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

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Micha Berger _micha at aishdas.org_ (mailto:micha at aishdas.org) 



RSW's first vaad in Alei Shur is one for "Hislamdus"....
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. 

 



.....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            
micha at aishdas.org     





>>>>>
I'm going to tell you what I think, but you're not going to like it.   I 
think that chassidus has much more warmth and heart than does mussar, and  
there's a good reason why the one attracted hundreds of thousands while the  
other attracted...dozens.  That was in Europe and kal vechomer in  America.
 
I think a heart-warming story and a beautiful niggun will inspire many more 
 acts of tzedakah -- whether communal or private -- than will weeks of 
pondering  Adon Olam and how best to practice Imitatio Dei.  
 
Furthermore, chassidus includes a hefty dose of kabbalah -- even if it's  
just kabbalah-lite for most people -- which makes people feel that every good 
 deed, every mitzva and every tefillah, activates wheels within wheels in  
the Heavenly spheres and has powerful effects throughout the cosmos.   By 
contrast, mussar inspires the thought that you can spend a whole lifetime  
trying to change just one midah without succeeding, and most of what we do is  
just an exercise in futility.  Hevel havalim, hakol hevel.
 
People need a combination of mind and heart to inspire them.   I  really 
think that thinking about Adon Olam just won't cut it.  However,  singing Adon 
Olam to a beautiful melody -- just might.
 
 


--Toby Katz
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