Based on Ahavas Chesed vol. 2 chapter 17

The Gemara in Succah (49b) says that doing chesed is greater than giving tzedakah in three ways, as follows:

First, tzedakah is only given with one’s money, while chesed can be performed with one’s money or with one’s body. For example, one can lend money, but one can also bury the dead, gladden a bride and groom, or escort a guest. Second, tzedakah is only given to the needy, but chesed can be performed for both the needy and the affluent. Finally, tzedakah is only given to the living, but chesed can also be performed for the deceased.

Despite all this, there are a number of ways in which tzedakah is greater than chesed. For example, tzedakah is permanent, but a loan (which is chesed) is only temporary. Also, giving tzedakah – which means parting with money – requires a person to overcome his nature more than doing chesed. This is more difficult for a person and, as we said in the previous chapter, one’s reward is in proportion to his efforts. (When the Gemara on Shabbos 63a says that extending a loan to the needy is greater than giving him a handout, that refers specifically to one whose financial situation has taken a turn for the worse and the loan tides him over until he can get back on his feet. In such a case, a loan is better because one is able to assist the person with a minimum of embarrassment. But for someone who is absolutely destitute, tzedakah is superior.)

This helps us to understand what’s written in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 15). Commenting on Deuteronomy 30:15 – “Behold, I have placed before you today life and goodness, and death and evil.” We are told that there are two paths on the side of life and goodness: the path of tzedakah and that of chesed. The prophet Shmuel stands at the crossroads of these two paths, debating which to take. After all, each one is superior to the other in some way! Ultimately, he decides not to stray from either path, for which God rewards him. God says that whoever desires to pursue both of these ideals will receive the three rewards described in Proverbs 21:21: “One who pursues tzedakah and chesed will find life, righteousness and honor.” We see that one must not neglect tzedakah in favor of chesed.

The statements of our Sages regarding the greatness of tzedakah are so numerous that they couldn’t all be listed, so the Chofetz Chaim shares just a few highlights. For starters, Tanna d’Bei Eliyahu Zuta (ch. 1) tells us that the world has endured because of tzedakah from the time of creation until today. One who gives a lot of tzedakah is praised and his actions protect him from the judgment of Gehinnom, as per Psalms 41:2: “Fortunate is one who considers the needy; Hashem will protect him on his day of evil.”

The reason our great ancestors – Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Moshe and Aharon, David and Shlomo – merited such great prosperity in this world and the Next is because they were all concerned with matters of tzedakah. (The Chofetz Chaim provides prooftexts for each of these, but we won’t go into them here.)

We also see the greatness of tzedakah from Mishlei 10:2: “Tzedakah saves one from death.” A person is Divinely judged used the same attributes that the person in question used in his interactions with others. If a person gives tzedakah so that others might live, Hashem becomes more invested (as it were) in this person’s continuing existence. But if a person has the means to give tzedakah and declines to do so, he invites death upon himself. We see this from the story of Naval (I Samuel 25), who stingily refused to provide bread and water to David’s starving troops and was struck dead by God for his parsimony.

The greatness of tzedakah is likewise apparent from verses like Deuteronomy 30:20 – “It is your life and the length of your days” – and Mishlei 3:18 – “It is a tree of life for those who grasp it.” If long life is the reward for a simple mitzvah like sending a mother bird away from her nest (Deut. 27), this must all the more be so when it comes to a mitzvah like tzedakah, which takes a lot of effort.

Tzedakah is so great that it earns a person a place in the Next World. This is derived from the word “ashrei” (“happy” or “praiseworthy”) as it’s used in two places. In Psalms 1:1, it tells us, “Happy is the person who doesn’t follow the advice of the wicked,” while Psalms 106:3 says, “Happy are those who preserve justice, performing righteousness (tzedakah) at all times.” Just as the former verse – which refers to Torah – means that this person is happy/praiseworthy in that he merits a place in the Next World, the same is true of the latter verse, which refers to tzedakah.

How great is tzedakah? It’s so great that it hastens the redemption! Isaiah 56:1 tells us, “Preserve justice and perform righteousness (tzedakah) because My salvation is coming soon to reveal My righteousness (again, tzedakah).”

The Chofetz Chaim brings a few more examples of the greatness of tzedakah that we haven’t shared, all from the Tanna d’Bei Eliyahu that we cited earlier.

The merit of tzedakah brings blessings into a person’s home, as per Deuteronomy 15:10: “You shall surely give to him (the needy) and let your giving to him not be bad in your heart, because as a result of this Hashem your God will bless you.” That’s certainly good enough reason to constantly strengthen ourselves in this mitzvah – to say nothing of the reward that awaits us in the Next World!

So, chesed is greater than tzedakah? That’s true in some ways, but tzedakah has the edge in many others, so don't neglect either one!

Get handy, colorful chesed "cheat sheets" in A Universe of Chesed!