Charity, charite, caridad, nachsten liebe, carity. These are the words for charity in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. An important word, charity, important in any language. But I think you may have noticed that I did not include the Hebrew word for charity. And that is because there is none. In the Hebrew language there is simply no word for charity. Instead we have and use the word TZEDAKAH which translates as justice. The Jewish faith simply does not allow us to consider charity as an option.  Jewish teaching demands it. It is an obligation of faith to seek out justice, to aid the poor, to comfort the neglected, to care for the ill, and to support education. For the betterment of a quality of life for our community we seek justice, we donate, we collect, we distribute funds all in the spirit of tzedakah, in the spirit of justice. We live in a community where people of many faiths share a fundamental belief system rooted in teachings of faith that we all share. That is a tie that will always unite us. That is a tie that will bring us together.

Last year through the various arms of the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation we distributed millions of dollars to make the community of Dallas stronger, to make the state of Texas healthier, to make our great nation more secure, all in the spirit of justice.

At the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation we don’t consider ourselves a building or an address. We are the collective passions, energy, ethics, and brain trust of over a 1,000 donors, volunteers and staff. Combined together with one goal in mind, to make our community a stronger, kinder, and more philanthropic. 

We believe that we can breathe life into the charitable dreams of good people, and turn those dreams into a powerful philanthropic energy. An energy that will last in perpetuity benefiting generations to come.

A black Baptist minister I knew used to tell his congregation “...we all know that you can’t take it with you, but no one ever said you can’t send it on ahead.”

Together, let’s send it on ahead.