When Zimbabwe recently cracked down on CARE—a leading humanitarian organization focused on global poverty which has spent more than $100 million in Zimbabwe in the last 16 years—I started thinking about how some charities do amazing work, but somehow don’t leave the people they serve any better off. This month, CARE would have fed more than 110,000 people who will now go hungry because President Robert Mugabe has limited the charity's access. It's upsetting that 110,000 people depend on CARE every month, and leads me to wonder whether charities like CARE and Feed the Children could be doing more to fight hunger and poverty long term, instead of always focusing on the immediate.

This is a tricky question. If someone is starving in front of you, it’s unimaginable to say to her, “Well, I’m going to give my money to an advocacy group that is helping to eliminate hunger long term.” But if that person is dependent on handouts from you and others, there’s little chance the problem will ever be solved.

Judaism places a high priority on giving time, money and resources to those in need. Over and over again, the Torah commands us to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger among us. We are to provide food and clothing for those who need them, heal the sick, and bury the dead. But of course, it’s not that simple. Thousands of charities compete for our support every day, dealing with everything from hunger relief in Africa and animal cruelty in the States to global warming. Kids Can't Survive: without CARE

Maimonides is famous for his ladder of tzedakah, or hierarchy of giving. The highest form of tzedakah, according to Maimonides, is to give an interest free loan, or to enter into a business partnership. To help someone get back on her feet and provide for herself is considered higher than providing immediate relief to a problem.

In some cases, immediate relief is all that is needed. In the aftermath of major natural disasters, immediate support in the form of food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical supplies is absolutely necessary, and may be all that can be reasonably done. But when we’re dealing with a long term problem with no end in sight, it may be better to think big picture and give to charities that are working on the roots of our problems, not the buds.

Are Your Hamantaschen: ready to go?It's Purim, party people, and that means you have six mitzvoth to observe in the next couple of days. What, you thought it was just a costume party? The Purim mitzvoth are:

1. Hearing the Megillah. We’re supposed to hear the Megillah twice: Once tonight, and once tomorrow morning.
2. Giving mishloach manot to your friends and family.
   
3. Giving money to the poor.
   
4. Having a festive Purim meal.
   
5. Adding the appropriate prayer, Al Hanisim, during the Amidah
   
6. Being extra happy on Shushan Purim, which this year falls on Shabbat.

Word to the wise: Purim is a great time to try out a new synagogue—you get to see how much liquor they’ve got around and how generous they are with it, and sample their hamantaschen. A lot of synagogues offer Purim Carnivals, such as Ikar in Los Angeles. They're hosting a "Justice" Purim Carnival—with games like Guitar Hero and Wii Sports—from which all proceeds will go to charity. To find a cool shul near you, try shulshopper.

We’ve already covered giving mishloach manot here, but remember that the mitzvah is to distribute them on the day of Purim, which is Friday. Ideally, one should send them by messenger, but if your chauffeur has the day off, it’s cool to deliver them yourself. You should put together and send at least two gift baskets.
You Gotta Give: to everyone who asks on Purim
Giving money and gifts to the poor is an integral part of celebrating Purim. On Friday one should try to give money, food or clothing to at least two needy people. The minimum amount you should give is only about 20 cents per person, but if you can afford to give more, then do so. Technically one is obligated to give money to every needy person who asks on Purim, and it’s preferable to give more money to the poor than to spend tons on your mishloach manot or on making a lavish Purim meal.

Having a festive meal on the day of Purim is one of the less commonly observed mitzvoth, but it need not be. Since Purim falls on Good Friday this year, you might have the day off, which means plenty of time to put together a nice Purim brunch. Check out Not Derby Pie for some great ideas, or our own Jewcy suggestions. And we’re supposed to drink on Purim, so how about mimosas? Another suggestion: Brew up a pitcher of Sukkot Sangria, and tell your friends it's Purim Punch.

Being especially happy and joyous on Shabbat, and adding Al Hanisim during the Amidah are pretty easy to figure out without much explanation.

Now, start cleaning for Pesach…

Related: Must Have: Readymade Purim Baskets, How To: Make Your Own Purim Baskets

Jet Set Barbie: kicking leukemia and lymphoma's ass!Love to travel? Hate Leukemia and Lymphoma? If you answered "yes" to both of those questions, then I strongly advise you to mosey on over to Global Traveler magazine, where they recently launched a huge auction to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The travel-themed auction goes through midnight on May 30, 2008, and includes items ranging from business class airline tickets, international hotel stays, spa treatments, and luggage, to rounds of golf and wine.

