Rambam's Ladder
A Meditation on Generosity and Why It Is Necessary to Give
by Julie Salamon
Rambam, Maimonides, was a Jewish scholar and physician in the twelfth century, who outlined eight levels of giving. Julie Salamon, when looking for ideas for a book about giving, liked his ladder. Her book on giving takes her name for each rung as the title of each chapter, although the connecton between the rung and the chapter is shaky at best. Each chapter has a story about a charity, a little bit about Maimonides' philosophy, and a bit of Julie Salamon's own thoughts about charity. This book does not really explain "why it is neccessary to give", and I'm not convinced that Salamon really has a firm understanding of Rambam's ladder. At the end of the book, she does provide Isaac Klein's translation of Rambam's ladder, and you can interpret it yourself. This book is well written, and intersperses its topics well.
Salamon has some ideas for giving here.
Happy reading.
