News

Putting a New Spin On the Charity Box

By Ethan Porter August 8, 2003

With the JCC Maccabi Games on the horizon — they start Sunday in Houston — it’s not surprising that the minds of many Jews are filled with thoughts of sports. If you’re looking to give your favorite sports enthusiast a gift that keeps on giving, it might be time to end your search. Now there are “Baseball Boy Tzedakah Boxes.”

The tzedakah business is certainly booming these days. A quick perusal of a Judaica shop and the Internet yields an incredibly vast variety of charity boxes. But what could be more perfect for the baseball fan than these armless alms collectors, which cost about $12 and come in four colors: red, yellow, blue and black?

Since so many Jews seem to root for the hapless Mets, no cute tzedakah box alone is going to make us happy. If the San Francisco Giants sent Barry Bonds to Shea — well, now that would be true Jewish charity.

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