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“I never knew Mr. Silverman, yet I will never forget him, and what a difference he made.”

Perhaps the most famous teaching about tzedakah comes from the great medieval scholar Maimonides. He describes a ladder with 8 levels of giving, each of them differing in the spirit and time frame in which the gift was given (grudgingly? before being asked?) as well as the relationship between the giver and recipient (anonymously being the highest). The most important part of his teaching, however, is that which is often left out: all charitable giving to worthy causes is positive, and each of us knows ourselves well enough to recognize what inspires us to be most generous, regardless of which rung of Maimonides ladder it falls on. We often tell b’nai mitzvah students, for instance, that if they’re doing a “mitzvah project” they should consider a hands-on opportunity where they will encounter the recipients of their good deeds face to face. It isn’t what Maimonides might have suggested, perhaps, yet we want to help our young students build empathy and awareness as they experience the act of tzedakah, and seeing how their time, presence or gifts influence someone firsthand is pretty inspirational.

The same is often true for adults. When we know exactly how our generosity will benefit others, and can physically witness it, it often inspires us to give more. To that end, many years ago we started a section in the Dateline called the Wish List. It was a way of letting the congregation know things that we wanted but didn’t have in the budget, ranging from Confirmation trip scholarships to computer monitors to coffee urns. The hope was that congregants might see a particular need that they could fill through a donation, and people could see their gifts the next time they walked in the building or saw a photo in the Dateline. Since its inception, the Wish List has been a wonderful way for people to give, particularly those who may not be able to give as much as they’d like in other ways but can provide a one-time service.

In the first months of the Wish List, we received multiple gifts from a congregant named Joseph Silverman. Each time he made a gift, I would call him or write him a note, yet never once did he pick up the phone, write back, or come to the synagogue. It became a great mystery among the staff and Board members who were aware of his gift giving-we had no photos of him, he never answered his door, and no one seemed to know him. We began wondering if there was a chance that it was a false name for someone else who wanted to give anonymously. Sadly, a short time ago we received a call from Mr. Silverman’s brother telling us that he had passed away, and for the first time we learned a little more about the man. His connection to TI was limited-he had no relatives here, had rarely used our resources-yet he felt deeply inspired by our mission and wanted to do what he could, one small act of tzedakah at a time.

I have thought of Mr. Silverman so often over the years, wondering who he might be, and it saddens me to think that I’ll never get to meet him face to face. Yet his legacy reminds me of a teaching I’ve shared with you before on Yom Kippur during the Yizkor service: we are taught that tzedakah tatzil mi’mavet, tzedakah saves from death. It isn’t meant to be taken literally, rather to remind us that when we truly give of ourselves, even anonymously, our lives make an impact and we will be remembered. I never knew Mr. Silverman, yet I will never forget him, and what a difference he made.
 

Current Wish List items include:
$5,000 New wireless microphones
$1,350 LED lighting for our Holocaust Torah Ark
$845 Display lighting for Holocaust Remembrance Area
$500 New cribs for the soon-to-be Preschool infant room (16 needed @ $500 each)
$100 Child care for a Shabbat service
$72 Toward the Broadcast Fund to share services online

To contribute toward any of our Wish List items, visit:
www.ti-stl.org/WishList