Download Zippi Gershon and Hannah Gaventa, of Tzedek `Jewish - LJY

Zippi Gershon and Hannah Gaventa, of Tzedek ‘Jewish Action for a Just World’
Charitable giving – Should you prioritise the local or global community?
Incorporating Jewish values into our everyday lives is not a foreign concept for
most of us. In fact, for the majority, it is part of our human nature to act in a
kind, fair and just way whether this is in our own homes, in the workplace or
public sphere.
The Talmud records a famous incident when our great sage Hillel was approached
by a non Jew asking to be taught the whole of the Torah whilst standing on one
leg. He responded with the statement ‘What is hateful to you do not do to your
friend.’ (Talmud, Shabbos 31a). It may sound simple enough to stand amongst
our fellow man and practice this ideal. It may be easy for us to think of others
and give charity. But giving to others may be more complicated than it seems at
first glance.
Charity, or Tzedakah, is a fundamental part of Jewish ethics and practises.
Indeed, Judaism advises that we should give 10% of our earnings to charity in
the form of ‘maaser,’ money. As responsible Jews who commit to Jewish ideals of
charitable giving, we often find ourselves having to make the choice between
giving to those we are closest to and those whom we consider to be ‘strangers’.
Talmudic sages refer to a system of giving charity whereby the priority should
first be to the poor of our families, then to the local community, then to the poor
of the city and finally to the poor of other cities and countries. Indeed, a well
known phrase is: Ani’ei ircha kodmim -the poor of your city should come first
(Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 71a).
Alongside this we place an importance of living amongst others in peace: by
visiting the non-Jewish sick with the Jewish sick and burying the non-Jewish dead
with the Jewish dead for the sake of peace (Babylonian Talmud 61a).
Furthermore, ‘For the sake of the paths of peace, or ‘Darchei Shalom’, the Rabbis
wrote that we should not limit our charitable giving to Jews alone. Rather, we
should aim to include non-Jews in our donations. Darchei Shalom contributes to
the idea that in order to achieve a more civil society, we should reach out to
others who may not be part of our local Jewish communities and who are
suffering from extreme poverty and inequality all over the world.
It is also important to remember that Judaism makes no distinction between
human beings and we should in fact have one standard for the ‘stranger’ and
citizens alike (Vayikra 24: 22). It should be considered not only an obligation, but
a joy to help all human beings, not only for the sake of peace but in accordance
with Hillel’s statement, to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated.
The question remains, ‘who do we give to and who to give to first? How do we
prioritise?’
As young Jews we know that ideologies such as Tikkun Olam (repairing the world)
are not just for the sake of ‘Tikkun (repair)’ of the world but also to avoid social
chaos and encourage social justice or ‘Tzedek (justice)’.
We at Tzedek, aim to combine Jewish values of charitable giving to others for the
sake of Darchei Shalom as well as fulfilling our obligation for Tikkun Olam. We are
a UK based charity which responds to global poverty regardless of race or
religion. We work using our Jewish values to create a just world, helping to
promote awareness of global poverty and educating the UK Jewish community
about how they can help others who are suffering around the world. The British
Jewish community can set an example to the rest of the world, showing that we
as a community care about others who are suffering, regardless of race or
religion.
To conclude, we know the well known saying that charity begins at home. We
say, yes, charity begins at home. But ‘begins’ is the key word. Once Tzedekah
has begun, we can go further and further, we do not need to stop. When we
speak of social action in the Jewish community, there is no limit to where how far
we can go to change the world.
As Anne Frank said “How wonderful it is that no one need to wait a single
moment to start improving the world”