Searching for Tzedakah

April 10, 2009

Rabbi Galia Sadan, one of four rabbis at Beit Daniel, met with me, because I have become quite curious about some of the practices and rituals that I observe during my pretty regular attendance on Shabbat mornings and in addition, I wanted to learn her reflections on some encounters over the concept of tzedakah. She is energetic and articulate with a passion for the mission of this institution. As I have mentioned, Beit Daniel is a large Reform synagogue, where in Israel, the government provides institutional support only to the Orthodox sect of Judaism. Interestingly, this congregation was originally one congregation, but split into two over some disagreements. The Daniel family provided generous financial incentives for the two groups to merge in the early 1990s.

Beit Daniel is home to about 160 bar and bat mitzvahs per year, often 3 over the course of a typical Shabbat. What I have noticed, however, is that there is little, if any, overlap in attendees, particularly among the kids. Each week the group is different. The Rabbi explained that most secular Israelis (and most are secular) are uncomfortable with the rituals and traditions of synagogue life. This is partly due to the Orthodox monopoly on formal religious life. Basically, “I can’t be religious, because I am not Orthodox.” She characterized this aversion more as ambivalence, however, expressed as “that’s (my) synagogue that I don’t belong to.” So while many families want to find ritual meaning, they are reluctant to support institutional religion. The 160 families that come to Beit Daniel for bar and bat mitzvahs are, for the most part, not members. It is part of the mission of this congregation, however, to provide this “window” into the world of ritual Jewish life for any who are willing to commit themselves 10 meetings over 2 to 3 months of preparation. This large educational program is also a source of revenue at 3000 NIS. Beit Daniel does not use this window to build the synagogue community, in contrast to many U.S. synagogues where one key element of the educational programs leading to bar and bat mitzvah is to develop a sense of Jewish community emanating from the synagogue.

At the Chapel Hill Kehillah, I have expressed my dismay that candy tossing has degraded the spirit and purpose of our bnei mitzvah rituals. Simply put, as the student finishes the ritual readings, those in attendance shower her/him with candy as a symbol of the “sweetness” of Torah and in recognition of this accomplishment. In my view the aggressive hurling of these small missiles is out of place. As I have noted, at Beit Daniel, the issue is the same, so I could not resist asking the rabbi about this. She laughed heartily and concurred that this was an issue. What started as women’s participation in the Orthodox service as soft tossing of candy from their separate space, often in balconies, has become a more egalitarian and often ferocious custom in many congregations. She admitted that one child was wounded above the eye, although he was able to complete the service! There is a beautiful, hand-painted mural at the back of the bima and every 6 or 8 months, the artist must come to touch it up because of pockmarks from candy. She then started to brainstorm about other ways—perhaps mechanical-- that the sweetness of the occasion could be conveyed. Rabbis of the world, please figure out a way to divert this misplaced energy.

Rabbi Galia is the first Israeli spiritual leader with whom I have had the opportunity to explore questions related to tzedakah. For many secular Israelis, this seminal multi-faceted concept of justice/charity from the Torah does not inform their views of giving and I have been perplexed by this. Rather, the concepts of “social investment” or “philanthropy,” important in their own right to be sure, seem to have supplanted this foundational Jewish value in conversations about giving. She provided two illuminating thoughts. First, she emphasized that among the Orthodox community, the commandment or mitzvah to practice tzedakah is strong. She gave as an example, Yad Sarah, the organization, started by ultra-Orthodox Jews 30 years ago, that has become a leader in the provision of medical equipment and assistance for Israelis—Jews and non-Jews--all stemming from the belief that Jews have an obligation to help those in need. Second, two historical and socio-economic forces are at playthat affect the use of the concept of tzedakah. While economically thriving overall, many Israelis are “counting their shekels” and still feel stressed by the demands of this society—growing economic disparity, ongoing defense and security concerns. They do not perceive themselves as having the ability to practice tzedakah, although she is quick to acknowledge that all Jews have this obligation, that even the poor person should not be deprived of the opportunity to make gifts of tzedakah. The other force is more historical and sociological. Many of those who came to Palestine and later the State of Israel, did so to build a new Jewish culture, throwing away many traditions and rejecting the constraints of halacha (Jewish law), including the idea of the commandment to practice the mitzvah of tzedakah. As a result, there is a generation or two of Israelis who have no historical and cultural memory of this core Jewish mitzvah and practice.