Pacific Jewish Center | Rabbi » charity

Lessons of Kony 2012

rabbifink — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:26:13 +0000

As of this moment the Kony 2012 video has over 74 million hits on YouTube. The video has been a smashing viral video success. Everyone knows more about Kony today than they knew a few weeks ago. (Don’t know what I am talking about? Watch the video on YouTube.)

The quality of the production is excellent. It draws you into the narrative cleverly and is very persuasive. But the video and the parent organization that produced the video, Invisible Children have also drawn criticism. All in all, the phenomena is fascinating and I think there are some lessons that are worth mentioning.

> Social media is THE media for people born in the 80′s and beyond. In other words, people 30 and under get their information and news from Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and YouTube (and maybe The Daily Show). They do not get their news from the Nightly News or the 24/7 news cycle. Obviously, there are exceptions. But I think this campaign shows that a compelling story that has been in and out of the network news for years is a new story for the under 30 crowd. This is quite simply because most of them don’t watch the networks.

> Hits are not the same as donations, but hits can turn into donations. It seems that the Kony 2012 campaign is making a lot of money. People are taking action, at least in their minds, and supporting Invisible Children. This is impressive. A lot of people think that viral videos and social media campaigns are not activism, rather they are slacktivism. But Kony 2012 is showing that with a message that is compelling and a simple donation model, hits can turn into cash.

> People are not very skeptical. The Kony 2012 video is riddled with misstatements. But most people seem not to care. Also, people don’t vet the charities that they support. Invisible Children is a nice cause, but there are some question marks about its spending. It strikes me as strange that so many people seemed to have donated blindly. The whole video could have been a lie and the organization could have been a sham. Be careful people!

> Is this the best place to spend our money? Can’t we harness the same passion to save children in our own country? Doesn’t charity begin at home?

> My last point is more of a question than a lesson. What is all this money going to do? Finance another film? How does Invisible Children intend on taking on a warlord? Pay him off? What’s the plan here? 100 million hits won’t help anybody. 100 million dollars might be able to help some of the victims of Kony, but will it? And how?

Link: YouTube

WWJD?

rabbifink — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:07:21 +0000

Politicians from the Right often cite God or Jesus as a basis for political positions. Some even make the claim that they are running for office upon the advise of God Himself.

Now, it is impossible for God to have told more than one particular person that they are destined to be the next president. So either all but one are lying or they are all lying. You decide.

Either way, the whole concept of appealing to God’s authority in politics is very silly. The reason it is silly is because none of these people have had any specific revelation. Rather, they apply their interpretations of ancient texts, or worse, their personal feelings or emotional stirrings and claim that these are Divine messages. What makes matters even fuzzier is that politicians are usually businessmen or lawyers. They are not theologians or members of the clergy. Their understanding of their own religions is as basic as the average American’s understanding of their religions. Their understanding of other religions is even poorer.

Case in point: President Obama invoked the teachings of Jesus as a basis for taxes. The response has been vicious. Most of the criticism has been because of the seeming transparent pandering to the religious voters. This is a valid criticism. But only to a point. Politicians are professional panderers. We just don’t like it when we can tell.

The more important point, that is being overlooked, is how religious beliefs are able to conform to political positions. It’s too easy to make an argument for almost any predetermined position using religious faith or texts. The stories are obscure, the analogies are tenuous and the bias is overwhelming. It’s to the point that I can’t take any appeal to religion seriously. Further, not everyone wants to follow the teachings of Jesus. Those same teachings were used as a tool for death and destruction for hundreds of years.

Are taxes some form of charity, as Obama suggests? Maybe. But religion is not going to provide the answer to that question.

Political policy should be based on reasoning that is free from religious influence. It should not be guided by love for God or religion nor should it be guided by disbelief in God or hatred for religion.

But I don’t blame politicians. I blame the religious fervor of American citizens that demands that their politicians double as religious leaders. It’s foolish to assume that politicians know enough about religion to have intelligent opinions on theological matters. We should stop demanding it. Along the same lines, we should not turn to one specific version of a religion to solve our problems or as a basis for setting policy. At best, it is silly and at worse it is offensive.

I think the other speaker at the event at which the president spoke had good advice. Eric Metaxas suggested we remove phony religiosity from public discourse. Since it is all phony, I say we remove it all.

