Passing the Value of Philanthropy Through the Generations
As young Jewish parents of modest means, my husband and I always wished we could give more money to the causes we cared about. In our tradition, the Hebrew word tzedakah ( צדקה ), is not just the word for charity but comes from the root meaning ‘justice.’ The practice of contributing to social justice was engrained in both of us through our parents and tradition. When I decided, a couple of years ago, to establish a small family fund with the Community Foundations, I did this to honor my late husband and our family values. While this is a very modest fund, it was started with a specific goal — to hand down to my grandchildren the value of thoughtful giving.
When asked to write this, I was humbled — after all, this is just a tiny fund compared to so many of the other family funds housed here. But the Community Foundations family made me feel that my family and I were valued for our commitment to giving, and not for the amount of our assets. Perhaps others will follow my lead. My plan is to give my three grandchildren full responsibility to select charities important to them. We started in 2022, and I was so proud of the thoughtful and caring way they decided where to put the donations. My 12-year-old grandson told me, “My process starts off with me considering what I like versus what other people like. Then, I choose one from each topic and donate half…to each of them.” Last year, he gave to the Israeli Guide Dog Center and to the National Diaper Bank Network reflecting his love of animals, babies, and people in need. My 15-year-old grandson loves cooking and believes in helping empower vulnerable people in his community. He chose to give to the Spice Kitchen incubator of IRC in Utah and the Trevor Project. My 17-year-old granddaughter’s values were reflected in her choices of World Central Kitchen, the Malala Fund and the Utah YWCA. While these donations were small, they engaged their parents for some guidance, researched, and made thoughtful choices.
From my granddaughter, “I’m grateful for the opportunity that Bubbie has given me to participate in philanthropy in some small form. I think it is really important to me. There are so many causes that deserve attention and that I would love to be able to support. But this forced me to prioritize and reexamine what is most impactful, personally. I recognize the privilege inherent in being able to donate money, so I feel a responsibility to put care into it.”
