Mitzvot, Tzedakah and Jewish Activism with Kids
He who gives to the poor will not be in want,
But he who shuts his eyes will be roundly cursed. (Proverbs 28:27)
Tzedakah is an essential Jewish value, and giving is an important part of what young children are learning to do. “Tzedakah” is often translated as “charity,” but the value of tzedakah goes well beyond donating money. Tzedakah actually means "righteousness." When we teach our children the mitzvah of tzedakah, we are teaching them that as Jews we are commanded to care for each other – Jews and non-Jews – and to take our place in the repair of the world.
Jewish early childhood programs are uniquely situated to introduce the concept of tzedakah, from the weekly “penny in the pushke— tzedakah box” coin collection at circle time on Fridays, to classroom collections of clothing or food cans, to mishloah manot (Purim goodies) sent to the elderly on Purim. But there is so much more that parents can do at home to help children become Jewish activists, taking care of the world they live in and the people with whom they share it.
A first step is to have a tzedakah box at home. Anything will do: a beautiful handcrafted work of art, a cardboard box your child decorated at school. Even the youngest toddlers can get in on the action. Putting a coin through a small slot (when supervised) is an amazing fine motor activity. It also lays a foundation of association: coins go in this box. When your tzedakah box is full, decide as a family where the money should go. As children grow, they will begin to understand what the coins in the box are for. Last summer, I walked in the Avon 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. My daughter, who was four at the time, decided to take all the money from the tzedakah box she had made and contribute it to my walk. She donated over $40. (I’m walking again this summer. Go to avonwalk.org and you can find my page under Chicago participants.)
Find ways to make giving tzedakah a habit. I’ve always known that one is supposed to drop some coins in the pushke (tzedakah box) before lighting candles for Shabbat. I would often remember about this mitzvah right after the candles were lit. Then a friend gave me a small ceramic dish that carries the message “Laugh often, Love much, Live well” – the perfect sentiment to go along with giving tzedakah. I put the dish on the buffet next to the Shabbat candlesticks and the tzedakah box my daughter made at preschool. During the week, we throw spare change into the dish, so that when we come together to light Shabbat candles, everything is there, all ready for giving tzedakah first. And of course, after my children have transferred the coins to our many tzedakah boxes, we read the message in the empty dish together, and we’re reminded on how best to proceed into the coming week.
There are so many ways that your family can do the mitzvah of tzedakah beyond putting coins in a box. When you go to the grocery store, buy an extra can of food or an extra tube of toothpaste to donate to a food pantry. As a family, deliver boxes of food for Pesah. Visit patients in a nursing home. Bake a meal and bring it to a family that just had a new baby. Buy school supplies and send them with someone who is going to Israel for Ethiopian immigrants.
How many ten dollar craft kits or Thomas puzzles does your child really need? Birthday parties are a wonderful time for children to learn how they can help take care of the world. Instead of presents, ask friends to bring an item for tzedakah: books, food, stuffed animals, hats and gloves, toiletries, and so on. Be sure to do your homework beforehand. Confirm that you have a place to which you can bring the requested items, someplace your child can participate in the delivery. Be aware that if you collect items for a homeless shelter, you will be able to bring the items and maybe see parts of the shelter, but most likely your child will not get to meet the intended recipients. When your child gets birthday presents from parents and grandparents (and maybe the closest friends and relatives), he or she will not miss the presents from friends at the birthday party (especially if tzedakah instead of presents has been the tradition from the very first birthday party at age two or three).
Even the youngest children can learn that it is their job to help make the world a better place. It is our job to empower our children to change their world. Children who develop the tzedakah habit while they are very young will forever be committed to the Jewish way of giving and caring.
Book Suggestions - Children:
- The Very Best Place for a Penny by Dina Rosenfeld. Cute tale of a penny in a drawer contemplating the very best place for himself.
- Just Rewards by Steve Sanfield. Another interpretation of good deeds receiving just rewards while wrongdoings are punished.
- Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. Sometimes being too proud of outside beauty can blind a fish, or a child (or even, heaven forbid, a parent) to the beauty people hold inside.
- What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street by Elsa Okon Rael. Zeesie is excited to attend her first "package party" with her parents; it's a fund-raising party. Families and friends who emigrated from the same village abroad organize to bring new immigrants to America. But then there's a quiet moment, a secret, too.
Book Recommendations - Adults:
- Creating Angels: Stories of Tzedakah by Barbara Goldin. Twenty-four rich and varied stories about tzedakah in this inspiring volume.
- 40 Things You Can Do to Save the Jewish People by Joel Lurie Grishaver. Joel's Second Law: The best way of making a child fulfill Jewish obligations is by preempting the need to talk about it – to establish so clear an expectation that it isn't even worth bringing up.
