Category: Tzedakah

Multiplying Goodness

Image: Hands touching. Photo by Andreas/Pixabay.

.מצווה גוררת מצווה; עברה גוררת עברה

A sacred duty leads to another sacred duty; a sin leads to another sin. – Avot 4:2

I had a great workout this morning; I felt good. I called my friend Jake, who is laid up, and asked him if he needed anything. He said he needed some fruit, but he didn’t want to be any trouble. “No trouble!” I said, and got some apples and oranges. When I got to his house, his wife Susan was out front. They know my knees are creaky, too, and she didn’t want me to have to climb the stairs. I gave her the fruit, gave her a hug, sent my love to Jake, and came home happy, all fired up for work.

I tell you this little story because it’s a very important one right now. As the sages tell us, “Mitzvah goreret mitzvah” – a good deed leads to another good deed. When we do a mitzvah (care for our bodies) we are energized to do another mitzvah (visit the sick). The second mitzvah leads to another (I’m now energized for work, which is teaching, another mitzvah.) So goodness multiplies in the world, all beginning with one mitzvah.

Does it always work? Yes, although we have to be open to the possibilities. Let’s say I woke up this morning feeling so bad that a workout wasn’t possible (it happens.) So then I should ask myself, OK, what mitzvah am I up for? Let’s say I feel really bad that day; super creaky with arthritis and pain. I can still pray, and that’s a mitzvah. When I pray, maybe it opens my heart. I have a beautiful idea for a blog post, or a lesson, or I remember I need to call Jake to ask how he’s doing. One mitzvah leads to another, and they carry me out of myself, out of the body that is too creaky to feel anything but pain.

I call this way of living, “Living on the Mitzvah Plan,” and I’ve written about it before. I’m writing about it today because the secret power of many mitzvot is that they carry us out of ourselves, either by connecting us to the Divine or by connecting us to another human being (who is made in the image of the Divine!)

Now we are living in a difficult time. Things on the news are deeply upsetting to some of us. It would be easy to fall into averot [sins]: calling people names, living without care for our bodies, neglecting people who need us, being mean to people and animals. The more averot we do, the worse we feel, and we do more and more of them! The whole world will fill with pain and sadness.

Want to feel better? Do a mitzvah!

If you are having trouble thinking of a mitzvah to do, try this one:

I wrote before about the women of Steps to Success. Their fundraiser only runs to the 31st of January. If you use this link to make even a small donation, it will be a great mitzvah (even according to Maimonides!) and it will make life much better for a person who is currently living a very hard life. It will help her lift herself and her children to independence. You will help to transform life for not only a woman in need, but for the generations after her!

And there will be another, more immediate mitzvah: I would like to give all donors an hour of study via Skype or in person. Mitzvah goreret mitzvah: one sacred duty leads to another.

Who knows where the goodness will lead?

My thanks to Paul and Serach, to Linda, and to Helen, all of whom have contributed to Steps to Success!  Paul and Serach, I do not have your contact information. Please use the contact form on the right hand part of your screen to get in touch with me – I want to thank you!

 

Lyrics & translation.

 

CA Manicurists Transform Lives

Image: Delane Sims at work. (Photo courtesy of Ms. Sims, all rights reserved to her.)

Maimonides taught that the highest form of giving, of tzedakah, is to assist a person in becoming independent, so that they will not need charity. That might take the form of an interest-free loan for a business, or money for tuition, or a partnership in business.

There’s a program here in California that personifies Maimonides’ teaching. Steps to Success is transforming the lives of single mothers on welfare, helping them move off welfare and into employment and entrepreneurship. This transforms not only their lives but their children’s lives and the life of their communities.

The back story, as told by founder Delane Sims to the San Jose Mercury News:

“My husband was a veteran, an engineer, and we were looking at being a solid, middle-class family,” she said, sitting atop a luxurious red-leather bench in one of the salon’s treatment rooms. “Literally overnight I was plunged into being a single mom in poverty when my first husband suddenly became addicted to drugs. I felt like a turtle in the ocean with all my babies on my back. I had to find a way to survive for them. So I promised myself, if I make it through this period in my life and ever had my own business, I would do something for single mothers who are struggling.”

Fast forward to today: Delane is now the co-owner of Delane’s Natural Nail Care, a salon that provides manicures and pedicures that meet medical standards of care. The women who work at Delane’s are all on their way up: they are single moms whom Delane has mentored through cosmetology school and into a unique paid internship in her shop. They make a living wage while they learn how to run a business, how to balance parenthood and career, how to deal with the public, and things as basic as how to balance a checkbook. They benefit from networks of resources and relationships that Delane has built over the last 25 years.

