Leap of Faith: Mitzvah Day
Volunteering is a Jewish contribution to the wider society
Volunteering in its modern form is a relatively novel idea whereby a person, without a specific obligation and in the absence of being paid, offers to carry out a supportive task on behalf of another individual or a group. A fantastic example in our faith communities is the Jewish-led Mitzvah Day, which launched last week and takes place every November.
The Judaism of our Torah is primarily about duties and obligations and corresponding rights.
At its basis, however, is the process of sacrifice, including tithing. Sacrifice involved offering via the religious cult the best of one’s herd, flock or produce, which had a number of purposes. As I remind my congregants when there is an appeal, sacrifice or the modern equivalent of charitable giving was meant to be felt, to hurt a little.
There were also tithes – a percentage, usually ten – of new produce which again supported the cultic system as a whole, and these were accompanied by a general obligation to provide support as a matter of justice to one less fortunate than the donor. In the rabbinic period this came to be represented by the communal chest to which every person was expected to contribute and from which anyone could draw if their circumstances so required it.
A more modern response, fitting with our communal charities such as Mitzvah Day and the Jewish Volunteering Network (JVN), is that just as one tithes one’s earnings, so one should tithe one’s time or efforts.
Jews are rightly proud of the contributions we, and the Hebrew culture, have made to the societies where we have found our home. These include the idea of a Sabbath, a day off each week; they encompass impressive social services which sometimes serve communities beyond our own; and they are underpinned by a level of voluntary donations and service to the arts, medicine and science, and to public advancements which benefit the populations among whom the Jews live.
Who would have believed that every year the United Kingdom, as part of its National Interfaith Week, would see tens of thousands of people of all faiths and no faith carry out a voluntary, unpaid act of social justice under the banner of Mitzvah Day? Furthermore, that the only relationship between those giving and those receiving these acts of kindness would be a commitment and a willingness on the part of one and a need on the part of the other.
Volunteering in the 21st century is no longer about maintaining the religious cult but at its core is the religious maxim: “Do not separate yourself from the community” (Pirke Avot 2:4) and: “If I am not myself, who will be for Me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirke Avot 1:14).
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