YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Family and Society
- Financial Laws and Tzedaka
In my synagogue there are "collectors" who appear daily at the prayer services to collect charity. Some of these people are clearly collecting money for themselves and their families. Others may be collecting for charity funds that they maintain and distribute to the needy. Usually the amount given to these people is a small coin - a half shekel or a full shekel. But the personal interaction between the giver and the taker makes for a meaningful experience, at least to me. Giving a greater amount to an institution no matter how worthy and no matter how large the check remains essentially an impersonal experience. One has accomplished a great mitzvah through this donation but its impersonal nature often leaves the giver with a feeling of incompleteness.
Having been a fund raiser all of my professional life - for after all this is always part of the duties of being a communal rabbi - I long ago learned that people really give money to other people. Mailings, drives, phone calls (usually annoying ones at odd times of the day) and other usual methods of fundraising all have a place in our current world of charitable giving. But they are never as successful or meaningful as personal visits and contacts.
The Talmud records for us that Rabbi Akiva was "the hand of the poor." He stretched his hand forward to receive funds to distribute to the poor. People gave to Rabbi Akiva, to his hand, knowing that he represented the poor but also knowing that they had the privilege to give to a great person - Rabbi Akiva. The most successful fundraisers I have known are people who really and truly care about the donor and his or her welfare as much as they do about the cause or recipient that will eventually benefit from the donation. It is the personal relationship that seals the deal because as I mentioned above people give to people.
I knew a great man who for decades was the executive vice president and leading fundraiser for one of the great institutions of Torah learning in the United States. He later moved to Israel and became a fundraiser for an Israeli educational institution. When he made his annual fundraising trip to the United States he visited all of his old clients. Everyone gave him their usual donation to his new cause, not because they were particularly enamored of this institution but rather because they were giving him their donation. He was their friend and therefore their giving was motivated by that personal relationship between them.
Basically we live in a world that is becoming more and more impersonal in many ways. The internet and e-mail has become the favored method of communication between people. There is nothing more impersonal than this type of communication. And the more impersonal communication is between people the less likely charitable giving will increase relative to the improving economy and standards of living here in Israel.
Charitable giving has to be made a value in our society. Education and home practices can advance it. So can personal connections and empathy between all of the classes in our society. For we are taught that "charity can save one from death" - both for the giver and the taker.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
