based on a very simple idea: we should do the most good we can. Obeying the usual rules about not stealing, cheating, hurting, and killing is not enough, or at least not enough for those of us who have the good fortune to live in material comfort, who can feed, house, and clothe ourselves and our families and still have money or time to spare. Living a minimally acceptable ethical life involves using a substantial part of our spare resources to make the world a better place. Living a fully ethical life involves doing the most good we can.
Part II: How to Give
תניא אם היה עני המחזיר על הפתחים אין נזקקין לו א"ל אין נזקקין לו למתנה מרובה אבל נזקקין לו למתנה מועטת
(1) It was taught in an earlier text: if a poor person was going door to door, we are not required to assist him (with charity). (Rav Sama brought up a contrary point) and said to him: When it says we are not required to assist him, it refers to a big gift. However, we are still required to give a small gift.
(ז) שמנה מעלות יש בצדקה זו למעלה מזו מעלה גדולה שאין למעלה ממנה זה המחזיק ביד ישראל שמך ונותן לו מתנה או הלואה או עושה עמו שותפות או ממציא לו מלאכה כדי לחזק את ידו עד שלא יצטרך לבריות לשאול.
(ח) פחות מזה הנותן צדקה לעניים ולא ידע למי נתן ולא ידע העני ממי לקח שהרי זו מצוה לשמה.
(ט) פחות מזה שידע הנותן למי יתן ולא ידע העני ממי לקח.
(י) פחות מזה שידע העני ממי נטל ולא ידע הנותן.
(יא) פחות מזה שיתן לו בידו קודם שישאל.
(יב) פחות מזה שיתן לו אחר שישאל.
(יג) פחות מזה שיתן לו פחות מן הראוי בסבר פנים יפות.
(יד) פחות מזה שיתן לו בעצב.
(7) There are eight levels of charity, one above the other. The greatest level that has nothing above it is to strengthen the hand of a Jew who has become poor and give him a gift or loan or create a partnership with him or make up some work for him, so as strengthen his hand until he does not [any longer] need to ask others [for help].
(8) Lower than that is when one gives charity to the poor and does not know to whom he is giving, and the poor person does not know from whom he is taking - since, behold, this is [performance of] the commandment for its own sake.
(9) Lower than that is when the giver knows to whom he is giving, but the poor person does not know from whom he is taking.
(10) Lower than that is when the poor person knows from whom he took and the giver does not know.
(11) Lower than that is when one gives it to him in his hand before he asks.
(12) Lower than that is when he gives it to him after he asks.
(13) Lower than that is when he gives him less than what is fit, [but] with a pleasant demeanor.
(14) Lower than that is when he gives it to him sadly.
דע, כי האדם נפעל כפי פעלותיו, ולבו וכל מחשבתיו תמיד אחר מעשיו שהוא עוסק בהם אם טוב ואם רע, ואפילו רשע גמור בלבבו וכל יצר מחשבות לבו רק רע כל היום, אם יערה רוחו וישים השתדלותו ועסקו בהתמדה בתורה ובמצות, ואפילו שלא לשם שמים, מיד ינטה אל הטוב, ומתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה, ובכח מעשיו ימית היצר הרע, כי אחרי הפעלות נמשכים הלבבות.
Know, a person is driven by his action, his heart and his thoughts are always drawn after his actions - be they good or bad. Even a completely wicked person--in his heart every desire of his thoughts is only wickedness all day--if he commits his spirit and puts his efforts and works diligently in Torah and mitzvot, even if he does so not for the sake of heaven, he will immediately tip towards the good, and through [acting for] non-ideal intentions, he will come to the pure intention. It is through the force of action that he will kill the urge to do bad, because it is action which shapes the heart.
(ג) הַנּוֹתֵן לְבָנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו הַגְדוֹלִים, שֶׁאֵינוֹ חַיָּב בִּמְזוֹנוֹתֵיהֶם, כְּדֵי לְלַמֵּד אֶת הַבָּנִים תּוֹרָה וּלְהַנְהִיג הַבָּנוֹת בְּדֶרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה, וְכֵן הַנּוֹתֵן מַתָּנוֹת לְאָבִיו וְהֵם צְרִיכִים לָהֶם, הֲרֵי זֶה בִּכְלַל צְדָקָה. וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָא שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לְהַקְדִּימוֹ לַאֲחֵרִים. וַאֲפִלוּ אֵינוֹ בְּנוֹ וְלֹא אָבִיו, אֶלָא קְרוֹבוֹ, צָרִיךְ לְהַקְדִּימוֹ לְכָל אָדָם. וְאָחִיו מֵאָבִיו, קוֹדֵם לְאָחִיו מֵאִמּוֹ. וַעֲנִיֵּי בֵּיתוֹ קוֹדְמִין לַעֲנִיֵּי עִירוֹ, וַעֲנִיֵּי עִירוֹ קוֹדְמִין לַעֲנִיֵּי עִיר אַחֶרֶת. וְיוֹשְׁבֵי אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל קוֹדְמִין לְיוֹשְׁבֵי חוּצָה לָאָרֶץ.
