Charity: The importance of a penny

By Gary Konecky

“R. Phinehas in the name of R. Reuben said: ‘If a man gives a perutah (a penny) to a poor man, will G-d repay him in perutahs?’ ‘Nay, he gave not a perutah to a destitute man, but he verily gave him life. Suppose a loaf of bread sells for ten perutahs, and the poor man has only nine, does not this enable him to buy life-preserving food by his gift of a perutah? G-d saith to the giver: ‘Thou hast saved the life of the poor man; when the time comes for you life to end, I will give it back to you.’’” – Wayyikra Rabbah, 34 as quoted in The Talmudic Anthology, Tales & Teaching of the Rabbis, edited by Louis I. Newman in collaboration with Samuel Spitz, copyright 1945, published by Behrman House, Inc.

Even in the best economy, there are always those who are poor, as divorce, illness and bad luck work against the best of us. When the economy gets bad, even more people fall into terrible difficulties.

In this region, we have food banks that are in desperate need not only of food donations but also cash. Many of these food banks can purchase food cheaper than you can, so if you spend a dollar on a can of soup for them, they get a can of soup, whereas if you give them that dollar they can get more than a can of soup.

In this region, we have soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Many of them need donations and volunteers.

Even with what we do have, we do not have enough food in our food banks, we do not have enough soup kitchens, and we do not have enough homeless shelters.

Maybe your house of worship can help one day a week or one day a month. Maybe, there is a place you can donate bus fare to so that someone so can get to a job interview. Maybe the local service club (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions) can host a benefit for the local homeless shelter.

Maybe there are some used clothes in your closet that can be donated to a homeless shelter or social service agency. Think how valuable those clothes can be if by donating them, someone less fortunate will have suitable clothes to wear to a job interview.

Maybe your company can start a program for hiring the homeless, or the long-term unemployed. If I remember correctly, Bergen Community College hires people with developmental issues to work in their mailroom.

It does not matter what you do, just do something, for we are taught that even a single penny can save someone’s life. Just imagine what can be accomplished with more then a penny, or with a good idea, or by teaming up with others. The task is great and none of us are exempt from helping.