Heroism Through Tzedakah

By Michelle Kaman
KOC Field Worker

The first thing which comes to my mind when I think of the word "hero" is Superman.  I imagine him flying through the city, flipping over crashed cars, helping planes land safely by placing them like a feather on the runway and leaping tall buildings in a single bound.  But in real life, we don’t have superheroes.  Sure, we have firefighters and paramedics, not to mention doctors, who may be considered heroes, but I could never do that job.  So how can I be a hero to someone?

To be a hero, to me, means to positively have an effect on someone’s life.  There are many ways in which I can do this, but one way that I believe not enough young people consider is tzedakah (lit. justice, but commonly used to mean charitable giving).  As Jews, we’re required to give ten percent of our income to tzedakah.  Now I ask you, how much tzedakah do you give in a year?  I challenge that you can give more than you think.  However, it’s not just the amount that makes a hero -- in fact every little bit counts.  The Rambam (Maimonides, 13^th century), said that one of the highest levels of tzedakah is to give to someone who you don’t know and who doesn’t know that you are the one giving.  Further, he said that the best thing we can do is to help someone to become self-sufficient.  We can support a run/walk, send a donation to our favorite non-profit (many donations can be made online) or participate in grassroots fundraising ourselves. 

So I challenge you to think about all of the ways that you can be someone’s hero today and then do something about it. 

[Posted 6/21/09]