Maimonedes' Eight Degrees of Charity

I've been mulling over some thoughts/questions about charity in light of both TNL at the Gothic events.

I ran into this article, Mark Zuckerberg's charity pledge draws uncharitable sniping, that discuss this recent spat of very public charity being done by some of the richest people in America, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. Even though the question it asks, "Is it best to do so anonymously or to set a public example for others?", is interesting, the most interesting info that came out of it was mentioning Maimonedes's Eight Degrees of Charity.

The eight degrees of Charity go from highest/best to lowest/worst.

1. Helping someone by giving them a present, a loan, a partnership or a job so that they no longer need charity.


2. Giving to the poor where you don't know who you are giving to and the poor don't know who are giving to them. Maimonedes makes the point that if you are using an intermediary to administer the charity, make sure they are faithful, wise, and a good leader.


3. Giving to the poor where you know who you are giving to but they don't know who gave to them.


4. Giving to the poor where you don't know who you are giving to, but they know who gave to them.


5. Giving to a poor person before they ask.


6. Giving to a poor person after they ask.


7. Giving to a poor person gladly and with a smile.


8. Giving to a poor person unwillingly.

So, it seems like the TNL at the Gothic events have been category 2 type charity. However, there is also some elements of category 1 in there since both charity:water and Free the Girls have some elements of creating jobs for impoverished people as well.