This month, Americans will sift through the countless solicitations in our mail and e-mail in order to decide where to give donations before the end-of-year tax-deduction deadline. Americans are often said to be the most generous people in the world, based on the percentage of the national gross domestic product that goes toward charitable causes. That said, the average American only gives away between 2% and 4% of his or her income.
And how do American Jews measure up? In virtually every Jewish school, camp and youth movement, students make their own tzedakah boxes and collect change to support various organizations and causes. Jewish organizations encourage the celebration of births, bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings by making tribute gifts. The Talmud even identifies the laws of tzedakah as the essential material to teach a potential convert. So those of us who have grown up learning about the centrality of tzedakah may expect the rate of Jewish giving to be much higher than the national average.
Surprisingly, then, most estimates suggest that American Jews give away no higher a percentage of income than their fellow Americans. While there are no precise figures on Jewish giving, a 2004 report by Steven M. Cohen found that Jews with annual incomes of $50,000 to $100,000 give away an average of $577 a year to all causes and that those with annual incomes of $100,000 to $150,000 give away an average of $1,206 a year. In other words, Jews in these income categories give away, on average, no more than 1.2% of their annual earnings. A 2008 report found that donors to Jewish community federations who earn $500,000 or more a year give away a total of about 1.4% of their pre-tax income to all charitable causes. These results are consistent with the general reality in America that residents of more liberal areas, people who are wealthier and those unaffiliated with religious congregations tend to give away smaller percentages of their incomes.
The Shulchan Aruch, the 16th-century book that has become the most authoritative guide to Jewish law, sets out the basic guidelines for the amount that one should give in tzedakah:
If you can afford to do so, you should give according to the needs of the poor. And if you can’t afford this much, you should give up to one-fifth — this is the ideal fulfillment of the mitzvah. And one-tenth is the ordinary way. Anything less than this is associated with the evil eye.
While we often speak of tithing as a goal, Jewish law actually sets 10% as the minimum that one should give for tzedakah. The rabbis caution against contributing more than 20% of one’s income, lest an overly generous person give away so much that he or she becomes dependent on the tzedakah of others. This maximum is waived for extremely wealthy people and for deathbed bequests.
As a community, we fail to live up to this obligation in two ways. First, as described above, most of us do not give away 10% — let alone 20% — of our income. Second, most of the money we give away does not actually count as tzedakah!
Jewish law defines tzedakah as material support for the poor. Rabbis over the centuries have debated the precise parameters of tzedakah, but the arguments always hinge on whether the gift in question serves the needs of the poor. Gifts that do not address poverty are not tzedakah. While Jewish law also mandates that community members contribute to such needs as synagogues, city infrastructure and other communal institutions, such gifts do not count as part of one’s tzedakah donation.
Within the Jewish community, we have become sloppy about this distinction between tzedakah and other types of donations. Just this year, I have received appeals that use the language of tzedakah to ask me to support college student trips to Israel, large denominational organizations and individual synagogues. The popular designation of all donations as tzedakah may stem from the fact that the Internal Revenue Service awards tax deductions for gifts to any designated 501(c)3 organization.
But our failure to distinguish between tzedakah and other philanthropic gifts diverts money away from poverty-related causes. In the United States, the primary beneficiaries of charitable giving are religious institutions, universities and other educational organizations. A study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found that in 2005, less than one-third of individual giving focused on economically disadvantaged populations. A 2007 study by Gary Tobin and Aryeh Weinberg found that 28% of mega-gifts from Jewish donors support higher education, while only 8% of mega-gifts are for “public/society benefit” or social services.
Of course, calculating how and where to give our tzedakah is no easy feat. For starters, the challenge to set aside 10% to 20% of our income is complicated by the question of whether and how to count tax money as tzedakah. In theory, we should count the fraction of our tax dollars that supports social services for the needy as part of our tzedakah. After all, Jewish law envisions tzedakah more as a communal levy than as a voluntary contribution. But determining what percentage of our tax dollars fights poverty is a difficult task, and any reasonable calculation would likely still leave most of us falling short of the levels of tzedakah that our tradition demands.
In the midst of a recession, the prospect of increasing our giving may feel daunting. But the difficult economic times make our gifts even more important, as an increasing number of people have fallen deeper into poverty at the same time as philanthropic donations have decreased. In fact, if the American Jewish community were to live up to our tzedakah obligations, we would be putting tens of billions of dollars to work ending poverty. Then, we could rightfully say that tzedakah is central to being a Jew.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs is rabbi-in-residence of Jewish Funds for Justice and the author of “There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law & Tradition” (Jewish Lights Publishing).
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Not only central to being a Jew, central to being a human being.
Thank you for writing about this important issue. To start, I should say that I 100% agree on two of your key points: 1. Many of us could and should be increasing our charitable giving. We don’t have to give till it hurts, but we should give till we feel it. 2. We should be more thoughtful about where our money is going and increase our support for organizations that address the needs of people in poverty.