Link: NY Times

Some More Wonderful Charity Stories

rabbifink — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:10:36 +0000

You may (or may not) recall a post I wrote before Rosh Hashanah about a selfless act of charity that was witnessed by a congregant at Pacific Jewish Center. You should read that post: A Heartwarming Story of Charity

In the last few days, we have been preparing for Pesach. Of course that means multiple visits to the local Kosher markets. My wife and I both saw some similar examples of charity over the last few days.

While I was at Western Kosher I saw an obviously poor, elderly woman take her full shopping cart to the register. I then saw a chasidic man who was obviously not related to her and seemingly a complete stranger to her, pay for her entire order. It was not a small amount and I wanted to share his generosity with you.

My wife was at La Brea Market and the person ahead of her wanted to pay her bill. (LBM allows customers to set up credit accounts.) The cashier looked up the account and told her her balance was zero. The customer said “that’s impossible, my husband just reminded me to pay the account before Pesach”. The cashier told her “Well someone paid it. Your balance is zero.”.

These are acts that we need to publicize. These are acts of Jews who get it. These are Jews whom we are all proud to call our brothers and our sisters.

This Pesach don’t get caught up in the size of matzah, the flavor of marror, the crumbs behind the couch and forget the basics.

This Pesach, remember those who are needy. This Pesach lend a hand and help someone less fortunate feel a little bit more freedom by alleviating the stress of their bills. This Pesach let us unite and hopefully through that we will merit a new personal and national redemption.

Wonderful Passover Message From The Federation

rabbifink — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:39:54 +0000

In the spirit Passover when we proclaim in the Hagada that anyone who is hungry can join our Seder, the Federation is reminding us to do our part to stamp out hunger. Too many people are going hungry and there is much we can do to help. Sometimes all we need is a reminder. This excellent video is the perfect reminder.

So in your Passover preparations, remember those who are in need. There is an old Jewish custom called “Maos Chitim” to provide our less fortunate brethren with the funds needed to purchase Matza, wine and other seder necessities. Don’t forget to set aside some charity for those less fortunate this Pesach.

Enjoy the video:

HT: Holy Hyrax

[Colloquial] Kiddush Hashem in Japan

rabbifink — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:12:03 +0000

Crossposted to DovBear here: A Nice Little Kiddush Hashem

I just bumped into one of my (Jewish) Law School professors and he told me something worth sharing.

He was reading an article about the Japan disaster fund. Donations are coming in from all over the world. In the article, a Japanese government official was quoted [paraphrase] with this little gem:

“Why do so many people send donations of $18? It’s such a strange number for a donation.”

Link: NY Times

A Heartwarming Story of Charity

rabbifink — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:18:32 +0000

Living among Christmas Celebrators for almost my entire life, I have picked up on a notion of the “Holiday Spirit” that ushers in the Holidays of Christmas and New Year’s. Folks are generally more friendly and generous under the “guise” of Holiday Spirit.

Seeing as Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) is a mere 9 days away, if we were Christian and the New Year was 9 days away, we would be knee-deep in the “Holiday Spirit”. A congregant of mine told me an anecdote that would fit neatly in the “Holiday Spirit” if we had an equivalent.

This fellow was shopping at the local butcher (Western Kosher) and he noticed an orthodox Jewish woman had stacked her yogurt on top of her chicken. Now, most orthodox Jews don’t think twice about that kind of move, but there are some people who are new to religious Judaism who prefer to keep their milk and meat products separate in their shopping carts. (No, there is no reason to do this, it just happens that fellow in the story does separate his meat and milk in his shopping cart.) So the fellow thinks about saying something to the nice lady but thought it was a silly thing to bring to her attention because he realized that there is nothing wrong with stacking cold yogurt in a package on top on cold chicken in a package.

By now, she had caught his attention and he noticed that she was holding a list with at least 8 or 9 items. Her overhears that woman say to the manager “Please put $1000 in the Schwartz* account. $1000 in the Goldberg account. $1000 in the Cohen account.” and so she went for a few minutes, quite simply crediting at least 8 or 9 families with $1000 out of her own pocket. This fellow was witnessing a true act of charity. Charity given in the most respectful way with no begging, handouts or embarrassment. An estimated $10,000 went to the less fortunate of Los Angeles last week from this woman alone.

That is a universal Holiday Spirit.

*names changed (duh)

I Am So Proud

rabbifink — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:48:39 +0000

Last year, there were a large number of public incidents that shed a negative light on Jews in general and particularly on Orthodox Jews. These events were not representitive of the average Jewish person, yet their notoriety put them front and center in the media.

