Teaching Kids To Write Grants Or Plant Trees?

Many synagogues require students to complete tzedakah projects before becoming a bar or bat mitzvah. Usually these community service projects include anything from working at a soup kitchen to organizing a clothing drive, or volunteering to teach underprivileged children to read or to do pet therapy with the elderly.


We’ve grown accustomed to equating tzedakah with images like this:



But now, this might be the new face of 21st century tzedakah:

A new option is gaining popularity: youth philanthropy programs like B’nai Tzedek Youth Foundations, which allow young adults to participate in and learn about the formal practice of philanthropy.

In his article “Jewish Youth Philanthropy: An Interpretive History of Our First Decade,” Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett presents several reasons for instituting these programs. He writes that incorporating young voices into grant making increases overall philanthropic involvement in the community and develops a new generation of communal leadership.

In theory, all of this is true.

What bothers me about this initiative is the likelihood, especially given today’s economic conditions, that tomorrow’s Jewish communities will need an abundance of grantmakers. The percentage of individuals who will grow up to be philanthropists is exceedingly slim, especially when contrasted against the percentage of the population who, throughout their lives, will be able to participate in other acts of tzedakah (basically everyone).

Fiscal generosity is tremendously important, and I’m all for fostering it in future generations, but I wonder if it isn’t more important for children to learn to give an even more precious gift: their time.