The following is an evolving bibliography of secondary studies related to the study of Jewish philanthropy. There are earlier studies and reflections the topic from a much earlier era, the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Solomon Schechter, Notes of Lectures on Jewish Philanthropy (prepared for publication by Joseph Bosniak; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1924); and Ephraim Frisch, A Historical Survey of Jewish Philanthropy: from the Earliest Times to the Nineteenth Century (New York: Macmillan, 1924). This list focuses on recently-published studies written in English.

The first part of this bibliography focuses on historical studies; the second, to be added later, will focus on social science approaches, ethics and other dimensions of the topic. The list is meant to grow over time, so please feel welcome to suggest important additions.

Historical Approaches

Jewish giving has its roots in the Bible and classical rabbinic literature and extends into the present, but there is to our knowledge no single comprehensive historical survey of the topic. The following list breaks the topic down into different periods of time.

Premodern History of Jewish Philanthropy

1) Hebrew Bible and prerabbinic Jewish culture

Anderson, Gary A. Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2013. Illustrates the role of society’s poor as a “living altar” upon which others are able to make charitable sacrifices to God, thus demonstrating their faith.

Batten, Samuel Zane. “The Old Testament Doctrine of Social Opportunity.” The Biblical World 42. 5 (1913): 284-90. Describes the rights afforded to the poor by the Hebrew Bible, as well as their modern day applications within Judaism and Christianity.

Collins, John. “Social Justice in the Hebrew Bible.” In What Are Biblical Values?: What the Bible Says on Key Ethical Issues. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019. Describes the Hebrew Bible’s teachings on the impoverished, in addition to the responsibility of ancient rulers to uphold the expressed values.

Kaminsky, Joel S. “‘The Might of My Own Hand Has Gotten Me This Wealth’: Reflections on Wealth and Poverty in the Hebrew Bible and Today.” Interpretation 73.1 (2019): 7–17. Argues that biblical discussions of wealth, poverty, and welfare can illuminate – and sometimes even help settle – contemporary debates on the topics.

Lohfink, Norbert. “Poverty in the Laws of the Ancient Near East and of the Bible.” Theological Studies. 52.1 (1991): 34–50. Approaches biblical teachings about the rich and the poor through the lens of Ancient Near Eastern and biblical law codes.

Mathews, Mark. Riches, Poverty and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Much research on ancient Jewish conceptions of poverty, wealth and charity emerge from the study of the New Testament, as in this example which includes discussion of poverty and wealth in Second Temple era sources.

Martins, Francisco. “‘A Treasure for the Poor’: The Contents of the Temple Treasures According to 2 Macc 3:10 in Light of the Biblical and Ancient Jewish and Christian Traditions.” The Harvard Theological Review. 113.2 (2020): 210–29. Analyzes the biblical tradition of equating God’s property with that reserved for the poor – the so-called “pauperization” process – through 2 Macc 3:10.

Murphey, Catherine. Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Qumran Community. Leiden: Brill, 2002. Draws on the Dead Scrolls to illuminate early Jewish conceptions of wealth within a sectarian context. 

Pleins, J. D. “How Ought We to Think About Poverty? – Rethinking the Diversity of the Hebrew Bible.” The Irish Theological Quarterly 60 (1994): 280-86. Poses that the Hebrew Bible does not have one concrete law code or opinion regarding society’s poor, and that this diversity of thought from the Bible should be incorporated into modern discourse.

Weinfeld, Moshe. Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East. Jerusalem: Magness, 1995.  Locates biblical conceptions of justice in relation to ancient Near Eastern ideas and values.

2) Classical Rabbinical/Late Antique Judaism

Brooks, Roger. Support for the Poor in the Mishnaic Law of Agriculture: Tractate Peah. Providence: Brown Judaic Studies, 2020. A thorough study of Tractate Peah – the laws asserting that all Israelite must support the poor with a portion of their crops – and its larger implications.

Gardner, Gregg E. “Pursuing Justice: Support for the Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism.” Hebrew Union College Annual 86 (2015): 37-62. Argues that Mishnah and Tosefta Pe’ah do not attempt to close socioeconomic gaps between classes, but rather pursue procedural justice in the form of equality among the poor.

Gardner, Gregg E. “Let Them Eat Fish: Food for the Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism.” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period 45.2 (2014): 250-70. Surveys Tannaitic teachings on the donation of food as charity to the poor, as well as their larger societal and socioeconomic implications.

