Maimonides, also known as Rambam, born on March 30, 1135 and deceased on December 12, 1204, was a physician, astronomer, philosopher, and one of the most important Jewish thinkers due to his tireless study of the Torah, the earliest Hebrew texts. He was also a notable altruist, meaning a person who ensures the well-being of others without receiving anything in return, a principle that became a central pillar of his life.
Maimonides is the author of the Mishneh Torah, a document that compiles numerous laws of Judaism and functions as a religious legal code that also incorporates certain Noahide laws. Within this work, the author established the laws of “Tzedakah,” a term that translates as justice. The meaning of the word aligns with the mission Rambam pursued throughout his life.
Born in Córdoba, Spain, he always regarded altruism and charity as a social obligation. For this reason, within the Mishneh Torah he simplified eight levels of Tzedakah, which summarize acts of altruism as a social duty within a moral structure organized around justice.
For him, charity was not limited to donating money or helping the needy with food, clothing, or other resources. Charity itself constituted Tzedakah, an act of moral and legal justice that allowed society to be structured. How was this resolved according to his laws? The success of altruism depended on the disappearance of the need for assistance, in other words, when a person no longer required help from others.
This code established by Maimonides summarized his concept of “self-sufficiency,” linked to the laws set out in the Mishneh Torah. For the philosopher, the most important goal was an ordered, ethical society without hierarchical ranks, where assistance to others remained private and social classes did not create divisions. A just form of charity, discreet assistance that preserves dignity, self-sufficiency, and ethics as the central foundation.
The eight levels of Tzedakah according to Maimonides
All levels are related to ethics. From the lowest to the highest level, Rambam established different ethical standards according to people’s actions. The first level focuses on giving reluctantly, an act that contradicts what the physician considered ideal. The second level is similar, with the difference that a positive intention exists, although it is still insufficient in his view.
The third level refers to offering assistance only when the person in need asks for it, without anticipating the situation. The fourth is the opposite, where the act appears before the request but introduces the idea of dignity and the possibility of humiliation for the person seeking help. The fifth and sixth levels refer to invisible donations. The first describes situations where the donor cannot know who receives the donation, while the other refers to cases in which the donor does know.
The seventh, the penultimate level, represents an ideal proposed by Maimonides. It describes a form of help where neither the donor nor the recipient knows the identity of the other, creating a discreet and invisible form of assistance. This principle connects with the ideas promoted by the Jewish thinker, who consistently emphasized human dignity, moral ethics, and a social structure without hierarchies.
The final level, and the most important one, concerns self-sufficiency. What does this mean? Rambam explains in the Mishneh Torah that this stage represents the highest form of charity because one person helps another become self-sufficient, meaning independent and no longer dependent on others. This can be achieved through employment, a loan, significant financial assistance, or similar forms of support.
Why self-sufficiency was the most important principle for Maimonides
His concept of altruism was always based on the self-sufficiency of the individual and on assistance understood as an ethical, legal, and social duty. It is therefore unsurprising that self-sufficiency became the central principle within the legal framework of Jewish law that he studied and systematized. It represents a direct and discreet form of assistance capable of eliminating the structural problems faced by those in need.
Once the individual becomes self-sufficient, poverty ceases to define that person’s condition, an issue that Maimonides considered a serious social problem. Within his understanding of social organization, he observed that the most vulnerable members of society were those living in poverty. They were often humiliated and perceived as needing more than others. This dimension of human dignity was analyzed and addressed by the Jewish philosopher, who organized social relations through a structured ethical framework.
The ethics and self-sufficiency proposed by Maimonides arise from a rational, organized, and systematic approach that prioritizes justice rather than emotional impulse. From the beginning, the physician showed a strong interest in justice and understood charity as a fair and ethical act necessary for the stability of society. Through this perspective, Rambam emerged as an altruistic philosopher guided by a rational and ethical vision. The Mishneh Torah stands as a compilation of the laws and principles he formulated for the Jewish community.