As proof of this pudding, meet Myeshia Jefferson, who is co-owner of Delane’s Natural Nail Care. Myeshia is herself a graduate of Steps to Success, the single mother of a 5 year old boy. One of the great beauties of this program is that the women who rise through it become mentors for the next generation of success stories. Other Steps to Success grads have their own businesses in a variety of fields.

So now I invite you to participate with me in building Steps to Success. They have just launched a year-long effort to put the program on a firmer financial footing. Their initial very modest goal is to find 300 people who will contribute $35.  The campaign page will tell you more about specifically how they will use your funds to lift up Steps to Success to serve more women. 

Remember, this is the highest form of tzedakah, of charitable giving! You are making it possible for women with so much going against them to beat the odds and break out of generational poverty. 

Another form of support, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area: contact Delane’s and make an appointment for a manicure or pedicure. Meet Delane and Myeshia, meet their employees, and get the safest, healthiest manicure available. (I originally met Delane when I went for a pedicure, to check them out for a diabetic friend.)

Some ways to learn more about Steps to Success:

Recent article in the San Jose Mercury News

Interview on KGO Radio with Brian Copeland

Story from KTVU TV

“Holiness in the Nail Parlor” (on this blog)

Want to make my day? Contribute to Steps to Success via my fundraising page. Anyone who contributes $35 or more to their campaign by the end of January 2017 through that page will receive an hour of study with me via Skype. Your choice of text or topic!

 

 

What Do We Owe the Poor? Re’eh

Image: A woman huddles on a sidewalk, her belongings in a cart. Photo via pixabay.com.

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (Deuteronomy 15:11)

With this statement, Parashat Re’eh explodes the fantasy that someday there will be no poor people. The passage begins with the rules for shmittah, the Sabbatical year, but this verse carries it far beyond. With a stark economic fact— There will always be poor people in the land—and the follow-up, which could be paraphrased, “And you have responsibilities to them,” the Written Torah undergirds the huge body of Oral Torah addressing tzedakah and economic justice.

When Maimonides set out to make a systematic study of our responsibilities to the poor in the Mishnah Torah, he looked to this passage and commentary on it, as well as the commandments and commentary for tithes and the corners of the field. As a collection of verses from the Torah, it seems a motley collection of agricultural laws, tax law trivia, and the law for the Sabbatical year.

However, by Maimonides’ day Oral Torah had developed these raw materials into a well-reasoned program for the care of the poor. This public welfare program of Jewish tradition is not a “War on Poverty.” Grounded in gritty realism, it is a relatively modest program that accepts the existence of poverty without “sending messages,” “teaching lessons,” or punishing the poor for their poverty.

It accepts the idea that some people seem chronically lazy, some are chronically unlucky, some are victims of politics or circumstance, and some have temporary setbacks that require assistance. 

The tradition as Maimonides lays it out is full of surprises for the modern reader.  If someone says they are hungry, Maimonides demands that we not ask any more questions, but feed them immediately. If they ask for money for clothing, however, we are allowed to make more inquiries about the real need, because that lack is not as likely to kill them as lack of food. If a person is accustomed to riding a horse, he says, then we should supply a horse to them (a very expensive proposition – the equivalent might be a luxury car today!) The dignity of the poor is a matter of great concern to Maimonides: he is willing to stretch the community’s charity budget to avoid shaming a person who has fallen into poverty.

Indeed, all of this is rather alarming reading to have in mind when faced with a panhandler on the street today. Our circumstances have changed in many ways. However, if someone says to me, “Can I have a dollar for food?” I remember Maimonides’ teaching and either offer to buy food or hand them a grocery card that will let them buy a little food. If I have to say no, I remember his teaching and say no as kindly as possible. Above all, I make sure to support the local food bank that feeds anyone who needs it.

What do we owe the poor? We owe them the means to live, and more than that we owe them dignity, no matter our opinion of them or their actions. Jewish tradition sets a  high bar even while it acknowledges that “there will always be poor people in the land.”

Part of this d’var Torah previously appeared in the CCAR Newsletter.

YEAH! A Night of Music

Image: Ellisa Sun and her band play in my living room. Photo by Jimbo Scott.

