By Jake Donnelly, JNS
If you are somebody who correctly feels a sense of honor and duty when you engage in tzedakah, ask yourself: “Is my money being used for good?”
Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason, especially when it comes to Jews. Yes, Jews are disproportionately doctors and lawyers. Yes, Jews are disproportionally some of the movers and shakers in both media and politics. That is what you get when you have a religion and a culture that emphasizes study, education and personal responsibility. But when it comes to one of the oldest Jewish stereotypes, that Jews are good with money, that no longer appears to be the case.
How else do you explain the broken system that is Jewish philanthropy? Every Jew and even many non-Jews are familiar with the practice of tzedakah. Most erroneously translate this as merely “charity.” But tzedakah is more than that; it is charity or giving, but charity and giving in a righteous manner. That is why it’s even incumbent on the poor to give tzedakah. It is an act of righteousness, a mitzvah, a commandment to give money righteously.
Unfortunately, the money that most Jews give is so far from righteous that it borders on malicious. If you are somebody who correctly feels a sense of honor and duty when you engage in tzedakah, ask yourself the simplest of questions, “Is my money being used for good?” Not, “Am I giving my money to good people?” but rather, “Are the good people I’m giving my money to doing something productive with it?”
The answer is most likely, “No.”
Like many people this time of year, you may be considering what groups should receive your tzedakah dollars to help your community. But is your money helping the community? How many of you have given money over the past 10 years, and especially in the last 15 months in the hopes of fighting antisemitism? How many of you can say, “My money has helped! My money has been put to good use?”
Is your money helping at Harvard right now? Is it helping at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? University of California, Los Angeles? Columbia? Georgetown? University of Massachusetts-Amherst?
Did you give your money to a Jewish nonprofit? Was this nonprofit caught more unaware about the rise of antisemitism in the United States than Israel was of Palestinians mapping out kibbutzim for Oct. 7? Is your money going to the same organizations with the same leaders who brought us to this point in the first place?
Have these supposedly nonpartisan 501(c)(3)s spoken out vehemently against antisemitism of all kinds or just the politically expedient kind? Are these the same organizations who went to the White House and dined alongside the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) because they would rather play ball with antisemites than expose the feckless Biden administration’s unwillingness to combat antisemitism?
I know the leaders of these organizations are good people. I also know that they are burning your money. Your hard-earned money that you are hoping, nay praying, does some good to combat antisemitism.
Sorry to say, but it’s not. Why should these organizations change? Why should these leaders course correct at all? You keep giving them your money, don’t you? Why should the colleges do anything differently? You are still fluffing their endowments. You are still sending your children, friends and family members there.
We need to make Jewish philanthropy Jewish again. Give anonymously. Give in a way that is devoid of any prestige. Cut to the bottom line of “Is my money doing good, or is it going to waste?” Stop giving to prestigious universities that hate Jews and don’t want Jewish students there. Stop giving your money, time and resources to Jewish organizations that burn your money like an arsonist on payday.
Jews are stereotypically bright. We, stereotypically, tend to stay away from making the same mistakes. We learn from our past. We do so because the alternative is usually deathly dangerous. That is where we are right now. It is a deathly dangerous time for Jews, but we have the power to fight back. Israel is doing it militarily. Jews in the United States can fight back financially.
However, American Jewry is failing in that regard. We are making the same mistakes and hoping for different results. Our tzedakah goes to those who hate us or those who have proven they don’t know how to make things better. So, stop. As my wife says to me in just about everything, “Do better.” That is the light at the end of the tunnel.
We can do better. It is easy to do better. Do an audit of your favorite school or nonprofit. Has it used your money for good? If it has wasted it, give it to the people who have proven to be unapologetically pro-Jewish and pro-Israel (and pro-American).
Do anything but continue to make the same mistakes of the past. Let us embrace the stereotype and make it true once again: Jews, be better with your money. Fix the Jewish philanthropy system and start practicing real tzedakah.
