Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, released this past week, speaks of love, including erotic love, as a gift from God which must be purified into self-giving love. Through this self-giving love, Catholics learn to care for their neighbors, especially the poor and vulnerable. Pope Benedict expresses this connection between love of God and love of our fellow human being,

“The unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbour is emphasized. One is so closely connected to the other that to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbour or hate him altogether.”
The importance of loving one another and charity is not only a priority that resonates with Catholics, but is a common theme that unites all Christians.
In Judaism we also learn of the importance to care for others. The Hebrew word for charity, tzedakah, however, carries a very different meaning than the Christian understanding of charity through love. The Hebrew word tzedakah means justice or righteousness. Rather than basing the need to care for others on love, Judaism focuses on giving to others because it is the just and right thing to do. As Jews we give to others because we are obligated to do so in our pursuit of justice. We read in Deuteronomy 16:20 “Justice, justice, you shall pursue.” We must actively seek to create a more just society by giving each person, especially those less fortunate, the opportunity to live a fair life.
The Pope’s encyclical does recognize the need for the creation of a just society in order to help the poor and notes the Church’s changing doctrine on this issue. However, at the same time, it reads, “There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable.”

This statement recognizes that no matter how just a society we create, the need for love in our charitable work will always remain. There will always be those in need of a warm greeting and a caring smile. While the church must work for social justice, individual acts of charity and loving kindness must also remain. A just society created through a political system will not override of the human need for love. Charitable work does not end with creating justice, but extends to include the creation of a loving and compassionate society.
As Jews these lessons of love echo throughout our texts. Our most prominent prayer, the Shema, reads, “Hear, O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One! You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Through this love of God we learn how to treat one another: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). These basic tenets of Judaism are just as important as our desire for justice, and even help formulate our understanding of how to create justice. Maimonides, one of the great Jewish scholars from the Middle Ages, speaks of the varying levels of charity. At the lowest level is the person who gives to the poor unwillingly. While this action is still considered to be tzedakah, Maimonides places it at the bottom because it is given without love. Here we learn that love is an essential element of giving to charity and in so doing working towards justice. In order to create a just society we must also create a loving society. In true charitable work, true tzedakah, justice and love are both necessary.

Pope Benedict’s encyclical on Christian love and charitable work has much resonance for the Jewish community. Through his message of love we can learn to expand our understanding of tzedakah and remember the vital importance of love in creating a just society.