Gardner, Gregg E. “Who Is Rich? The Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism.” The Jewish Quarterly Review 104.4 (2014): 515-36. Explores the relationship between halakhah regarding the indigent and the economic situation of the tannaim themselves.

Gray, Alyssa M. “Redemptive Almsgiving and the Rabbis of Late Antiquity.” Jewish Studies Quarterly 18, no. 2 (2011): 144-84. Studies critical differences between Palestinian and Babylonian contexts in their discussions of the theology of charitable giving.

Novick, Tzvi. “Charity and Reciprocity: Structures of Benevolence in Rabbinic Literature.” The Harvard Theological Review 105.1 (2012): 33-52. Examines the relationship between reciprocal exchange and charity, using evidence from Esth 9:22 and Tannaitic sources.

Rosenfeld, B. Z., and H. Perlmutter. “The Attitude to Poverty and the Poor in Early Rabbinic Sources (70-250 CE).” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period 47.3 (2016): 411-38. Presents research findings on the attitude towards poverty and the poor from rabbinic literature after the destruction of the Second Temple.

Satlow, Michael L. “”Fruit and the Fruit of Fruit”: Charity and Piety among Jews in Late Antique Palestine.” The Jewish Quarterly Review 100.2 (2010): 244-77. Demonstrates that Palestinian Jews of late antiquity believed that God directly rewarded charitable acts and donations to the poor.

Schwartz, Seth. Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Explores the impact on ancient Jewish society of euergetism, a mode of public giving absorbed from the larger Hellenistic-Roman world.

Shapiro, Aharon. “The Poverty Program of Judaism.” Review of Social Economy 29.2 (1971): 200-6. Organizes and interprets the Talmud and Jewish religious codes in their treatment of both objective and subjective poverty.

Twersky, Isadore. “Some Aspects of the Jewish Attitude Toward the Welfare State.” Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 5.2 (1963): 137-58. Attempts to identify the metaphysical foundations of charity and the philanthropic demands of the individual within Judaism.

3) Medieval and Early Modern Period

Barzen, Rainer, and ריינר ברצן. “משמעותה של ‘צדקה’ לארגון העצמי היהודי בתוך סביבה נוכרית / The Meaning of “Tzedakah” for Jewish Self-Organization within a Non-Jewish Environment.” Iggud: Selected Essays in Jewish Studies / איגוד: מבחר מאמרים במדעי היהדות יד (2005): 7*-17*. Examines tzedakah as the foundation of pre-communal self-organization, specifically focusing on 12th and 13th century Ashkenaz.

Baumgarten, Elisheva. “Communal Charity: Evidence from Medieval Nürnberg.” In Practicing Piety in Medieval Ashkenaz: Men, Women, and Everyday Religious Observance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. Investigates the process of giving charity pro anima (for the soul) through the data on Jewish donations in medieval Nürnberg’s memorbuch (book of commemoration).

Bernfeld, Tirtsah Levie. Poverty and Welfare Among the Portuguese Jews in Early Modern Amsterdam. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2012. Describes the foundations of poverty and lives of the impoverished Portuguese Jews immigrants in Amsterdam, while also examining the benefactors’ motives for philanthropy.

Cohen, Mark R. Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005. Exploits the papers of the Cairo Geniza in order to provide a glimpse into the daily lives of and societal dealings with Medieval Egypt’s impoverished Jews.

Galinsky, Judah D. “Jewish Charitable Bequests and the Hekdesh Trust in Thirteenth-Century Spain.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 35.3 (2005): 423-40. Explains the popularity of the Jewish charitable fund known as the hekdesh – and the motivations behind charitable giving – in 13th Century Christian Spain.

Lev, Yaacov. “Jewish and Muslim Charity in the Middle Ages: A Comparative Approach.” In A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations: From the Origins to the Present Day, edited by Meddeb Abdelwahab and Stora Benjamin, 726-36. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013. Compares Judaism and Islam in the ways that charity defines shapes the roles of rich and poor, the legitimacy of communal institutions, and the use of money.

Melcer-Padon, Nourit. “Charity Begins at Home: Reflections on the Dowry Society of Livorno.” In Religious Changes and Cultural Transformations in the Early Modern Western Sephardic Communities, edited by Kaplan Yosef, 346-80. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2019. Concentrates on the founding statutes of the dowry society known as the Hevra de Cazar Orfãs e Donzelas, which was the most significant and well-endowed confraternity of the early modern Livorno Jewish community.