Last night after Shabbat we hosted a house concert to raise funds for YEAH! (Youth Engagement, Advocacy, and Housing) a shelter and resource center for homeless youth in Berkeley, CA.  Their mission statement:

Our mission is to support young adults (18-25) in Berkeley who are currently homeless. We provide basic necessities, offer case management and counseling, linkages to education, employment and housing, and opportunities for meaningful community involvement.

In other words, they provide much more than a clean bed for vulnerable young people. They assist them in setting goals, building their lives, and making meaningful contributions to their communities.

Jaclyn Grant, the Executive Director of YEAH! joined us for the evening. Her pitch was low-key but her passion for this work shone through. Her clients are what is known to professionals as “Transitional Age Youth”: they are youth for whom foster care is no longer an option but who are entering young adulthood without the resources or the safety net available to young people whose families can provide guidance and support.

The small events that are a bump in the road for most young adults (making a security deposit on an apartment, for example) are full-on crises that can put these youngsters out on the street. Moving back home isn’t an option for them; there is no home to move back to.

If you’d like to help, it’s easy to donate online. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, YEAH! is looking for volunteers for many different roles: fundraisers, food preparation, food service, managing supplies, and interacting with youth.

The music was great, too. Ellisa Sun and her band played a set of jazzy, soulful music that made me forget how long my day had been. Her voice has an unearthly quality that lends itself beautifully to her songs. I never could guess quite where the music was going, but when it got there, I knew it was the only possible destination. I particularly enjoyed Angel’s Town, which you can click to hear on ReverbNation.com.

I’m not going to presume to review Jimbo Scott. I’m his mama, so of course I think his music is wonderful. If you’d like to draw your own conclusions, you can hear some of his music on his Soundcloud page.

The crowd was small but warm, the evening was cool and clear, and the music was beautiful. All in all, it was a nice night: YEAH!

I Hate to Ask! (But I need help)

A friend wrote to me recently describing being in a financial jam, the result of a stroke of bad luck:

Someone has actually offered to create a Go Fund Me for me- though I am really struggling with my comfort with the whole idea. Even though I have contributed to many of them, it feels awkward to be the one asking for help… If you have words of wisdom to help allay my discomfort at accepting help, I would gratefully accept them.

It is a lot harder to ask for help than to give it. When we give help, we are in a position of power, lending a hand to another. It doesn’t matter whether it’s money or something else: the one who HAS, has the power. The one who has to ask is admitting and feeling powerlessness.

What do I fear, when I ask for help? I fear ridicule. I fear “being a nuisance.” I fear rejection. I fear gossip about perceived reasons for my need. I fear being made other. I fear abandonment.

So yes, asking is hard. Receiving is hard.
Our tradition is aware of this, which is why we have so many boundaries on the giving of tzedakah. The idea of leaving the corners of the field for gleaners, that those corners belong to the poor, not to the owner of the field, is a way to boost the dignity of the poor. (Leviticus 19:9) In Laws of Gifts to the Poor, Maimonides makes it clear that we are to do what we can to make it easy for the person asking, because that person is already suffering. Even if we have to say no, we should still offer words of comfort and sympathy.
Here’s how I deal with it. I remind myself:
  • When I ask for help, I am giving people an opportunity for a mitzvah.
  • When I ask for help, I am giving someone an opportunity to “pay back” for help they have received.
  • When I ask for help, I am modeling the act of asking for help, and making it easier for someone else to ask.
  • When I ask for help, I am admitting that I am not God.

The truth is, if no one asked for help, it would make it hard for us to observe the mitzvot of tzedakah [charitable giving of funds] and gimilut hasidim [acts of kindness].

Someone reading this is thinking, “But what about the cheaters? What about the people who always have a hand out, asking for more?” I’ll deal with that in a future post.

Readers: How do you deal with asking for help? Is there anything that makes it easier for you to ask?

 

 

Have You Heard of ISRAaid?

Image: ISRAaid volunteers greet refugees landing on the Greek island of Lesvos. Photo by: IFTAH SAVIT/ ISRAAID

Among the many interesting speakers this past week at PARR, we heard from the Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles, David Siegel. I always enjoy the sessions with the Consul General, because not only do we hear from the current holder of that office, we also have a chance to ask questions.

In his address to us, he talked about the fact that the most desperate situation in the Middle East at this moment is Syria and “it is not going away.” Millions of people have been displaced by the complicated civil war there, and millions more are likely to be displaced in the future.

