Shabbat Forshpeis
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
PARSHAT HAYEI SARAH
THE ETHICS OF TAKING TZEDAKAH
NOVEMBER 1-2, 2002 / 27 HESHVAN 5763
Jewish organizations rely heavily on individual donors.
Often, however, ethical dilemmas arise when dealing
with some contributors.
For some beneficiaries these ethical struggles are irrelevant. After all, many agencies are so strapped for resources that they must raise massive amounts of money to survive. In some circles, the attitude seems to be, Take the money; never mind where it comes from.
It shouldnt be this way. Charities should be more selective about their financial sources. While donors perform a mitzvah in giving, recipients play no less a role in the mitzvah by providing the opportunity to give. In Jewish tradition it is an honor to give. Hence, recipients have a right, as well as the obligation, to develop criteria for donors.
Donations--large or small--should come from ethical endeavors only. This idea accords with an age old tradition recorded in the Talmud. The obligation for the lulav ritual (the commandment to take lulav and etrog on Sukkot) cannot be fulfilled with a stolen lulav.
A more difficult policy to implement is the idea that even money earned ethically should be rejected if given by someone who lives contrary to Jewish values. This principle raises the question of who, for the purpose of receiving tzedakah, falls into this category? Where is the line to be drawn? Spousal abuse? Intermarriage? Eating on Yom Kippur? Violating the Sabbath? Tax evasion?
I believe the litmus test should be the way in which potential donors conduct their relations with others. We should leave it to God to decide who is sinning against Him. But in the area of interpersonal relationships, we must take a stand and say that we will not be party to the mistreatment of others.
This point is illustrated in this weeks portion Hayei Sarah. Commentators ask why Abraham the Patriarch preferred a wife from his birthplace for his son Isaac rather than a woman from Canaan. After all, both were places of idolatry, and Abraham and Isaac were living in Canaan.
Rabbeinu Nissim answers that in Canaan, people mistreated each other. In Abrahams birthplace, they may have sinned against God, but there was respect and love between people.
In other words, explains the great biblical scholar Nechama Leibovitz, "it was the not the ideas and beliefs of the family of the girl destined to be the mother of the nation that were apt to endanger the whole nation, but the evil deeds." Organizations must likewise avoid the endangering influence of contributors who harm other people.
Those who donate must be given credit and honor; they play a critical role in the Jewish community. But we must remember that giving is a privilege, and the recipient of tzedakah also bestows an honor. There is after all, an ethic of taking.
Rabbi Avi Weiss
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