Looking in, looking out

by: Rabbi Jill Jacobs

Mon Mar 30, 2009 at 23:21:19 PM EDT

Lately, I've been involved in a number of conference calls and other conversations about how Jewish communities can support members who have lost jobs, have lost (or face) losing homes, or are no longer able to live on retirement savings. These conversations are important: after all, one of the primary functions of Jewish communities is supporting their own members. Since Jewish communities have existed, they have maintained communal funds that distribute money, food, and medicine to those in need. Members of Jewish communities have long helped one another find jobs, endure illnesses and other hardships, and survive rough times. In fact, many of us choose to affiliate with Jewish communities precisely because of the promise that these communities will celebrate and mourn with us, and will support us through good times and bad.

So it's totally appropriate and commendable that synagogues are starting job banks for members, donors are stepping up contributions to day schools in order that children will not have to drop out, and rabbis are quietly using their discretionary funds to help out-of-work members.

But what's missing from many of the conversations of which I have been a part is the question of the Jewish community's commitment beyond our own boundaries. 

There is no question that members of our communities are suffering in ways that we haven't seen anytime in recent memory--at least not in the United States. But our concern about our own communities shouldn't blind us to the suffering of those who were barely getting by before the economic crash. I worry that, in our panic about the survival of synagogues and day schools, we'll reduce our contributions to support food banks, affordable housing creation, and advocacy for policies that benefit the lowest-income members of society. 

How do we balance these competing priorities?

First of all, those of us who are lucky enough still to have jobs should push ourselves to increase our tzedakah contributions. Jewish law mandates donating between 10% and 20% of income to tzedakah. (More is permissible for the very wealthy, but the concern is that an ordinary person who gives away more than 20% of his/her wealth will end up depending on the community for support.) Even if it's a stretch, we should try to give more than the baseline 10% right now, and to divide this extra money between our own communities and the communities in the most dire need. 

Second, we can all encourage our own communities to speak simultaneously about the need to support those on the inside and those on the outside, and not to see these two pulls as necessarily opposed to each other.

In difficult times, it is easy to retreat, and to worry only about those closest to us. Our challenge now is to combine concern for those inside our communities with a continued dedication to creating a better world for everyone.