Today I received a forwarded proclamation from the Agudah that is being passed around from one Jew to another and from one listserv to another via email.
Part of the proclamation reads as such:
Agudath Israel of America calls on all Jews to respond to the alarming situation in Eretz Yisrael with intensified determination to merit Hashem's help for our brethren in the Holy Land.There is certainly no question that in a time of war (aka as "the alarming situation in Eretz Yisrael") during the Three Weeks no less, tefillah, teshuva, and tzedakah should be on the top of our priority list, as well as any acts of hishtadlut that we capable of performing.
Let us reinvigorate our tefillos, and our recitation of Tehillim-especially kapitlach 83, 130 and 142 each morning after davening, followed by the tefilla of "Acheinu kol bais Yisroel.", as the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah suggested five years ago. At that time, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah stressed as well that each Jewish man should be very careful regarding davening with a minyan, that all his tefillos, Shacharis, Mincha and Ma'ariv, be part of a "prayer of the multitude"that is always heard.
They emphasized as well that we should arrive early enough at shul to recite all of p'sukei d'zimra, and that righteous women too should undertake to say the above chapters of Tehillim in their homes each day, and to set aside tzedaka for the poor of Eretz Yisroel.
But, what I am genuinely trying to understand is just why the poor of Eretz Yisroel is considered the first priority for our tzedakah dollars during the this war (by those who issued the proclamation), over organizations dedicated to pikuch nefesh, providing halachic services to the deceased, or providing support for those on the front lines of duty?
Any explanations to help me understand would be appreciated. And, please, no disparaging comments (especially during the three weeks). Anything disparaging will be deleted.
3 comments:
Well if you take the word ‘poor’ in a larger context as anyone who needs assistance, then there's no question at all.
Another hypothesis is that the Tzedakkah the letter is talking about, has as primary goal to create zechusim(merits), not to feed the poor.
And the highest level of Tzedakkah, it's original meaning before the advent of dozens of organizations, was to give to the poor, literally to poor people.
In which case it makes the most sense to do so.
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That's a good question, and I wonder whether they meant it literally.
I'm a big believer in trickle-down economics when it comes to Israel. Any money you provide is useful, both in terms of direct effect to the individual or relief organization as well as the longer term, indirect effect of injecting cash into the Israeli economy.
Either way, given that the Agudah is not a Zionist organization, I'm pleased to see that they're doing the right thing here. Their response is almost in lockstep with the OU. Perhaps our showing of achdut at this time will have some positive effect.
The term "aniyei eretz Yisroel" is so broad as to include the organizations of the type you mentioned as well. In fact, the top organizations that would attract donations from the Agudas Yisroel contingency, like ZAKA or Meir Ponim, may well provide most or all of these services.
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