ABSTRACT
Chapter 2, God as the true recipient of tzedaqah, is about the various ways the rabbis problematize and undermine this notion. While Palestinian amoraic literature uses Proverbs 19:17 to represent God as the debtor of a charitable donor, the Talmud Bavli challenges that identification. While most tannaitic literature (with the exception of Tosefta Megillah) sees charity vows as no different than vows to donate other sacra (notably to the Jerusalem Temple), the Bavli distinguishes charity vows on the grounds that the poor are present and in need of immediate assistance. Palestinian sages (tannaim and amoraim) are aware that not everyone takes their votive stipulations of tzedaqah (identified by the trilateral root p-s-q) seriously as vows; the tannaim warn of dire consequences to follow from non-fulfillment while the amoraim, perhaps concerned not to stigmatize too many people as “vow-breakers,” limit those consequences to those who fail to fulfill public stipulations. The amoraim also subtly distinguish those stipulations from (actual) “vows.” The chapter suggests that the amoraic tendency to sever the link between tzedaqah and other vows is related to their own interest (unlike the tannaim) in constructing themselves as mediators between charitable donors and the poor.