(3) One who gives his non-minor sons and daughters, whom he is not obligated to feed, in order to teach the sons Torah and to direct the daughters on the straight path, also one who gives gifts to his father and they need them, behold this is in the category of tzedakah. And not only that, but he is required to give [the relative] precedence over others. And even if it is not his son or father, but a relative, he must give him precedence to all others. And his paternal brother takes precedence over his maternal brother. And the poor of his household take precedence over the poor of his city; and the poor of his city take precedence over the poor of another city. The residents of Israel take precedence to the residents of the diaspora.
(יד) אָסוּר לִתֵּן מַתְּנַת חִנָם לְגוֹי שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַכִּירוֹ, דִּכְתִיב, וְלֹא תְחָנֵם, וְדָרְשֵׁינָן לֹא תִתֵּן לָהֶם מַתְּנַת חִנָם. אֲבָל אִם הוּא מַכִּירוֹ, לֹא הֲוֵי מַתְּנַת חִנָּם, שֶׁגַּם הוּא יְשַּׁלֵּם גְּמוּלוֹ, אוֹ כְּבָר שִׁלַּם לוֹ, וַהֲוֵי כְּמוֹ מְכִירָה.
(14) It is forbidden to give a gift to a Gentile that is not your acquaintance,14All Gentiles are included in the prohibition, even Moslems. Beis Yosef (Choshen Mishpat 249). Shach 151:18. as it is written, "You shall not show them grace;"15Deuteronomy 7:2. the word תְחָנֵם is interpreted as grace and also חִנָם which means for no reason. and this is explained, "You shall not give them a free gift." But, if he is an acquaintance, it is not considered a free gift, for in time he will return this favor, or he has already compensated for it, and it is like a sale (and not a gift).
(טז) מֻתָּר לְפַרְנֵס עֲנִיֵיהֶם וּלְבַקֵּר חוֹלֵיהֶם וְלִקְבּוֹר מֵתֵיהֶם וּלְהַסְפִּידָן וּלְנַחֵם אֲבֵלֵיהֶם, מִשּׁוּם דַּרְכֵי שָלוֹם.
(16) It is permitted to help their poor, visit their sick, bury their dead, eulogize them, and console their mourners, for the purpose of maintaining peaceful relations with them.
ורמי דרבי יוסי אדר' יוסי מעיין של בני העיר חייהן וחיי אחרים חייהן קודמין לחיי אחרים בהמתם [ובהמת אחרים בהמתם] קודמת לבהמת אחרים כביסתן וכביסת אחרים כביסתן קודמת לכביסת אחרים חיי אחרים וכביסתן חיי אחרים קודמין לכביסתן
רבי יוסי אומר כביסתן קודמת לחיי אחרים השתא כביסה אמר רבי יוסי יש בה צער
The Gemara raises a contradiction between this statement of Rabbi Yosei and another statement of Rabbi Yosei. Given a spring belonging to the residents of a city, if the water was needed for their own lives and it was also needed for the lives of others, their own lives take precedence over the lives of others. If the water was needed for their own animals and also for the animals of others, their own animals take precedence over the animals of others. And if the water was needed for their own laundry and also for the laundry of others, their own laundry takes precedence over the laundry of others. If the water was needed for the lives of others and their own laundry, the lives of others take precedence over their own laundry.
Rabbi Yosei disagrees and says: Even their own laundry takes precedence over the lives of others. Now with regard to laundry, Rabbi Yosei said that refraining involves grief.
Peter Singer, “The why and how of effective altruism”, TED 2013
https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_effective_altruism/transcript?language=en
So let's talk about effectiveness... Take, for example, providing a guide dog for a blind person. That's a good thing to do, right? Well, right, it is a good thing to do, but you have to think what else you could do with the resources. It costs about 40,000 dollars to train a guide dog and train the recipient so that the guide dog can be an effective help to a blind person. It costs somewhere between 20 and 50 dollars to cure a blind person in a developing country if they have trachoma… You could provide one guide dog for one blind American, or you could cure between 400 and 2,000 people of blindness.
Principles (adapted from https://whatiseffectivealtruism.com/#principles)
Maximization: Doing the most good with the limited resources we have
Rationality: Valuing logic and reason in decision-making, trying to avoid the common biases and heuristics that affect human thinking
Cosmopolitanism: Helping people regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality, etc. Some also include animals, or people who haven’t been born yet
Cost-Effectiveness: Accomplishing the most good per dollar spent. Looking beyond simple metrics like overhead ratios and instead focusing on measurable success in producing the desired outcome
Scope-Sensitivity: Paying attention to the magnitude of problems. People tend to be very bad at emotionally understanding the difference between helping 2,000 people and 200,000 people
Cause Neutrality: Considering all causes and then selecting the one that we think will improve the world the most, rather than just trying to be most effective within one’s personal pet cause. This requires cause prioritization.
Counterfactual Reasoning: Considering not just the direct consequences, but also the alternative consequences if we had chosen another course of action.
Popular effective cause areas
- Global poverty -- save the most human lives
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Anti-malaria bed nets
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De-worming
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Cash transfers
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Animal welfare -- save even more lives
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Animal rights advocacy groups
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Cellular agriculture and cultured meat
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Existential risk -- tiny chance of saving all present and future lives
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Prevent development of an evil artificial intelligence
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Mitigate global warming
- Prevent nuclear catastrophe
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(טז) הוא היה אומר, לא עליך המלאכה לגמור, ולא אתה בן חורין לבטל ממנה.
(16) He used to say: It is not up to you to finish the work, but you are not free to abandon it.