Tzedakah
This week at the Tehillah Hebrew School, we had a conversation about Tzedakah. The root meaning of the word Tzedekah is Justice and so Tzedekah does not mean charity, it means economic justice. We are also taught that the highest form of Tzedakah is when the giver and the receiver are unknown to one another.
The children heard the story Bagels from Benny by Aubrey Davis. In the story, a poor man receives food every week from an unknown source. The food gives him enough strength to be able to find a job and no longer need the mysterious bagels that he finds in the ark of the local synagogue. We do not have an ark filled with fresh bagels, but we do have the community fridges and 254th Streets regularly stocked with contributions of fresh food from the neighborhood.
Food is the engine that keeps us going. Whether you put food directly into the fridges, buy food at the Sunday Market to go to the Friendly Fridge at 242nd Street, or donate to one of the many food organizations listed at the end of our weekly email, providing food for people who are hungry has the capacity to change lives. Please do your part in whatever way you feel most comfortable.
Thank you all.