At the age of 13 a Jewish boy is required to take responsibility for commandments (mitzvahs). The Torah (first 5 books of the bible) enumerate 613 mitzvahs. Halacha or Jewish law clarifies those mitzvahs for daily use.

Up until 13 years old the parents are responsible for the mitzvahs.

On the Saturday morning Jacob will be leading the service and reading from the Torah. This will his first opportunities to perform these mitzvahs as an adult.

After such an honor we will celebrate with a lunch and a party.

Wikipedia’s description of Bar Mitzvah

This book addresses the issues of raising a Jewish child in an assimilated world. Wendy does a fabulous job communicating what teenagers are going through, a little of her experience and advice that she gives parents on a regular basis. Much of it is a help just reading about teen behavior and making me and my wife sit down and agree upon the rules and where we let things go.

I really enjoy reading this. Check with in a couple years to see if any of it works.

The Blessing of a B Minus

Rashi explains that lending money to the poor is greater than one who just gives it because it sets up the situation where the poor man is not ashamed to borrow. He also says that lending is better perhaps because one generally lends a larger sum than he would give as charity, and that may suffice to make the poor man independent.

Maimonides categorized the statements about tzedakah and help in the Talmud. He stated that there are eight levels of charity, each greater than the next.
8. Giving begrudgingly
7. Giving less than you should however giving cheerfully
6. Giving face-to-face after being asked
5. Giving face-to-face before being asked
4. Giving when you do not know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient knows your identity
3. Giving when you know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient doesn’t know your identity
2. Giving when neither party knows the other’s identity. For this is performing a mitzvah solely for the sake of Heaven.
1. Lending money, creating a partnership, or finding him a job to remove the need

Tzedakah is our obligation. Even the poor are not excused from giving tzedakah. Tzedakah is mistranslated as charity which is the benevolent goodwill toward the poor. The root of Tzedakah is justice, righteousness or fairness. By giving tzedakah or lending to the poor we are doing what is right and what is necessary to repair the world.

We are taught that we should not be embarrassed to receive tzedakah if we need it. We should also be humble and accept whatever job is available for us if we are out of work.

We all need to play our part to make sure our world has justice. Give tzedakah on  a regular basis to make it a habit. When the opportunity comes, we should help find jobs for those that do not have one. And if we are so fortunate, we should hire those who need a job. On the recipient side we need to accept money or a job with humility as well as pay forward the opportunity.

If we do these acts of tzedakah and lending to the poor, we will strengthen our communities. We will make people feel like they are part of the community and want to help others. If we lend money and find jobs for people they will be able to support themselves. Hopefully these people will feel the need to help others that end up jobless like they once were.

References:

1. http://www.come-and-hear.com/shabbath/shabbath_63.html#63a_38
2. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/45907/jewish/Eight-Levels-of-Charity.htm
3. http://www.jewfaq.org/tzedakah.htm

It was Friday afternoon maybe around 4:15PM. I was in my car riding home for Shabbat dinner and Kol Nidre. It was a warm fall day and the traffic was crawling so I had my window down. I was probably listening to the sports radio station as I do now on a regular basis. It is a nice way to avoid the seriousness of the world news.

There are four lanes traffic behaving much like independent but connected slinks. One lane moves slowly and compresses little while the left lane goes fast and then comes to a screaching halt. I am in one lane from the left.

I notice the car to the left of me is sort of hanging back. He did not dart forward right away and his window was being let down. A portly man driving a non-descript car greets me with Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova. I smile and say something unintelligible back. His car scoots forward once more.

As the traffic moves along he stays in place and waits until I pull up. He leans over and jokes that if the traffic is this bad all of the way home he will not have to fast because he will not make home before tomorrow night. I laugh and say something and the traffic moves on.

If it were not for my Kippah he would not have known I was Jewish and he would not have wished me a happy new year.

Sarah dies and the beginning of the portion. It is about Abraham negotiating and buying some land that has caves. He tells the people that he would like to bury his wife there.

Here is a brief review from Wikipedia.

A burial place for Sarah

Sarah lived 127 years and died in Hebron, and Abraham mourned for her. (Genesis 23:1–2) Abraham asked the Hittites to sell him a burial site, and the Hittites invited him to bury his dead in the choicest of their burial places. (Genesis 23:3–6) Abraham asked the Hittites to intercede for him with Ephron son of Zohar to sell Abraham the cave of Machpelah at full price. (Genesis 23:7–9) Before the Hittites at the town gate, Ephron offered to give Abraham the field and the cave that was in it, but Abraham insisted on paying the price of the land. (Genesis 23:10–13) Ephron named the value of the land at 400 shekels of silver and Abraham accepted Ephron’s terms, gave him the silver, and purchased the land. (Genesis 23:14–18) Abraham buried Sarah in the cave. (Genesis 23:19)

The thing I am most excited about for my son is the opportunity to wrestle with the text. He is an excellent writer and likes to think deeply about serious issues. I think this will be an excellent challenge and I look forward to what he comes up with.

The biblical text for Genesis 23 in Hebrew and English can be found at mechon-mamre.org

You can listen to the Hebrew reading of Genesis 23 in Hebrew