Pushka Power

As is our custom, we will gather at 5.45p tonight to welcome Shabbat. Here are the coordinates:

Zoom link
Meeting ID: 963 5113 1550
Password: 1989
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

And if you want to unsubscribe from this weekly email, there's a link at the bottom of the page.


Now, about that pushka...

Once upon a time, it seemed to me that every Jewish home in Brooklyn had a blue, metal pushka from the Jewish National Fund. The pushka (Yiddish for tzedakah box) was, for me, always the first ritual to mark Shabbat, the giving of tzedakah. Before the candles are lit. Before the first niggun is sung. Before the first prayer is said, many families start their Shabbat observance with putting their pocket change into a pushka. That’s what my family did.

We all know that tzedakah is important because during the High Holy days we repeat and repeat that tzedakah, tefillah (prayer), and teshuvah (repentance) are the three things we can do to temper G-d’s harsh decree. And I’m sure we’ve all heard, many times over, that the word charity is but a very narrow definition of the word tzedakah. The Hebrew root of tzedakah is the same as that for justice and righteousness and that adds something important to our understanding of the word for it isn’t so much as we are giving charity to someone or some organization as we are seeing that justice is done.

Tzedakah is an intense topic that has accumulated a tremendous number of opinions across every dimension of who, what, where, when, why and especially how. But, basically, it’s very simple: Just do it.

What can all those pennies do? From Wikipedia: The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine (later the British Mandate for Palestine, and subsequently Israel and the Palestinian territories) for Jewish settlement. By 2007, it owned 13% of the total land in Israel. Since its inception, the JNF says it has planted over 240 million trees in Israel. It has also built 180 dams and reservoirs, developed 250,000 acres of land and established more than 1,000 parks. That’s what all that pocket change has done.

That venerable tin JNF box is on its way to be eclipsed just like everything else, by a phone app. I recently came across an app called Tzedek Box. Tzedek Box matches one’s abilities and interests to Tzedakah opportunities. Since installing Tzedek Box, I’ve written to my Senators supporting the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, my Representatives urging passage of legislation to cut methane emissions, and I was told to consider running for the local school board to help ensure it isn’t turned into a hot dysfunctional mess. There’s a lot more to Tzedek Box and I encourage you to take a look. It isn’t a gimmick.

I am so proud of our synagogue. It is a constant reminder to me about the importance of tzedakah. CSS, through its constant and unwavering support of social justice, spurs my personal performance of tedakah. Our congregation pulls together to feed the homeless on our streets and help the refugees in our midst. Our programs are opportunities for us to broaden our minds, soften our hearts, and strengthen our resolve to tirelessly pursue justice for all. I’m proud to pull an oar to propel our little boat in that direction.

All my love,
brian.