4 OCTOBER 11, 2013 JEWISH NEWS JEWISHAZ.COM

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Tzedakah: How can we perform tzedakah in our lives• Because giving money is only a symbolic gesture for young children,

it’s helpful to link the act of giving money with volunteering. Consider making donations to organizations where you can also volunteer for a few hours together.

• Encourage your children to help you clean their closets and play areas of clothing and toys that are no longer being used and are in good condition to donate to an organization that accepts donations of children’s items. Take your children with you when you drop off the donation in order for them to experience the act of tzedakah.

For older childrenOlder children (especially those approaching bar or bat mitzvah age)

can involve themselves with tzedakah by:• Investigating and supporting meaningful causes of their choice that

they care about.• Opting to blog about their tzedakah experiences (and share their own

mitzvah project ideas and Divrei Torah) on the JChoice.org social network.• Learning to create and share videos outlining their philanthropic

experience or documenting the causes and Jewish values of certain non-profit programs.

If your child attends a Jewish preschool, you are most likely familiar with the Friday morning ritual of donating tzedakah during the classroom’s Shabbat celebration. When Lisa Pinkus’ son refused the coins she offered him for the third week in a row, she decided to probe him on the issue.“Do you know what tzedakah is?”she asked.“It’s to help people who don’t have things,” he replied. “I don’t have a race track anymore, and I want a new one. If I give them my money, then I won’t have money.”The conversations families have about tzedakah should never cease. There are different levels of understanding and a process of growth around the concept of giving.

Some conversation ideas:· Needs and wants· Our obligation to help others· The luxuries we take for granted, like new clothes, birthday parties, breakfast every morning or a new race track

Be sure to encourage your children to explore The Learning Shuk’s Tzedakah Playlist at: bit.ly/13Skb5Y

Teaching how to share is one of the first values that many parents convey to their children. The Jewish ethic of giving tzedakah is deeply rooted in this idea; it is about making sure that all of the world’s resources (food, water, clothing, education, shelter) are shared justly. Engaging kids with the idea of tzedakah is an exten-sion of a values discussion most families already have. Educating kids about tzedakah can also help them understand that what they do matters and that, in small ways, they can make a difference in this world.

For younger children In order to demonstrate everyday acts of tzedakah for younger children; here are some sug-

gestions from kveller.com for giving activities:• Whenever you go to the grocery store, buy a couple of extra cans of food. Deliver them to

the local food pantry with your children.• Before lighting Shabbat candles, make a point of putting a few dollar bills into a tzedakah

box and give children a few bills to put in as well. If you give your kids a weekly allowance, sug-gest that they set aside 10 percent of it for tzedakah, in keeping with Jewish tradition.

Books that teach kids about making tzedakah part of everyday routine

“The Brothers’ Promise”Author: Frances HarberIllustrator: Thor WickstormIn this poignant retelling of a Talmudic story, a father dies and

leaves his rich farm to his two sons, making them promise to share the land and always take care of each other. All goes well until there is a terrible drought. Josef worries about his brother, who has a family to feed, Yankel worries about his brother, who has no one to help him. But the brothers’ love causes a miracle on the parched earth.

“Jumping Jenny”Author: Ellen BariIllustrator: Raquel Garcia MaciaJenny loves to jump, but when her energetic jumping gets

her into trouble, she decides to retire her pogo stick. Then her school decides to hold a fundraising fair, and she discovers that her skill can be used for a good cause.

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