Seif, Yehuda. “Justice and Righteousness: Jewish and Christian Approaches to Charity and Poor Law in the High Middle Ages.” In Wealth and Poverty in Jewish Tradition, edited by William J. Greenspoon, 83-100. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 2015. Focuses on legal discussions of charitable distributions in medieval Germany, calling on sources like Sefer Hasidim and the hilchot tzedakah (“charity laws”) of Or Zarua.

Modern History of Jewish Philanthropy

1) Europe

Casale Mashiah, Donatella. “Income Concentration Trends and Competition in the Charitable Sector: An Analysis of Jewish Charities in England and Wales.” Contemporary Jewry (2019) 39: 293-339. Analyzes the organizational characteristics, income distribution, and growth of the Jewish charitable sector in England and Wales.

Horowitz, Brian. Jewish Philanthropy and Enlightenment in Late Tsarist Russia. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008. Describes the public-private partnerships that encouraged education for Russian Jewish youth and the subsequent schooling system that was developed.

Penslar, Derek J. “The Origins of Modern Jewish Philanthropy.” In Philanthropy in the World’s Traditions. Edited by Warren F. Ilchman, Stanley N. Katz, and Edward L. Queen, 197-214. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. Describes the evolution of Jewish philanthropy’s priorities and structures throughout history.

Rozin, Mordechai. The Rich and the Poor: Jewish Philanthropy and Social Control in Nineteenth-Century London. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 1999. Studies Jewish welfare in London through the work of the elite while tracking the extent of Jewish wealth at the time.

Schor, Laura,  Women, Religion and Philanthropy in Nineteenth Century France: the Case of the Baronness Betty de Rothschild. New York: Hunter College of the City of New York, 2006. A biography and analysis of Betty de Rothschild and her prolific giving across the European Jewish community.

Tananbaum, Susan L. “Democratizing British-Jewish Philanthropy: The Union of Jewish Women (1902-1930).” Nashim 20 (2010): 57-79, 180. Explores the origins and evolution of the Union of Jewish Women – Britain’s first national Jewish women’s organization – and its philanthropic endeavors in the early 20th century.

Teplitsky, Joshua. “A “Prince of the Land of Israel” in Prague: Jewish Philanthropy, Patronage, and Power in Early Modern Europe and Beyond.” Jewish History 29.3 (2015): 245–71. Connects philanthropy to the European political landscape and the competition for “Prince of the Land of Israel” via philanthropic acts.

2) North America

Berkman, Matthew, “Transforming Philanthropy: Finance and Institutional Evolution at the Jewish Federation of New York, 1917-86.” Jewish Social Studies 22 (2017); 146-97. Analyzes the changes — along with their causes and effects — made to the Jewish Federation of New york.

Block, Debra S, Virtue out of necessity: A study of Jewish philanthropy in the United States, 1890-1918 [Dissertation]. 1997. Documents the development of Jewish philanthropy around the turn of the 20^th century, noting the intentions of unity and persisting through social hardship as a community.

Corwin Berman, Lila,  The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion-Dollar Institution. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020. Looks into the holistic Jewish philanthropic complex of the United States; a culmination of prior literature.

Goldberg, Idana, “‘Sacrifices upon the altar of charity’: the masculinization of Jewish philanthropy in mid-nineteenth century America.” Nashim 20 (2010): 34-56. Delves into the gender-based versus religious associations with philanthropic giving in the 19th century United States.

Moore, Deborah Dash, “From Kehillah to Federation: The Communal Functions of Federated Philanthropy in N.Y. City, 1917-1933.” American Jewish History 68 (1978); 131-46. Documents New York City’s post-WWI Jewish giving through federations led by wealthy supporters.

Wenger, Beth, “Federation Men: the Masculine World of New York Jewish Philanthropy, 1880-1945.” American Jewish History 101 (2017): 377-99. Analyzes the masculine origins of philanthropic efforts by Jewish philanthropists in New York City.

3) Transnational

Dekel-Chen, Jonathan. “Faith Meets Politics and Resources: Reassessing Modern Transnational Jewish Activism.” In Purchasing Power: the Economics of Modern Jewish History. Edited by Rebecca Kobrin and Adam Teller, 216-37. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. Through a study of the Soviet Jewry campaign, highlights a divide between physical aid and political advocacy – the two models of modern transnational philanthropy.

Green, Abigail. “The “West” and the Rest: Jewish Philanthropy and Globalization to c. 1880.” In Purchasing Power: the Economics of Modern Jewish History. Edited by Rebecca Kobrin and Adam Teller, 216-37. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. Analyzes the rebalancing of Jewish philanthropic activity between the global and the local in the mid-19th century.

