How to give

In Judaism, there are 8 ranks of charitable giving, in order from best to worst they are:

1. the best option is to give the needy a job or business partnership so that they can become self-sufficient (in a sense, gleaning is a form of this, as you are not giving people handouts, you are giving them an opportunity to do honest labor for food)
2. give in such a way that neither the donor nor the recipient knows who each other are
3. the donor knows who the recipient is, but not vice versa
4. the recipient knows who the donor is, but not vice versa
5. both the donor and recipient knows who each other are, but the donor gives without being asked
6. the donor only gives after being directly asked
7. the donor does not give as much as he could have, but he gives cheerfully
8. the worst way to give charity is to give grudgingly

I hadn't heard this before, I thought it was good advice

The other day I got the munchies at about 11pm. I knew this one place that serves vegan veggie meat burritos was open until 12 am, but didn't find out until after a 25 minute walk after 10pm it's only drive-thru.

My only choice was picking up a bunch of bananas, grapefruit, and a Bai sugar free watermelon drink at the local grocery another 10 minutes away.

Not feeling like waking home to eat, I stopped by a Jack in the Box. The only thing I could eat was the curly fries and ask for a glass of ice for my drink.

While eating fries and sipping on the drink, I saw this guy who looked real tired outside with a business suit on. I waved him to my table. I asked if he'd like some fruit and drink. He went to get another glass and ate two bananas with part of my drink.

All he said to me was, "It's hard."

"What is?" I asked.

"Life."

A little while later after not saying anything, he mumbled something about how some woman gave him a ring and wanted to know my opinion. I said how it was nice.

Eventually I stood up, waved good bye.

Before opening the door he said, "You're a really cool dude. Stay fresh."

To me that's the kind of giving people should do.

One inseparable distinguishing characteristic about giving is it is a voluntary exchange between people.

If it isn't voluntary, it can't be giving, it then becomes taking.