LEV27 Jewish law instructs us that a successful charity drive is not, as is so often the case today, simply determined by the amount raised or the percentage gained over previous efforts. Not only recipients, but potential donors as well may require our attention. The fund administrators must exercise their Jewish hearts and head to protect manic types from giving away so much that they soon need charity themselves. When we know that someone of means has fallen upon hard times, we must, most gingerly, preserve their dignity. Giving tzedakah may be structured by Jewish law, but we must never forget that it operates as an instrument of Jewish compassion. Anyone who wants to acquire some merit for himself should suppress his urge-to-do-evil and become open-handed, remembering that any act which is done for Heaven's sake should be both good and beautiful. If someone builds a synagogue, let it be more lovely than one's own home. If someone feeds the starving, let him feed him from the best and sweetest that is on his table. If he clothes the naked, let him clothe him with the most exquisite of his clothes. And if he dedicates something to God's service, then let it be among the most beautiful of his possessions, as the text says, "All the choicest is for Adonai" [this verse] Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh Deah, 248.10. Here is one of those laws that is an idea we reach for, not an everyday regulation to be followed in detail. It rightly calls on us to strive for our highest goals. For a code of religious practice should set its sights higher than those social regulations associated with administering a secular group, which must focus on the least common denominator of acceptable custom. And this means a continual reaching, not just for the better, but for the best.