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There's more to giving than being nice. 

The world rotates on its axis, the galaxies and stars continue moving—because of giving. Nothing we own is really ours to begin with—G‑d gives to us so we can give to others.

Giving is a mitzvah and a responsibility. 

As such, it comes with its own set of dos and don'ts:

The Obligation: You're walking down the street and someone asks for food. 

The mitzvah says, you have to give something. 

If he asks for money, you're allowed to make some inquiries to determine if he's legit. 

Nothing in your pocket? Show some empathy, provide some kind and uplifting words. 

In no case can you just keep on walking. Nothing in your pocket? 

Show some empathy Standard Jewish practice is to give at least 10% of net income to charity. There's plenty written on what's considered net—and on when tuition fees and other mitzvah-related items can be deducted from the ten percent. 

Speak with your rabbi about your specific issues. 

Since giving is a mitzvah, it doesn't just help others—it lifts you up as well. 

That's why we keep a pushka (charity box) on prominent display in home and office. 

Just drop a few coins in the pushka every so often, at least once a day.

The Recipient: Give tzedakah (charity) to the needy, 

Torah schools, Jewish institutions, and/or humanitarian causes. 

A family member who is in difficult financial straits takes precedence over non-family. 

Likewise, local poor and charitable organizations take precedence over their faraway counterparts. 

And charitable causes in Israel take precedence over (non-local) charities in the Diaspora. 

The Upshot: No other mitzvah evokes as powerful a divine response as tzedakah. 

It makes sense: you take care of others, and G‑d takes care of you. 

Our sages taught that tzedakah brings atonement and protects against harsh heavenly decrees.

Wise Solomon wrote, “When you give to a poor man, you are lending to G‑d.

” That’s because G‑d repays all charitable funds—along with handsome dividends—here, in this world. 

According to the Prophet Malachi, G‑d even challenges us, saying, “Try it and see.

”Doing It Right: The highest form of tzedakah(charity) is to provide self-sufficiency. 

Extend a loan to a friend, allowing him to embark on a business project; help an acquaintance find a job or bring her into your family business.

No one should have to pay with his dignity for another’s assistance. 

That’s why it’s better to give anonymously. 

Similarly, give before you are asked. 

Spare the fellow the embarrassment of having to beg. 

And the main ingredient: Give with a smile and genuine warmth. 

No one should have to pay with his dignity for another’s assistance

How you give, our sages taught, is more important than how much you give!

The Right Time to Do It: It’s always the right time to give. 

But certain times are more auspicious than others.

Drop a few coins in the pushka (charity box) before your prayers. 

Provide for others and G‑d will provide for you.

Women and girls should do the same before lighting Shabbat and holiday candles—before ushering in the holiest days on the calendar.

It’s an age-old tradition to pledge money to tzedakah in the merit of the souls of departed loved ones while saying Yizkor. 

In their heavenly abode they cannot do mitzvahs, so it’s up to us to do it for them.

The Result of Doing It:

When G‑d made the world, 

He left us the task of injecting it with spirituality and meaning. 

Nothing accomplishes this goal like tzedakah. 

Give tzedakah, and all the effort which went into making that hard-earned money takes on a new meaning, serving more than a selfish need. 

That’s why our sages tell us: “Great is charity, for it hastens the Redemption!”

Granting an interest-free loan is not just nice, it’s a mitzvah(Exodus 22:24). For how much? 

As much as the borrower needs, as much as you can afford. 

If he needs and asks, and you turn him down, 

his cries are heard on high—and that’s dangerous stuff. 

On the other hand, give him that loan and “you shall call and G‑d will answer; 

you shall cry and He will say, ‘Here I am’” (Isaiah 58:9).

Lending money interest-free is the highest form of tzedakah (charity), 

far greater than giving free handouts. 

A handout may preserve a life for a day, 

but a loan preserves that sense of self-sufficiency necessary to get back on your feet. 

That’s why every Jewish community is expected to support at least one interest-free loan society.

Unlike tzedakah, free loans are for both the poor and the rich.

What if someone is not needy, but would like a loan to make more money? 

Perhaps not as great, but still a mitzvah. 

Unlike tzedakah, free loans are for both the poor and the rich.

Some important details:

• Don’t grant the loan if you believe that the money will be squandered and the borrower won’t have the means to repay.
• It is expressly forbidden for two Jews to transact a loan that involves any form of interest whatsoever. If the loan is for business purposes, a halachic contract can be drawn up that makes the lender a partner in the business, thus entitling him to some of the profits. Speak to a rabbi to facilitate this procedure.
• Don’t press a debtor if you know that he is unable to repay the debt. Don’t even appear before him, even without making any demands, lest he be frightened or shamed.
• On Sabbatical years, all loans are voided. to learn how to avoid being voided.
• No loan should be made without either witnesses or a written contract.

I understand that every seven years is a Sabbatical year, during which Israeli farmers give their fields a break and all debts are canceled. 

How does the debt thing work? 

What happens if someone owes me money? 

Am I really obligated to let it slide? 

Also, I’ve heard that there is something called a pruzbul that somehow circumvents the law. 

What’s up with that? Good question. 

Let’s start at the beginning. We read in the book of Deuteronomy:

This is the law of the Shemittah: 

to release the hand of every creditor from what he lent his friend; 

he shall not exact from his friend or his brother, 

because the time of the release for the L‑rd has arrived.1

This tells us that part of the observance of Shemittah (the Hebrew term for the Sabbatical year) is the forgiving of all loans. 