The consul talked about ways that Israelis have been involved in assisting refugeees, and alluded to volunteer opportunities for American Jews, as well. I asked him for more specifics, and here is what I learned:

One way that Israelis have been involved in providing aid to the suffering people of Syria is by staffing refugee operations in Europe through the non-profit, non-governmental organization ISRAaid. From the ISRAaid website: “our teams of professional medics, search & rescue squads, post-trauma experts and community mobilizers, have been first on the front lines of nearly every major humanitarian response in the 21st century” – and that includes the current Syrian refugee crisis.

One way to support ISRAaid is by donation. But if you are a professional (any of the professions mentioned in the paragraph above) you might also consider volunteering with them.

For information about current  ISRAaid projects, you can check out their facebook page. For a sense of what they did in the last year, here’s a video:

 

Looking for a Perfect Gift?

Maryann and I have been close friends for almost 30 years – half of my life. Her 70th birthday is coming up. Besides being the big “seven-oh” birthday, this one is particularly poignant. We nearly lost her last summer to complications of what had been expected to be routine surgery.

So this week Linda and I sent a check in honor of her and her wife to the Transgender Law Center. Maryann identifies as genderqueer, and TLC works to protect her rights. It seems appropriate to celebrate her life by supporting a cause near her heart.

Donations like this have become my go-to for birthday presents and celebrations. For many friends, there’s nothing they’d rather get than a boost for their cause. I send a donation, and the non-profit sends them a card acknowledging my gift in their name. It might be their synagogue, or the American Civil Liberties Union, or the New Israel Fund, or the NAACP.

There are some organizations I’d never send a dollar, and the same is true of many of my friends. When I request donations instead of gifts, I usually offer at least two organizations, so people have a choice. When Linda and I were married, we asked for donations in lieu of gifts, and suggested the Alameda County Community Food Bank as well as the National Center for Lesbian Rights.  I’ve suggested the St. Baldrick’s Foundation as the non-political choice in recent years. (So far, everyone has agreed that childhood cancer research is a worthy cause!) Other easy choices are the Discovery Eye Foundation or AdoptAClassroom.org.

Sometimes, of course, the perfect gift appears and it is an article of clothing or a CD. There’s a package on my dining room table at this moment waiting for a dear friend whose name came to mind as soon as I saw it. (I can’t say what, she reads the blog!)

I’m writing this, though, to suggest that in this “season of gift giving” we can choose to delight our friends by giving tzedakah in their names. I know there’s no gift I’d rather receive.

All of the organizations listed above have received a rating of three stars or better from Charity Navigator, assuring that the money is well spent.

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Today is designated as the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Jewish tradition teaches us that we were all created b’tzelem Elohim – in the image of the Holy One. We are abjured against violence to the human body so strongly that even after death, we treat dead bodies with reverence.

Transgender people deserve the same respect as every other human being, but in fact they are at grave risk of bodily harm and murder. I learned this on a visceral level years ago, when a young person who had grown up in my kitchen embarked on transition to a greater wholeness. I found I was terrified for him – terrified in my bones, because I knew what might to happen to him even on his college campus here in California.

It’s a happy story: he’s a healthy young man, pursuing his career, contributing to society. Now that he’s a thirty-something with thinning hair and a professorial air, I don’t worry about him quite as much.

But far too many transgender persons, especially transwomen of color, don’t make it to their thirties, much less beyond. Too many are murdered every year. For a sense of that, read Transgender Day of Remembrance 2015: Those We’ve Lost from The Advocate. The graphics there are not visually upsetting – no photos of bodies – but they are nonetheless shocking: too many dead.

Then DO something: join me in supporting the Transgender Law Center, a public interest law firm that has been worked hard for many small changes in US law and policy. There is much work to be done, but I have been an active supporter of TLC for over ten years and I have seen them squeeze more from a dime than any other non-profit I know.

The slaughter of transgender people is an ugly reality. Today, let’s acknowledge it by making the world better.

“The Highest Form of Jewish Giving” might be a surprise.

If you bring up the subject of tzedakah, money given for charity, many Jews will tell you two things:

1. Tzedakah is from the same Hebrew root as “justice.”  and

2. Maimonides taught a ladder of tzedakah, with making a loan as the highest form of tzedakah.

The first is true, the second is missing some bits.

1. Tzedakah is indeed from the Hebrew root associated with justice: tzadee, dalet, kuf.   The Hebrew for justice is tzedek.