It seems that the Earthquake in Haiti has marked a reversal of negative media coverage into more positive media coverage in response to more positive actions by Jewish people.

I noted last week that although the Jewish connection with Haiti is slim, there has been no shortage of Jewish efforts to aid the beleaguered people of Haiti.

It did not end with financial support. CNN has been reporting that the Israeli relief efforts were the quickest to respond and efforts were in full swing before any other country was set up. Israel was the first country with a field hospital in Haiti, Additionaly, the Israeli relief efforts have been reported as effective and efficient by CNN and others.

You can see video below of CNN’s coverage.

I am also proud to report that my uncle made the news with his personal work on behalf of Haiti.

Vosizneias is reporting that Rabbi Ronald Greenwald (Uncle Ronnie, to me) is spearheading a drive in many Monsey NY private Jewish schools (Yeshivas) to collect food and supplies to be delivered to Haiti. This comes on the heels of an unrelated visit to Haiti 6 weeks prior in which he was inspired to help the impoverished nation. Greenwald promised the members of the the Haitian community that he would meet with them and accompany them on a delegation to Washington if needed. That meeting was scheduled for January 19.

Uncle Ronnie is no stranger to projects of this nature. He has spent his entire adult life working on behalf of Jewish and non-Jewish causes. Those who know him or know of him are not surprised by this news. The only thing surprising is that some people think it is “news”. This is a typical anecdote in his accomplished life and we wish him more opportunities and more success for many years to come.

CNN Videos:

Jewish Relief Efforts For Haiti Earthquake Victims

rabbifink — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:29:43 +0000

In the wake of the tragedy in Haiti I write this post.

This post comes on the heels of my last post which quoted David Brooks and his admiration for the accopmlishments of the Jews. And now, we have an oppurtunity to show our stripes.

Haiti is not a very Jewish place. It is not frequented by business travelers or vacationers very often. Haiti never had a strong Jewish community. But in time of tragedy the Jewish community has a knack for stepping up to the plate and helping in the ways that we can.

The Talmud says that a hallmark characteristic of the Jewish people is that they are Rachmanim, compassionate. The response to the earthquake is an example of that compassion. There are a number of Jewish organizations that are raising funds for the relief effort. It would seem to me that to close our eyes to this opportunity would be a violent breach of rachmanus, compassionate action.

I am not saying you need to pledge your life savings or more than you normally give to poor people for charity. But it just seems to me that to ignore the plight of the thousands of people who are in desperate need is so callous that it would not befit a nation of Rachmanim.

Just think about the victims, look at the pictures, watch the video and you cannot help but feel compassion for these enfortunate victims.

Please do not hesitate to donate and help, even if it a small amount.

The idea is not so much that your miniscule donation with help alleviate this epic disaster. Rather it is inconceivable that a warm blooded, human being could not help those who are in such dire straights. If your gut is telling you that helping is the right thing to do, then follow your gut.

If your gut isn’t telling you to help, well, I find that hard to believe…

Please contribute to the Jewish Federations of North America and they will distribute the funds for relief efforts of the victims.

When Times Are Tough

rabbifink — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:09:34 +0000

The economic crisis has hit many families and individuals in different ways. This anecdote really hit me hard. Perhaps you will feel the same way.

We all know that money is tight for Americans all across the country. Los Angeles is no exception and even in the middle to upper class neighborhood where we live there are some disturbing signs of desperation. Sure, there are for rent signs all over the place and people are conscious about saving and reducing their expenses, but the most painful demonstration of the economic crisis that I have heard is so much worse.

Around the corner from our home is a Ralph’s Supermarket. (That’s like Pathmark and Shoprite for the east coasters, Publix for you southerners and Schnucks for you midwesterners.) We go there for many basic grocery items, but in the past they have been notoriously over priced so we would go to Trader Joe’s for anything that we could find there as the prices were much better.

Recently, Ralph’s has had some great sales and overall their prices have come down. Even their coupons have been more generous. One glaring example of an overly generous coupon is the buy one baby formula get another baby formula free coupon. Free! That’s a big coupon. The only problem with using that coupon is that the formula section is often bare.

Even early in the day, Ralph’s is often sold out of all the baby formula that they stock.

My wife decided to ask a Ralph’s stock person about the low stock of baby formula. The stock person said “yeah, it’s always like this now, the thing is that people aren’t even buying it, we will sometimes go through our entire stock of baby formula without making one sale. People have crying babies at home that need to eat, but they can’t afford the baby formula, so they’ve been stealing it. Kids and adults can get by on other stuff, even cheap stuff, but babies need formula…” (Now the 5$ coupons make sense, Ralph’s would prefer that they buy the formula for a deeply discounted price rather than steal it.)

