"Charity" comes from the Latin "caritas", which was used as a translation of the Greek "agape", which is often translated as "brotherly love".
Gimilut chasidim comes from "chessed", which means love, kindness, mercy, caring, or something like that.
Yeah, it's pretty close.
The problem is that, while the connotative meanings are pretty darn close, the denotative meanings are not. "Charity" means, primarily, giving money to the poor. "Gimilut chassidim" specifically excludes giving money to the poor, because that's "tzedakah".
That's why I was, and am, so happy with "tithe". Because both words mean "giving money/goods, ideally a tenth of one's money or goods", and include a sense that you're doing it because you have to, rather than just 'cause you're a nice person.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-04 11:52 pm (UTC)Gimilut chasidim comes from "chessed", which means love, kindness, mercy, caring, or something like that.
Yeah, it's pretty close.
The problem is that, while the connotative meanings are pretty darn close, the denotative meanings are not. "Charity" means, primarily, giving money to the poor. "Gimilut chassidim" specifically excludes giving money to the poor, because that's "tzedakah".
That's why I was, and am, so happy with "tithe". Because both words mean "giving money/goods, ideally a tenth of one's money or goods", and include a sense that you're doing it because you have to, rather than just 'cause you're a nice person.