2. Maimonides teaches us a hierarchy of virtue in giving tzedakah, from least to greatest:

  1. Giving begrudgingly
  2. Giving less than you should, but giving it cheerfully.
  3. Giving after being asked
  4. Giving before being asked
  5. Giving when you do not know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient knows your identity
  6. Giving when you know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient does not know your identity
  7. Giving when neither party knows the other’s identity
  8. Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant

– Adapted from Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:7-14

“Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant” is a far cry from “the highest form of charity is a loan.” Maimonides specifies, first of all, that he refers to an interest-free loan or a money gift to enable a person to start a business. Providing an interest-free loan or a gift for education or training might also qualify. The Talmud (Shabbat 63) suggests that an interest-free loan is preferable because it is more sensitive to the dignity of the recipient. However, the highest form of tzedakah, according to Maimonides, is to form a business partnership with the intended recipient, which means taking on risks and serving as an ongoing partner in the venture. It isn’t for the faint of heart, and should not be undertaken lightly. We are forbidden to give tzedakah beyond our means.

There’s a third point about tzedakah that gets less press. Maimonides teaches that when we select a recipient for a share from our limited resources, we should look first nearby and for the most in distress. “Nearness” might mean physical nearness (give to the food bank in your own county before you give to the one far away) or it might mean familial nearness, so help for the cousin who can’t make rent takes precedence over a non-relative, or an organization that will survive without our gift. (I can imagine development directors groaning at this one, but that’s what the Rambam says, folks.)

Maimonides warns, like a good investment advisor, against putting all of one’s tzedakah funds in one place: figure out how much is possible, then divide the funds between two or more recipients. So even if hapless Cousin Susie could absorb all one’s tzedakah, at least a bit should go elsewhere. Also (returning to that principle of helping people be self-sufficient) it may be best to help Cousin Susie get out of her current situation by assisting her in making terms with creditors, or moving into more affordable housing, or whatever will contribute to a long term fix.

For a more complete explanation of Maimonides on giving, I recommend this article online or the book from which it is excerpted, The Challenge of Wealth: A Jewish Perspective on Earning and Spending Money, by Dr. Meir Tamari. Dr. Tamari is both a rabbi and an economist, serving for many years as the Chief Economist of the Bank of Israel.

In an era of growing income inequality it can be overwhelming to make decisions about tzedakah. I appreciate that our forebears thought a lot about this question and left us a framework for decision making.

Don’t Forget this Purim Mitzvah!

will_work_for_food3gPurim’s coming! Don’t forget: one of the four main mitzvot of Purim is a gift to feed the poor.

In its strictest interpretation, that’s a gift to make sure that poor Jews can celebrate the holiday. You can fulfill that mitzvah, feeding Jews, by a couple of routes:

MAZON is a Jewish organization that feeds people in both North America and in Israel. They do not turn anyone away, but they are primarily focused on Jewish food insecurity.

Alternatively, you can give money to your rabbi’s discretionary fund. Every congregation has members who are living with food insecurity, usually silently. The rabbi sometimes becomes aware of these situations and the discretionary fund can help buy groceries. A rabbi’s discretionary fund is not a private slush fund for expenses. Those funds have to be spent on things that preserve the deductible status of the original gift (in the USA.)

However, we are taught by our tradition to feed ALL hungry people, not just Jews. Some other options:

  • Donate cash or goods to your local food pantry or food bank.
  • Persuade others to give to your local food bank.

This is different from the usual “tzedakah before a holiday” thing, although that’s certainly good on its own. This is a particular part of Purim observance.  Partly this makes sure all can celebrate the holiday, but also look at the calendar: this holiday comes at what can be a brutal time of year for people with food insecurity. It’s cold and wet in many locations, and has been for months. Nutrition affects people’s resistance to colds and flu. Many kinds of produce are more expensive because of the season, too.

The Hebrew name for these Purim gifts is Matanot L’Evyonim (mah-ta-NOTE l’ev-yon-EEM): Gifts to the Poor. Purim is actually the traditional Jewish gift-giving holiday: we give gifts to the poor, and food gifts to friends.

The root of tzedakah (charity) is tzedek, justice. It is unfair that so many are hungry. In my own home state of California, 15% of households – that’s over 2 million people! – are currently suffering with food insecurity. There are parents going hungry to feed their children and children going hungry because there isn’t enough to go around. This is a shanda (scandal.)

Before we put on our festive masks, let’s each choose a place to send what we can!