[Avodah] Tzedakah: Giving to an organization vs. giving privately

[Micha Berger]

RSW's first vaad in Alei Shur is one for "Hislamdus", the ability to take
lesson / teach oneself / an educational awareness and self-awareness
(a good translation eludes me). This is a thought I had while e-vaad 1
was doing the excercise. I shared it with the vaad, and one of the other
members suggested I repeat it for further discussion here.

The goal of this particular avodah is to say Adon Olam with hislamdus --
not to actively increase one's kavanah, but to become more aware of how
one says it as it is being said. (I think it's normal for an increase
in kavanah to happen on its own given such awareness.)

We stretched on a little long with the one excercise, and so after a
while one day, my mind drifted from how to hislameid from my saying Adon
Olam to what there is lehislameid from Adon Olam itself.

Where should tzedaqah go -- is it better to give to established
institutions, which have more skill at using the money, but you end up
paying for that skill, or to private individuals?

Perhaps it depends on which aspect of our relationship to HQBH we are
trying to emulate.

Emulating the Adon Olam would be working wholesale, and thus push more
toward supporting communal institutions.
Emulating Chai Goali would be having a personal stake in an individual,
and therefore push toward the matan beseiser in the mail-slot kind
of giving.

What do you think? A valid take-home lesson from Adon Olam? No?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             When faced with a decision ask yourself,
micha at aishdas.org        "How would I decide if it were Ne'ilah now,
http://www.aishdas.org   at the closing moments of Yom Kippur?"
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter