More Than Enough by Richard Michelson with illustrations by Joe Cepeda; Atlanta, Georgia: Peachtree Books; © 2025; ISBN 9781682-636145; 24 pages; $18.99.
SAN DIEGO — When his father gives 6-year-old Moses some pocket change, the boy, without knowing he is doing so, starts up the eight rungs of the charitable-giving ladder as defined by Maimonides.
When Barefoot Benny appeals for some coins, Moses looks away, but his mother smilingly gives some dollars to the homeless person. Moses protests that their own family has “little enough” and his mother responds “little enough is more than enough for us.” Chastened, Moses puts money into Barefoot Benny’s cup. He thus has ascended the lowest rung on the ladder of giving – when a donation is given but reluctantly.
A few months later Barefoot Benny has become a new barber, thanking Moses and his family for providing help when times were tough. Along comes Big Jim, hoping for a free trim. Benny provides one and Moses slips a dime into Jim’s hand. He thereby climbed to the second rung of charity: giving cheerfully but less than he should.
On he goes to the third rung – when he gives to the poor after being asked (Moses babysits) and the fourth rung when he gives to the poor before being asked (Moses puts change in Busker Steve’s open guitar case).
He learns a lesson when Steve subsequently avoids his glance. Moses’ mother explains that some recipients of charity feel shamed. The fifth rung is when someone makes a charitable contribution without knowing the identity of the recipient. Therefore, the donor cannot feel pride when he passes the recipient in the street. The sixth rung is when the donor gives anonymously, so the recipient doesn’t feel shame. The seventh rung is when neither donor nor recipient know each other, so neither pride nor shame result.
The eight rung? When you give someone a job, or loan them enough money to start a business, so they can give charity to others. Little Moses couldn’t do this, but his father opened the Golden Ladder Market, providing a job for the father of Moses’ friend Noah.
This book is an introduction to tzedakah. It’s never too early to teach the concept of charitable giving.
*
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World