Any debts that are unpaid at the conclusion of the last day of the Shemittah year are canceled. Even if a borrower wishes to repay his debt, the lender may not accept it unless he reminds the borrower that the debt has been canceled, 

and the borrower still insists on giving him the money “as a gift.” (Indeed, it is considered praiseworthy for a borrower to do this.)

At the same time, the Torah forbids us to refrain from lending money for fear of Shemittah canceling the loan, and commands us to lend happily, despite the possibility that we may not be paid back.In the words of the Torah:

Beware lest there be in your heart an unfaithful thought, saying, 

“The seventh year, the year of release is approaching,” and you will begrudge your needy brother and not give him . . . 

You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; 

for because of this the L‑rd, your G‑d, will bless you in all your work and in all your endeavors.

So where does this leave the modern lender and borrower? 

How is someone supposed to lend money knowing that the debt will be wiped out in just a few years?

This problem has been around for over 2,000 years. 

Hillel saw that people were avoiding lending money as the Shemittah year neared

In the first century BCE, Hillel the Elder saw that people were avoiding giving loans as the Shemittah year neared. 

This posed two problems: 

1) The wealthy people were transgressing the Torah prohibition against withholding loans out of fear of Shemittah. 

2) The poor people who desperately needed loans had no way to procure them. 

He came up with a novel solution. Hillel noted that the Torah tells us that only private debts3 are canceled by Shemittah: “He shall not exact from his friend or his brother.” If, however, one owes the court (i.e., the community) money, Shemittah does not affect the loan. Based on this rule, he instituted the pruzbul: a mechanism by which debts are transferred to a beit din (religious court).4 By making a pruzbul, you make your private debts public—and therefore redeemable.5Isn’t this a loophole devised to circumvent a divinely ordained law?

The Talmud6 explains that nowadays the Shemittah loan amnesty is no longer in effect according to biblical law.7 Thus, since the Shemittah that we observe today is a rabbinic injunction, Hillel was empowered to circumvent these laws due to pressing need.

When do I make a pruzbul?  Although loans are not canceled until the end of the Shemittah year, once the Shemittah year begins there are those who rule that a lender may not demand payment of a loan (although he may accept it without demurring if the borrower wishes to repay on his own). For this reason, many have the custom to make a pruzbul before Rosh Hashanah immediately prior to the Shemittah year, to be able to collect payment throughout the Shemittah year. Once the pruzbul has been made, any additional loans will require an additional pruzbul.Others simply make a pruzbul at the end of the seventh year, just before the loans are suspended. To cover all grounds, there are many—including Chabad—who make the pruzbul twice, once before the Shemittah year, and once again just before it concludes.This year, the last day before Rosh Hashanah will be Sunday, September 13, 2015, and you should have made your (first) pruzbul by then. If you did not, you can do so until the following Rosh Hashanah.What do I need to do?Here is the text of the pruzbul:

I give over to you [the beit din] all debts which I have, so that I may collect them any time I wish.

There are two ways to deliver the text to the court:a) The simplest and most convenient way is to attend morning prayer services in your local synagogue on the day before Rosh Hashanah.Make your pruzbul online After the services, a hatarat nedarimceremony is conducted, during which each member of the congregation stands before a beit din consisting of three (or, in certain communities, ten) of his peers, and recites a vow annulment statement. for more on hatarat nedarim.) Immediately after finishing the hatarat nedarim, everyone recites the aforementioned pruzbul text, thus orally transmitting all debts to this ad hoc court.b) If this is not an option, you can transmit your debts to a beit din in writing. to make a pruzbul online.What if I don’t owe any money?Because of the uniqueness of the mitzvah of pruzbul, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, encouraged everyone to make the effort to make a pruzbul. In fact, he suggested that even someone who has no collectable debts, and thus has no need for a pruzbul, should symbolically lend a small sum of money to someone else in order to be able to observe the rare and easy rabbinical institution of pruzbul. 

Honoring parents is one of the select mitzvahs featured in the Ten Commandments. 

The Torah tells us, “Honor your father and mother,” and it tells us, 

“Honor your G‑d”—​implying that honoring parents is on par with honoring G‑d!

After all, no matter how much respect we give our parents, 

we can never repay them for their part in bringing us into this world. 

But that’s not the only reason to honor them: 

it’s also a mitzvah, and that’s reason enough. 

Actually, two mitzvahs: honor and respect. What’s the difference?

Honor means:

• Serve and assist your parents however possible and whenever necessary. 
• When Mom or Dad enters, stand up.
• Remain standing until they sit down or are no longer within eyesight.
• Or they tell you to sit down.
• Serve and assist your parents however possible and whenever necessary. 
• Feed them, dress them and provide them with transportation.
  [If your parents can afford these things, you are not obligated to pay for them. 
• In fact, parents feel better when they can support themselves financially.]

Respect means:

• If your father or mother has a special place to sit, don’t sit there.
• Don’t contradict your parents to their face. 
• There’s always a discreet way to work with this. 
• When not in their presence, you can express an opposing opinion, but in a respectful manner.
• “I think you’re right, Dad!” is also disrespectful. 
• Mom & Dad don’t require your approval.
• Unless you are asked for your parent’s name, don’t call—or even refer—to your parents by name, even posthumously.

Technical Details:

• Parents who are psychologically unstable must still be respected. 
• If it’s getting just too hard, get hired help.
• Parents can forgo honor due to them—for example, to allow children not to rise for them.
• We are also obligated to respect stepparents, parents-in-law, grandparents and older siblings.