Looking for some
history of the word to write a
node, I came across this, which is better than any way I could put it, so I quote
Rabbi Ivan Caine
"The more common word for alms is tsedaka, which has a Hebrew root meaning "straight." The Bible word means justice or the vindication of a virtuous victim. In Hebrew and Arabic the word yields "rectitude" and is known in the form tsadeek (Yiddish TSAH-dik), a righteous person. It is likely that the word came to mean alms, also in the vocabulary of our Sages, to express the voluntary redistribution of wealth, even in a small way.
Acts of caring take many forms, and congregants should be aware of the generosity of others in the synagogue family."
The gist of Tsedaka is charity, the giving of a piece of your time to help someone else, without expecting something in return. It is one of the cornerstones of the Jewish religion.