(Ralph’s now has the formula behind lock and key to prevent theft.)

When I heard that, it brought me to tears. As I type it right now, tears form in the corners of my eyes. I cannot imagine how disheartening it must be to a parent who cannot afford to feed one’s family.

For those of us who have what we need, it is a call to reach out and help our friends and neighbors who are going through difficult financial times. It is heartbreaking to hear about these stories, but it is reality.

We all know people who need help. Let us all try and share what we have with those who don’t.

Authentic Judaism and Authentic Charity

rabbifink — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:32:10 +0000

This post is really two Public Service Announcements.

Please read both and if you are able to help in any way possible, it is much appreciated.

One great thing about blogging is the opportunity to connect with other people for the sake of an important cause. Today, I present you with two important causes.

First, there is a blogger who writes vitriolic, hate laced blog posts against anyone with whom he disagrees. He does so under the guise of Authentic Judaism. He makes no real arguments, just yells loudly at those he views as a threat (read: anyone who thinks differently than he). Apparently, he thinks that God spoke to him directly and gave him Torah and nobody else. A number of bloggers are trying to snatch the Google search result ranking from his blog.

I am here to help.

More importantly, DovBear is looking for some kind souls to help a family in desperate financial need. The economic downturn has claimed some more victims and from what I understand, their situation is dire. It is really easy to help, Just click here and click donate in the upper right hand sidebar and donate just a little money. Type in the amount you can give and indicate it is for #famliyneedsdough. If you can give just a few dollars it would make a tremendous difference to this family. Every penny donated will be given directly to the needy family.

I appreciate any relief you can provide.

Misleading Charity Campaign

rabbifink — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:15:21 +0000

A Religious charity in Israel has embarked on what I and many others feel to be a misleadeing charity campaign.

Promises 0f safety from danger, special perks and privileges and out of context quotes from great Rabbis permeate the campaign.

I wrote all ab0ut in on DovBear. You can check it out by clicking below.

What Is Going On With Kupat Ha’ir?

Men (Learning) at Work

rabbifink — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:54:18 +0000

This blog post is about men learning at work. By learning, I mean studying Torah.

I taught a class today at Teichman Enterprises.

It was a really great experience and I was inspired and I want to share my feelings with you.

If you are looking for the Australian musical artists known as Men at Work who sing that great song called “Down Under” (the one the “Piamentas” ripped off and sing to the words “Asher Bara”) click here for Men at Work.

If you don’t know what I am talking about watch these two videos…

Okay – got that? Now Watch this:

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fig44jXBpj4&feature">http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fig44jXBpj4&feature</a>

But I digress.

Back to our previously scheduled blog post.

I heard from my Rebbe that he is often approached by men who work long hours and feel as if they are spiritually drowning because they have such limited time to work on their spirituality.

His advice was that once a day, while at work we should contemplate on the reasons we are working. We are working to support a family, a wife, children, to provide the opportunity for them to grow Jewishly, so that we can send our children to expensive Jewish schools and so we can give charity, and so that we can experience a beautiful Shabbos together and if we are able to focus on that for just a moment it can make a tremendous difference in our work. Literally transforming our mundane job into a spiritual activity.

Truly, this is a beautiful idea.

Today I witnessed and participated in an equal if not better solution.

Teichman Enterprises has a weekly Torah class in their office. A catered lunch and a Rabbi teaching Torah is sure to insert some spirituality into a mundane work week. It is the perfect way to integrate the spiritual with the more mundane.

I was privileged to teach the class today and I was inspired. The attendees were attentive, interested and thoughtful.

It is impressive that so many people were willing to take time off from work to come hear words of Torah.

Notable among the attendees was Meish Wilson from Venice and the Pacific Jewish Center.

Today we learned about the special silver trumpets that were blasted before many moments in Jewish life. We learned about the root of sin and the path to recovery from sin as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I hope the attendees did as well.

(One correction, I mention R’ Yehuda HaLevi in the class, in fact it was R’ Shlomo Alkabetz, my error and I apologize.)

Today was a big day for iPhone owners and before the class we talked about the marvels of the iPhone over lunch. Thanks to the magic of the iPhone (and an app called iTalk) you can listen to the class on your computer right now!

Click below to listen.

Enjoy the class. (35 minutes)