Home  Jewish Topics Rosh Hashana and Tsedaka
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Rosh Hashana and Tsedaka |
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Written by Shabnam Besimanto
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I locked myself out of my apartment today. Thanks to my lucky stars, I still had on me the common day life supports- my cell phone, keys to the car, a credit card. Another token of incidental luck was that I had decided to have roommates. I was therefore saving myself from future bouts of absentmindedness. Somehow, I still felt naked. Standing, waiting, pacing and 4 ½ hours later someone rescued me, the distressed damsel. This somewhat insignificant experience somehow got my ticker going. I recalled reading an LA Times article about a survey which rated California as the 'meanest state to the homeless'. Far from being able to fathom a mere moment's time in their shoes, those few hours without a home elicited a naked awareness in me as if I was a little turtle without a shell scurrying around for cover and security. So while I was passing time just waiting, I pondered the possibility of the homeless of California being so unlucky that not only are they squandering away without shelter in filth, poverty, and shame but to top it all off their would-be benefactors have an ice in their stare, a curl on their lip and are likened to such dark side forces as Darth Vader and Cruella Deville.
I highly doubt that an intentional statewide effort is made to avert one's eyes and to overlook any person behind an outstretched filth-ridden hand. However, it is possible that despite a good intention this situation may arise more often than not. Focusing on our own Jewish roots, we are told that the desire to help the unfortunate is deeply seeded us. It is part of our nature being that we are direct descendants of Abraham, our forefather who embodied the virtue of giving and kindness. Yet our desire to help others has to compete with a busy, short on time, short on resources, too many other things high on our lists, on-the-go lifestyle. Generally, we resolve the competing conflict by donating to synagogues and agencies for the needy which works out great because it doesn't take too much time out of our schedules. And in reality, nobody actually expects to go out and rescue the life of someone on the street by spending their lunch hour sitting with them and solving their problems. The homeless' most prevalent issues being: mental illness, chronic illnesses, and drug abuse. Listen if you can solve those kinds of problems on your lunch breaks, I have some problems of my own that I could use some help with.
What is interesting though is that the Torah knows the Jewish soul so well that it anticipates and counsels us so we don't become Cruella Devilles. In Parashah Re'eh a verse states, "Should there be amongst you a pauper... do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your needy brother." Something should jump out at you right away. The verse does not demand that we open our hands to the poor. It only states that we should not shut our hands. According to the Sages, the significance of this verse is that a Jew does not have to be told to give tzedeka. A Jew has a special sensitivity towards giving charity. It is an innate and natural desire to open our hands, to open our hearts and to give to the unfortunate. Therefore, this verse speaks to our occasional inclination to close our eyes and overlook the needs of others. This inclination is the yester harah and it can and does get the best of us, often times devising the best conceivable justifications to deter us from giving to a person in need.
Chartering the rest of the Jewish charity laws, we realize that tzedeka is everyone's obligation: rich, poor, or starving student. Take the average 'starving' in-debt student. Their benefactors, Uncle Sam or mom and dad, bestow upon them the dimes that they live by. Since they are at the mercy of their dependants, one may think that they really would not be performing such a great deed by giving money to charity because it was not even earned from their own hard work and sweat. To the contrary, it is a very noble self-less act to donate since the money could have easily been used towards their own worthy cause, i.e. the shoes on sale at Bloomingdales.
As for the under-aged whose argument is 'Hey, if I'm not entitled to gamble with the money that I have, who says that I should be trusted to give it away. That's for the big leaguers, the high-rollers with the bling-bling.' No problem, in Judaism there is something for everyone. There are actually many more ways to give of yourself from yourself. Tzedaka for the needy can take on many forms depending on whose needs are in question. There is material poverty yet there is also spiritual poverty and emotional poverty. Many are in need of guidance; in need of a friend; need a place to stay for Shabbat; need words of wisdom. The challenge of tzedaka is anticipating what it is that your fellow being is in need of and giving that from yourself. An act of donating your time, your skills, and your encouragement to someone in need of it or to help another person better himself all qualifies as acts of tzedaka.
Hand in hand with tzedaka is Hesed (a.k.a. loving-kindness, a.k.a. TLC). It is contingent upon us as Jews to spread Hesed not just 10% but around the clock, 100% of the time. Not just to those in need, but to everyone. Even when we have nothing else to offer someone on our busy way to wherever it is we are going, a smile, a greeting, and an acknowledgement is a small deed, but it is a tall order. Sometimes it can do even do more for the person on the street than handfuls of coin-drops. And thankfully, nobody has ever depreciated in self-worth by giving a sense of worthiness to others.
We are now in the month of Elul before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, which is considered a time of growth and which can set the tone for the coming year in our lives. We are instructed to give even more tzedaka, to spread even more hesed, and to do even more mitzvahs than we did throughout the year. Rambam puts a special emphasis on giving tzedeka. This is because when Hashem sees that we have pity on others who are in need, He will have mercy on us and inscribe us for a good year in the book of life despite our shortcomings during the year. Starting this month let us all be sensitive not to harden our hearts to a person in need, may we be perceptive to what our fellow beings lack and give of ourselves to help them, and may we spread good will to all who come our way. Additionally, may we all merit to have a year filled with blessings of health, true happiness and success in our endeavors for goodness.
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Comments
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Nice article. A friend of mine has a small tzedaka can next to his bed and put in a penny, nickel, or quarter first thing in the morning (after mode ani). He's been doing it for 2 years. He's already given a little to the world by 6:30am....
Posted by ZZZ, on Monday, 10 December 2007 at 11:55
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