Posts Tagged ‘tzedokoh’
Haiti – Giving tzedokoh funds to disaster relief
1. Amidst the appalling disaster and devastation of the Haiti earthquake, it is at least good to know that the reaction of so many people around the world has been “what can we do to help?”.
2. And it is also good to know that the Jewish community is not backward in coming forward. Israel had its team of medics standing by ready to join the relief efforts within hours of the news hitting the media. And Jews around the world are joining others in contributing funds to the relief campaigns.
3. The issue of using tzedokoh funds for humanitarian disaster relief is really rather simple, but I discuss it here because I have received reports of at least one person who should know better – being responsible for children’s spiritual development – talking nonsense.
4. There are two main talmudic principles involved.
5. First, the allocation of limited resources is that “the poor of your city come before the poor of other places”. That applies at all levels, so my family come first, my local community comes next, and so on outwards.
6. The rabbis record that we give to non-Jewish charities as well as to Jewish charities because of “darchei sholom” – the ways of peace – and there is considerable discussion as to what precisely this means.
7. Commonsense makes it clear that the first principle does not and could not mean “do not give a penny to another city until your city has everything it could possibly wish for”, because on that basis nobody would ever get beyond their own immediate family in giving tzedokoh. What it does mean is that in deciding how to divide whatever I am giving to charitable purposes overall, I give relatively more to those for whom I am more responsible by virtue of proximity and expectation, and less to those for whom I am less responsible.
8. As to the second principle, what is required by darchei sholom has changed in the last few decades in a number of ways. When we lived in small isolated villages in Poland, our responsibilities were limited by our knowledge. Famines in Africa were thought of, if at all, as remote events affecting people of whom we knew little or nothing. Nowadays, almost every Jew in this country sees the world news in a newspaper of some kind or on the television or hears it on the radio. Almost every Jew will at some point last week have seen the faces of people wounded by the earthquake, and most will have heard their cries.
9. Whether one sees the principle of darchei sholom as being primarily about our community’s international reputation or about our own self-respect and spiritual direction, it is simply impossible that the descendants of our father Abraham could see the faces of the injured and hear the cries of the suffering and not be moved to wish – almost to need – to be associated in some small way in the efforts to relieve their suffering.
10. And we can rest assured that when we give money to the disaster relief funds we are following the example of sensitivity set by the gedolei Torah over the years – the “Tzaddik in Our Time” Reb Aryeh Levine, for example, gave money to African famine relief: although immersed in the Old City with very limited opportunity for finding out about events in the wider world, the cries of the famine-stricken somehow found their way to his ears with the inevitable result.
11. Put another way, the application of the principles of “your city first” and “darchei sholom” has been affected by the shrinking of the world: my brother in Africa is no longer a remote concept, it is an actual face that I have seen. Individuals will make their own decisions about the allocation of their own resources. Some may prefer not to give their basic ma’aser tithes to humanitarian disasters of this kind, but to add to their ma’aser money for this purpose. Whatever each person’s individual decision, we can feel closest to our father Abraham at moments like this when we are following his lead in serving God by caring for mankind.
All Proceeds to Charity – Promise or Prayer?
1. Nowadays it is common to see the words “all proceeds to charity” or something along those lines on all kinds of advertisements, from books to concerts.
2. There are, however, a few potential ambiguities with this formula, based on the uncertainty of what is meant by “all”, what is meant by “proceeds”, what is meant by “to” and what is meant by “charity”.
3. Proceeds is generally understood in this context to mean profits, and fair enough: although in some cases the actual cost of producing whatever it is has been generously underwritten by a charitable donor, in which case the gross receipts from “customers” may go to charity, in most cases it is accepted that proceeds means proceeds net of actual expenses.
4. But what amounts to actual expenses in this context varies widely. In particular, where the person who is offering the service is paying himself or herself a salary out of the charity’s funds, “expenses” is likely to include a deduction that goes into the pocket of that person and possibly other employees of the charity.
5. Again, fair enough, one may say: people who run charities also like to eat occasionally; and where a charity requires more time and expertise than can be provided by a part-time amateur, the charity will of course need to factor into its running expenses the costs of salaries for its staff.
6. But in order to avoid halachic questions of theft from public funds and g’neivas da’as (“stealing the mind” – creating a false impression) three things are needed – transparency, accountability and proportionality.
7. As to transparency, it should be clear to donors that they are contributing towards the living expenses of the person or persons running the charity. Sometimes this will be sufficiently clear by implication: but not always – and if there is reasonable ambiguity, it should be dispelled in some appropriately express way. And if the person collecting for charity is on a commission, the amount of that commission should be made clear to the donor at the time of soliciting the donation.
8. As to accountability, charities should not just produce the accounts required by the Charity Commission: they should produce and publish their complete accounts so that people who donate even small amounts are likely to have access to the accounts. For example, if a charity has a standing advertisement in a synagogue, the annual accounts should be sent to the synagogue and it should be invited to exhibit them in the same way.
9. As to proportionality, salaries should be proportionate both to the resources of the charity and to the qualifications of the person providing the services. One sometimes suspects that people pay themselves or are paid out of charitable funds salaries at a rate that they would find it hard to command in the commercial sector.
10. Those who run charities without charging for their time, or who give all their time to charities and charge a reasonable amount for it, do an immense service both to those whom the charity benefits and to all of us who they allow to participate in it through donations. But by agreeing to run a charity one accepts a sacred trust that must not be tainted by hidden or unreasonable personal gain.
Charity in the Credit Crunch
1. This Thursday the Agudah rabbonim have called a day of prayer on account of the continuing and deepening impact of the recession. With so many local families and institutions in financial difficulty, the rabbis urge us to pray for Divine compassion.
2. At the same time, they remind us that those of us who are still blessed with jobs and sufficient incomes should be giving what we can to communal institutions and other tzedokohs.
3. The concept of the tithing of income derives from this week’s parashah; at the end of a conversation between Yaakov and Hashem (Bereishis 28:20-22). Yaakov says to Hashem, in essence, “if you are with me on my journey, give me food and clothing and bring me home safely, then I will give back one tenth of whatever you give me”.
4. A strange way to talk to God. Striking a bargain with God in this peremptory fashion is strange enough to begin with. And to promise to pay the donor for a benefit conferred by agreeing to return one tenth of the benefit is strange enough to be going on with; how should that convince the donor to give?
5. The practice of tithing is a recognition that everything belongs to and comes from God. If we recognise the Divine origin of everything we have, we can turn to God with confidence and trust, and ask Him to continue His blessings; by promising to use them for good (a concept which includes, but is not limited to, setting a part aside for others) we are trying to make ourselves fitting recipients.
6. In hard times when we are confronted by financial difficulties on all sides it is that much easier not to take our material blessings for granted; if realising our blessings encourages us to give increasingly generously to various causes, encouraged by the increased importance and potential impact of a small amount of money in troubled times, we can see why the rabbis have always stressed that the perfect Messianic world is more likely to emerge out of troubled times – nothing is more likely to lead to it than an enhanced sense of our responsibilities to each other and the importance of sharing our blessings.
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