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Religious School Tzedakah Donations Reflect Students’ Values

05/18/2021 08:24:47 PM

May18

by Aviva Kinsey, one of the Religious School madrichim (teaching assistants)

This period of uncertainty and isolation has been challenging, but it has also highlighted my personal privilege. I’ve been safe from COVID-19 because I’ve been able to stay at home. I have food on the table every night, an amazing education, and an even better support system.

However, many of us don’t have those privileges. Many individuals have not had the privilege of staying at home and have been forced to go into work in order to make a living. This pandemic is beyond ourselves as it is affecting every single human worldwide. We must come together to consider those that have less than us. It is important to acknowledge our own privilege in order to be grateful for what we do have but also to realize that we must share our resources with others. Overall, I hope that tzedakah can be an acknowledgment of our own privileges but also a reminder that we are responsible to help those that have less than us.

Tzedakah is not just a financial transaction; it is based around the Jewish ideals of justice and righteousness. Tzedakah encourages developing relationships and trust and recognizes that the act of giving includes effort, time, and insight. Generosity and giving are central to the Jewish religion and are also requirements for every single Jew. Performing deeds of justice may be the most important part of Judaism. Even in this virtual world, it is extremely important that we continue to uphold the Jewish principle of tzedakah.

Earlier this year, the K–3 madrichim group and the 4–7 group met and discussed nonprofit organizations that were important to them. Some people shared organizations that they had worked with, and some shared ones that helped fight issues that we care about. After we narrowed the organizations down, we created a presentation about the organizations.

Our homes have now become our offices, our gyms, and our synagogue, so we decided to have families continually collect tzedakah at home before turning it in at Temple. We also encouraged teachers to remind families, as many of us are forgetful when it comes to donating. We were very excited that we could incorporate tzedakah into this nontraditional year and bring some normalcy and tradition to religious school.

The K–3 group chose five incredible organizations. The first one was the Humane Society. Not only do they take in stray animals, but they also educate our Madison community and help match their animals to local families. The second organization they chose was the Second Harvest Foodbank. Second Harvest is a hunger-relief charity in southern Wisconsin that helps fight food insecurity by providing vulnerable families with food. The third organization is the local organization Porchlight, which helps fight homelessness in Dane County. Porchlight provides shelter, affordable housing, and other resources to homeless men throughout Dane County. The fourth selected organization was the Arava Institute. It is an environmental studies and research institute based in Israel that focuses on bettering the environment. It is also geared to uniting different Middle Eastern countries in order to best address climate change and other climate-related issues in the Middle East. The fifth and final organization was the Clean Lakes Alliance. This nonprofit is dedicated to improving and protecting the lakes, streams, and wetlands in the Yahara River watershed.

The 4–7 group decided on four amazing organizations. The first organization we chose was the Equal Justice Initiative. We were all very passionate about ending mass incarceration and fighting against systemic racism in jails. We then chose Second Harvest Foodbank as it is more of a local organization. There are current volunteering opportunities at Second Harvest, and we wanted to choose an organization that works right in our Madison community. We also chose The Road Home because Temple Beth El has been involved with it for many years. Many of us have seen the amazing work The Road Home does and the amazing partnership Temple has created with the organization. Finally, we chose Nurturing Minds. It is an organization that I have been involved with for three years now. It supports an all-girls school in Tanzania that empowers and educates girls that have never been able to dream. They gain entrepreneurial skills and real-life experience so that they can go home and better their communities.

It was an absolute pleasure working on the tzedakah project this year. Not only are these amazing organizations, but the act of giving also helped me slow down and realize how extremely fortunate and grateful I am. Hopefully this article was a good reminder to acknowledge your own privilege and to uphold the Jewish principle of giving.

April 19, 2024 11 Nisan 5784