ABSTRACT
Chapter 5, Tzedaqah and teshuvah: partially overlapping magisteria argues that Palestinian rabbinic literature and the Talmud Bavli rank teshuvah (repentance) higher than tzedaqah as a way to atone for sin. Tannaitic literature keeps tzedaqah and teshuvah apart; teshuvah is the more fully encompassing mode of atonement despite the tannaitic representation that charity atones. Teshuvah requires deep personal transformation as contrasted with tzedaqah’s (merely mechanical) expenditure of money. Palestinian amoraic literature innovatively brings together “tefillah, tzedaqah, teshuvah” (prayer, charity, repentance) into a devotional triad that “nullifies the harsh decree.” Tzedaqah’s bundling into a triad renders it at best one of three equals. Tzedaqah by itself does not “nullify” the “harsh decree”; a donor must give it as a consequence of an authentic inner transformation. The Bavli likewise emphasizes teshuvah’s interiority. It diminishes the importance of the triad by creating a tetrad of “tzedaqah, crying out (in prayer), change of name, and change of deeds.” Although the Bavli newly places tzedaqah first, this placement does not necessarily render it primus inter pares; tzedaqah is arguably the first in a progression of religious acts from easiest to most difficult to accomplish.
