The Jewish Ritual of Gift-Giving
Ours is a family of many rituals and customs. My husband and I keep a kosher home. We observe Shabbat. My husband prays 3 times a day. I study. When we celebrate the Jewish holidays, we infuse into our observance various practices from each of our own childhood homes. We provide our children a Jewish education. With traditions abound, Judaism permeates our home.
About 2 years ago, my then-2-and-a-half year old started her own tradition. My husband took her to one of those pottery painting places and she decided to paint a Tzedaka Duck." Since then, she's added to her collection a Tzedaka dalmation, a Tzedaka Nemo, a Tzedaka flower, a Tzedaka elephant, and of course, my favorite, her Tzedaka pig. To most children, these are all just piggy banks, but for my daughter, they are places where she collects and stores Tzedaka - charity for the poor. Every time she finds some coins lying around, she asks if she can put them into one of her Tzedakas. Over time, her crew of hand-painted Tzedaka banks has accumulated (literally!) a nice chunk of change.
Last evening, my now 4-and-a-half year old asked me when we were going to give her Tzedaka coins to poor people. And she got me thinking.
Today, we're starting a new tradition. Today, I am taking my daughter, along with her collection of Tzedaka banks to the bank. Together, we'll empty their contents into one of those coin counting machines to convert the coins into bills. And with the understanding that her grown-up looking money will go to someone in need, we'll give it to a worthy charity. And then we'll do the same thing next year. And the year after that. And as my kids grow older (in a couple of years, my other daughter will be old enough to participate and understand), we'll discuss various worthy charities and eventually, they'll be able to choose on their own where their money should go.
We all know that it is important to help those in need. I think it's even more important to teach our little ones the importance of giving, especially during these challenging times. We can do this both by teaching them how to give of their own money and by modeling giving ourselves. There is no shortage of worthy causes. And if you want to think about making a gift through one of the URJ causes, there are several to choose from, including Nothing But Nets, Keren B'Kavod, and, of course, the RAC. And whether we give out of our wallets or volunteer our time, we should all strive to make the act of giving a little Tzedaka a part of our own family Jewish traditions.

















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