Karlinsky, Nahum. “Jewish philanthropy and Jewish credit cooperatives in Eastern Europe and Palestine up to 1939: A transnational phenomenon?” Journal of Israeli History 27.2 (2008): 149-70. Looks at the historical usage of credit and charitable giving across several nations, specifically those in the Eastern Europe region and Israel, that formed extent networks of Jewish cooperatives.

Mandel,  Maud, “Philanthropy or Cultural Imperialism? The impact of American Jewish aid in post-Holocaust France,” Jewish Social Studies 9 (2002): 53-94. Assesses the American Joint Distribution Committee’s cultural and societal impacts on French Jews, including increased unity and social services provision.

Yeo, Eileen, “Gender and Jewish Welfare Work in Britain and the United States, 1880-1930,” Nashim 34 (2019): 7-32. Documents the role gender played in Eastern European Jewish welfare provision from settled American and British Jews.

4) Modern Israel

Blum, Dvora, “The Ambivalent Emergence of Philanthropy in Israel.” The Journal of Jewish Communal Service 84 (2009): 96-105. Examines the public perception of philanthropists in Israel, particularly the dichotomy between reverence for generosity and criticism of where giving is made.

Galia, Riki “Banking and philanthropy in pre-state Jewish Palestine : particularist Sephardic philanthropy disguised as support for the general Zionist cause.” Israel Affairs 23 (2017): 342-60. Delves into a Jewish-Palestine bank, from its founding to charitable practices towards Sephardic Jews. 

Galia, Riki, “Traditional Patron or Modern Support of Culture and the Arts? The Corporate Philanthropy Practices of an Israeli Family Business,” Israel Affairs 24 (2018): 848-64. Analyzes the charitable arm of a Jewish family-owned bank, doubling as both a look into Jewish philanthropy and early corporate social responsibility.

Jaffe, Eliezer David. Givers and spenders: the politics of charity in Israel. Jerusalem: Ariel, 1985. Describes how Israeli giving and philanthropic practices have informed political decision making and public policy in the country, both in domestic and global affairs.

Karlinsky, Nahum, “Jewish Philanthropy and Jewish Credit Cooperatives in Eastern Europe and Palestine up to 1939: a Transnational Phenomenon? Journal of Israeli History 27 (2008): 149-70. Analyzes the American Joint Reconstruction Foundation, a cooperative of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Colonization Association, and fits it into frameworks of philanthropy and transnationalism.

Katz, Hagai, and Itay Greenspan. “Giving in Israel: From Old Religious Traditions to an Emerging Culture of Philanthropy” from The Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy. Edited by Pamala Wiepking and Femida Handy, 316-37. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Provides social, historical, and cultural treatments of Israeli giving through an extensive survey and documentation of the country’s philanthropic efforts.

Segev, Zohar, “From philanthropy to shaping a state : Hadassah and Ben-Gurion, 1937-1947.” Israel Studies 18 (2013): 133-57. Examines the role that Hadassah, the Women’s Organization of America played in developing policies for Jewish Palestine, upending the masculine leadership at the time. 

5)  Sephardi & Mizrachi Jewish Culture

Iram, Yaacov, “The History of Franco-Jewish Educational Philanthropy in North Africa and the Levant,” Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education 28.3 (1992): 581-88.  Reviews the influence that French Jewish philanthropy had on the Westernization of North Africa and the Levant in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Lehmann, Matthias B. “Rethinking Sephardi Identity: Jews and Other Jews in Ottoman Palestine.” Jewish Social Studies: History, Culture, Society 15.1 (2008): 81-109. Compares Jewish identities in the Holy Land, particularly the distinct culture of Sephardis perpetuated through philanthropic practice.

Rodrigue, Aron. “Abraham de Camondo of Istanbul: the Transformation of Jewish Philanthropy.” In East and West: Jews in a Changing Europe 1750-1870. Edited by Frances MAlino and David Sorkin, 46-56. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990. Examines the life, philanthropic practice, and impact of Abraham de Camondo, an Ottoman Jew and patriarch of the Camondo family.

Zenner, Walter P. “Sephardic Communal Organizations in Israel.” Middle East Journal 21.2 (1967): 173-186. Analyzes the reaction of the Sephardi Jewish community to the emergence of Israel by examining communal organizations led by Sephardis.

Poupko, Elchanan. “How Many Mizrachi Jews Run Your Organization?” eJewishPhilanthropy (2019). Scrutinizes the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion of Mizrachi and Sephardi Jews within Jewish philanthropic organizations.