March 29, 2024
Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.
March 29, 2024
Search
Close this search box.

Linking Northern and Central NJ, Bronx, Manhattan, Westchester and CT

Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene’s fine article brought long-ago thoughts to mind (“Tzedakah Education” March 24, 2022).

My parents, z”l, were Holocaust survivors. When we arrived in this Golden Land of opportunity we were embraced by a loving extended family.

My father was a tailor—never did his weekly pay envelope exceed $100. My mother worked at a minimum wage job.

BUT there was a JNF pushke in our home, and every Friday before licht benching, we put a little in. I recall going downtown with my mother for a doctor’s visit. We got off the bus (my parents never owned a car) and there was a blind man standing there playing an accordian. There was a soup ladle mounted on the front of his accordian. I was given a quarter to put into the ladle.

Teaching by example, my wife and I have tried to pass this tradition onto our children and grandchildren.

Beyond writing checks to established tzedakah organizations, having learned from my parents, I keep singles in my car—whenever given the opportunity, I’ll give a dollar to a roadside panhandler. He can use the money, and I can use the mitzvah.

(I learned from a tzadik that it’s not for me to decide how they will/should use the money.)

C. Singer
Leave a Comment

Most Popular Articles