“Only to do justice, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:9

"Don't stand idle while your neighbor bleeds." Leviticus 19.   With this verse as a guide, our people have been motivated to take strong stands and to make the world a better place. These ancient words have given me the inspiration to travel to Bangladesh. The Rohingya people have been persecuted for centuries, and have set up the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. In March of 2018  with Drs. Saud and Yusra Anwar my wife Mindy and I visited the camps. We met people and witnessed a terrible situation.  We should never stand still in the face of our neighbor's pain.  - Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman

 
"She extends her hands to the poor."    Proverbs 31:20   When it comes to dealing with the poor, we get it wrong so often. Even the wording we use is misleading. We use words like, "giving," "charity" and "philanthropy." They imply that tzedaka involves generosity or caring, and is somewhat optional. Charity comes from "caritas" which has to do with the heart (cardio) and from which we get the word caring.

Philanthropy means a love of people. Tzedakah is really none of those.  It is better understood as citizen's obligation, responsibility or righteousness. Surprisingly, the goal of tzedaka is not only to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, break cruel chains and generally improve the lives of others.