Published December 25, 2012

Today is Christmas, perhaps the ultimate holiday for giving, and I am reflecting on the act, ritualization, and commercialization of “giving.”

In the past few weeks the media has been abuzz with commentary on the virtue or the silliness of Giving Tuesday. Social media and a consortium of charities pumped up the idea of naming the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday “Giving Tuesday,” declaring it the beginning of “The Giving Season.”

Anyone who restricts giving to a short season is not Jewish: the Jewish giving season has no real beginning, because it never ends.

We remember our dead by giving charity in their memory. We celebrate new life the same way. We celebrate holidays by—you guessed it—giving charity. The Hebrew word for sharing one’s assets is tzedakah, which means justice, not charity. Our tradition encourages us to pursue it every day, or “Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof.”

“There are no official holidays for giving,” says Rabbi Ari Cartun, the leader of Congregation Etz Chayim in Palo Alto, California. “You are supposed to share what you have every day, particularly before festivals and holidays.”

Rosh Hashanah is when our tradition states that God writes down everyone’s fate for the coming year. Writes, but does not seal. Tradition says that during the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we can improve our “inscriptions” for the coming year by giving tzedakah.

We have special names for the tzedakah that we give during Pesach and Purim. Pesach charity is calledMa’ot Chittim, or “wheat money.” Purim Charity is called Matanot L’Evyonim, or “presents to the poor,” to commemorate the gifts Esther gave during the time she was fasting and preparing to ask King Ahasuerus to spare the Jews of Persia from slaughter.

This year was the first official “#givingtuesday,” and there was an upsurge of giving on that day. But no matter what the name of the day is, giving is not a choice. As Jews we need no buzzwords or ways of “packaging” our giving, because, as my mother used to say, “What you give away is yours forever.”

There is one thing about Tuesdays, though. Tuesday, or Yom Shlishi, the Third Day, is the day of Creation when, according to the bible, God said the words “and it was good” twice. It is considered lucky.

So maybe THAT is why the people behind “Giving Tuesday” chose Tuesday.

What do you think?
– Why does tzedakah play such an important part in Jewish tradition?
– Is it important to give spontaneously throughout the year?
– Why do we tie giving to justice?