The New York Times has a special section (free registration required) about charity. The lead article, What is Charity?, explains that "[n]onprofits are richer than ever, but the share going to the poor continues to dwindle*." There are stories about Katrina, of course, but they also ask why the world hasn't done more after the South Asian earthquake. There's an interesting article about the increase of Christian-run companies around the globe. Finally, they ask why people donate in the first place. (Edited to add: For the conservatives in the house, the Times also asks, Did the New Deal Kill Old Giving? The ultimate answer seems to be: not really. A recent study found that there was a "reduction of three cents in church spending for every new dollar of government money.")
* Interestingly, the Salvation Army, which I advised against donating to in my previous post, was the only "human services organization" to receive a gift last year of over $100 million. (There were 14 gifts over $100 million last year.) Please allow me to say that you should definitely donate to them instead of donating nowhere or to somewhere that needs the money less (for example "charities" that are simply for building bigger churches or supporting people in kollel**.)
** "A Kollel usually refers to an institute for advanced studies of Talmud and of rabbinic literature for post-graduate Jewish adults, essentially a yeshiva which pays married men a regular monthly stipend or annual salary to study Judaism's classic texts in depth." (wikipedia)
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3 comments:
Could you tell us why you don't support Kollels. They apparently need the money since the men are learning and not working.
On the nation of charity, how do you explain why J.P. Morgan, Andrew Canigie and Joe Rockerfeller gave so much charity when none of it was deductible since there was no income tax back then? These guys had fortunes we can't even imagine today. They make George Soros look like a piker. I was amazed to find there was a Henry Ford Hospital when all I heard about him was his anti semitism and cheapness. It's considered to be a better hospital in the Detroit area.
Could you tell us why you don't support Kollels. They apparently need the money since the men are learning and not working.
It is my impression that there are a large number of men in kollels who are "learning" but not significantly contributing to the either the Jewish community or to the world at large. I think there should be money made available somehow to real scholars, but not to your average Yossi who'd rather sit and learn than go out and work for a living. I believe that money would be better spent helping the poor and needy. Obviously, I'm not going to stop you from donating to kollels if that's your choice; I just think that you could better direct your donations.
On the nation of charity, how do you explain why J.P. Morgan, Andrew Canigie and Joe Rockerfeller gave so much charity when none of it was deductible since there was no income tax back then?
Beats me. There are countless possible reasons, ranging from simple altruism to wanting people to think well of them to wanting their names to outlive them.
It probably made them feel good about themselves, too.
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