>>
>>Tamar
>>
>>That's always been something I really appreciated about Judaism. As it was explained to me, the sense of community is such that the idea of someone in the community being in need was looked upon as an embarrassment to the whole community if the community did nothing about it. But, by the same token, the community should never know who in the community was in need, which allows those in need to keep their dignity (for want of a better word).
>
>Dignity is a big deal in Jewish attitudes. One of the things I'm involved with is our local Hebrew Free Loan Society; we give small interest-free loans to people in need. Free Loans have a long history in the Jewish community.
>
>In many communities, there was also a practice where at the end of the Sabbath, each man would go alone into a room, where there was a pile (basket? something else?) of money. If he could afford to, he'd add to it. If he was in need, he'd take some. No one knew who added or who took.
>
>Tamar

Interesting practice. That's one thing that's always confused me about Christian charity is that it's almost "announcing from the town square" who's receiving it.