While it is true that we shouldn’t equate free Israel trips with feeding the hungry, I disagree with the notion that only funding poverty-fighting constitutes real tzedakah. Even the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (a foundation watchdog group which advocates for foundations to allocate a greater portion of the resources to communities with the least wealth) has a more expansive definition of what it means to support those with the greatest need.
What about supporting Jewish social justice organizations? I support several. Should I designate my gift exclusively to programs that directly address poverty, and not allow my donations to support Jewish service learning programs or Jewish social justice curricular development, since this isn’t real tzedakah?
What about environmental protection? Medical research? There are some issues that cut across the socioeconomic divide and yield great societal benefit. Is this not tzedakah?
While I agree that tzedakah is about addressing the needs of the poor, let’s encourage broad-minded thinking and inspired philanthropy that reflects the diversity of wisdom and passions within the Jewish community.
There are many worthy causes out there and never enough money or people to support them at the level they'd like to achieve. That said, it gets tiresome for rabbis and other pundits to take the position of arbiter of how much should be given and to whom. For someone sending gifts, it's sometimes nice to have an organization say thank you rather than you should be giving more.
When we produce Weddings, Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah in Israel for overseas Jews, we always offer a donation to the needy as part of the celebration. There are several organizations that offer these: www.myisraelcharity.org www.israelgives.org These organizations simply make it easier to help others. Hag Sameach, The Team at SimchaMaker.com
A missing item in the excellent article is the question of taxation: Income tax, real estate tax and sales tax. These taxes take much more that 20% of income. Much of it may be wasted on government administration. Hopefully some of which goes to aid the poor in necessities: health, food and shelter. In addition some of it goes for education, instead of a fish, give a fishhook! Without governmental taxation, a lot of people, probably all of us would follow the doctrine of tzedakah.
I'm sad to read the stats here about amounts of giving and direction. Jill's reminders about appropriate proportion and focus for tzedakah are vital at this season and through the year. And, if we were in a context for further discussion, I'd want to include concerns Jonathan raises: "tzedek tirdof" in our world may well mean that the "needs of the poor" include justice and freedoms, empowerment and dignity, that come from work of various groups and projects and through the support of progressive politicians...
Is there data on what percentage of income Jews who make under $50,000 a year give to charity?
Jonathan--Thanks for your comments. I didn't mean to suggest that only money for direct services counts as tzedakah--I would never say that! There are many ways to fight poverty; these include advocacy, organizing, community investment, etc. Nor does tzedakah money have to go only for the physical needs of the poor--many halakhic authorities count as tzedakah money given, for instance, to a lending library used by people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford books. There is, therefore, an argument to be made that money that goes to scholarship funds, to arts programs for low-income neighborhoods, etc. is tzedakah.
Walter--the question of taxes is a difficult one because it's not easy to figure out what percentage of our tax dollars goes for tzedakah, largely because a significant part of our taxes goes for social security/medicare, and there aren't clear numbers available regarding what percentage of this money goes to the poor (the question is complicated by the question of how we define poverty--depending what measure you use, between 9%-23% of people over 65 are poor). Personally, I find it easier to take my 10% + off of post-tax income--I assume that at least 10% of my tax money is going to tzedakah, but then in my directed giving, I focus on the money I actually see (unlike my tax money, which never even lands in my bank account).
Sarah--No, there aren't any good numbers for either Jews or non-Jews who make less than $50,000. In terms of Americans in general--most of the statistics are based on what gets reported to the IRS as deductions, but most people who make less than $50,000 don't itemize deductions, so we don't really know what percentage people in this income bracket give. (though there's some evidence that people who make less money give a higher percent away--perhaps because it's easier to empathize with people who are in poverty.) In regard to Jews--the question just hasn't been asked on any surveys. The numbers I give in the article, though inadequate, are the best that we have.
"Anything less than this is associated with the evil eye." Correct translation of Shulchan Aruch passage should be "miserliness," not "evil eye." Cf. Avot 5:13 (in the context of Tzedakah) and 5:19.
Most major cities in the U.S. have a Jewish Free Loan (aka Hebrew Free Loan), devoted to making interest-free loans, with dignity, to those in financial need. A contribution to your local Jewish Free Loan is tzedakah in the truest sense. According to Maimonides, the highest form of tzedakah occurs when there is complete anonymity (the donor and the recipient do not know one another). When you contribute to your Jewish Free Loan, you do not know who will benefit, and the borrower will not know who has funded their loan. When loans are repaid, the funds are again loaned to those in need, and your tzedakah donations accrue and live on. To find your local Jewish Free Loan, go to the website of the International Association of Hebrew Free Loans (IAHFL) at http://www.freeloan.org/offices/index.htm
Jill- Thanks for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to the many questions raised. I'm glad your article could serve as a forum for this important issue (which is not discussed enough).
I am currently a wedding planner in Israel offering services to Americans wishing to celebrate in Israel. The question of tzedakah is often high on the minds of my clients, especially when doing a function in israel. Thank you for a very interesting article.