“I am not here solely to talk about our tradition,” said Rabbi Jacob Herber at the Tikkun Ha-Ir of Milwaukee’s Sunday morning Brunch-N-Learn on Sunday, March 13.
“I know all too well what many, too many, live with everyday,” said Herber, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel.
“I remember what it feels like to go to bed as a young child feeling like my stomach wasn’t quite full enough with food…. I remember the profound feeling of shame going to school with shoes that had holes in the soles.”
Herber spoke to a group of some 40 people at the session, which was entitled “‘Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof’ (‘Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue,’ Deuteronomy 16:20): The Jewish Stake in Ending Poverty.” He spoke about local poverty and the traditional Jewish response.
Sharing memories of his childhood, Herber said that he grew up poor in a racially mixed neighborhood. His mother was a dialysis patient and his parents divorced while Herber was still a young child.
“I know what it means to be poor and I also know what it means to have people around my family to support us,” he said, “I feel very fortunate and blessed because I feel I have prospered. That never would’ve happened if it were not for the policies of the federal government and what my community did to help my family.”
In dissecting the role Jews should play in aiding the impoverished through tzedakah, Herber first defined the word.
“If you take tzedakah to mean ‘charity,’ then you’ve missed the point,” he said, explaining that tzedakah has roots in the word tzedek, which translates to mean justice.
“Is it just?” asks Herber about the presence of poverty in the world, “No. It needs to be repaired.”
Herber explained that the Jewish view of wealth differs greatly from the ideals of many other religions and pools of thought.
Unlike socialism and communism, Judaism doesn’t “degrade wealth,” he said, “We don’t look at money and wealth as the enemy.”
Rachel Foreman, Tikkun Ha-Ir board member, agreed. “There’s really no particular value [in Judaism] to being poor,” whereas the same is not true in other religions.
Moreover, Judaism’s highest form of tzedakah is, as Maimonides wrote, “providing [the needy] with a gift or a loan, or by entering into a partnership with [them], or by helping [them] find work,” Herber explained.
In other words, it’s all about self-sufficiency and dignity. “Loaning to a person preserves their dignity,” said Gigi Pomerantz, THI vice president.
Participants were also urged to take action. Pomerantz spoke about many specific programs and organizations that provide aid. Pre-written letters were distributed in support of Governor Doyle’s School Breakfast budget proposal, which would increase the state’s supplemental school breakfast reimbursement from 10 to 15 cents.
Participants agreed that it’s essential to get youth involved in the fight against poverty. To that end, THI hopes to organize a Teen Day of Social Action, based on the success of the January Teen Day of Discovery.
While gathered in smaller groups, participants mulled several issues, including the question of whether Jews should give solely to other Jews or if tzedakah extends to people of other faiths.
“Because we were persecuted for so many years, if we see a person in need, Jew or non-Jew, we still need to help that person,” said participant Suzy Peltz, “Just because we’re Jews, we should be helping everybody.”
Herber agreed with these ideas and proposed his solution, “It is high time the Jewish community has a communal organization in place that not only helps Jews but non-Jews as well,” he said, “That is how we implement the words ‘Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof’ (‘Justice, Justice, You Shall Pursue’).”
MORE STORIES
Loading ...