The goal: To raise $100,000 for LLS, which fights leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma.

So I'm planning my Hanukkah party for next weekend, putting together recipes and making grocery lists, when I come across this. It's an article about how hunger and gluttony exist side by side in our world, and it quickly pulls me out of my latke reverie. Of course, I'm well aware of the hunger problem we face, but to see the facts drawn out like that is an instant reminder:

This year, 854 million people worldwide wake up hungry.

More than one in 10 U.S. residents, including 12.6 million children, live in households that experience hunger.

In the real world, a person dies every 3 1/2 seconds from hunger-related causes.

Since collecting and giving tzedakah is such an integral part of being Jewish, Hanukkah is a perfect time to enlist your friends and family for a charitable cause. This past September, for my 30th birthday, I asked all of my guests to bring a can for donation to a local food pantry. It wound up being a huge success. See for yourself:

If you're getting together with friends or family for Hanukkah this year, this is a really simple way to do some good as a group. Just ask everyone to bring a can along with that side dish or present, collect them all in a box or tough bag, and drop them off at your local food pantry afterward. If you do it, take pictures or video, and send them in with a note about how it went.

San Diego Jews could use a hand.

As the wildfires burn in Southern California, hundreds of thousands of San Diego County residents have had to evacuate. And, not-surprisingly, Chabad-Lubavitch representatives mobilized immediately. Removing the Torah scrolls, backing up their computer files, and printing out community member lists, the Shluchim at over a dozen Chabad centers in the city immediately went to work ensuring that every person appearing on their community list was accounted for.

Four centers were initially designated shelters as safety permitted, with information posted on Chabad San Diego's websites for anyone needing help, each of which made food and shelter available as needed. Chabad's website reports that around 4:30am Monday morning, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Chabad rep to Chabad of Poway, grabbed his community list and began going door-to-door to help his community evacuate. Many had no idea how bad the situation had become. “They thought I was coming to fetch them for morning services,” he said.

San Diego, CA: Jewish organizations have set up communal funds to help families and individuals displaced by area fires. But, funds can't fund themselves, yo.

Goldstein, who is also Chaplain with the Sherrif’s Department, said to Chabad.org, “When they left, they saw the flames advancing, and many are frantic that their homes were destroyed. They are desperate to know what has happened to their homes." (For information on relief efforts in Rancho Bernado/Poway, click here.)

The Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla is among the area Jewish facilities that have been evacuated. Over one hundred residents of the Jewish Sea Crest retirement village were evacuated Monday night, as well. Though the San Diego Jewish Federation is out of the fire zones and not in any danger, many of its employees have been evacuated from their homes and are not at work. It is not known if any of the area's synagogues have been damaged, but a number are, apparently, in fire zones.

Jewish communal leaders in San Diego County held a conference call Tuesday to discuss the situation, however, in the meantime, The Jewish Federation, the Jewish Community Foundation and the Jewish Family Service of San Diego have set up the Jewish Community Disaster Fund to help assist with relief.

Information on donations can be found at Jewish San Diego. To locate any Chabad representatives in San Diego, click here.

If you think that a mitzvah is a good deed then you've come to the right blog.

Let's start by addressing common misconceptions:

• A mitzvah is not a good deed.
• A mitzvah is not a commandment.
• A mitzvah is not helping someone.
• There are not 613 mitzvahs or mitzvot.

I'm not saying that a mitzvah isn't related to good deeds, but they are not the same.

So what is it already? A mitzvah is a certain type of transcendent connection that you create when you do some actions (such as good deeds) with the right frame of mind.

Let's take the most basic example:

You're walking outside and a stranger asks you for a handout. You give him a dollar. Did you do a mitzvah? Let's say for the sake of discussion that he uses the money to buy food to stay alive.

Survey says: You definitely did a good deed. But you didn't do a mitzvah!

It's not a mitzvah until you have in mind as you had him the dollar that you're doing a holy act that unites heaven and earth and imitates God as it were.

A person can spend their entire life helping others and never do a mitzvah. If you are doing good things without knowing it, without consciously choosing, it means that you had parents who gave you good habits. It doesn't make you a spiritually-oriented person.

Judaism says that you were put on this planet for a purpose. Actually, you have two purposes, your meta-purpose and your specific purpose. Your meta-purpose is the same as mine, it is the general purpose of human existence. Your specific purpose is the details of how you are going to realize that meta-purpose.

Our meta-purpose is to transcend the auto-pilot and perceive the hand of God in every transaction of Nature and of Man. What makes this constant awareness so hard is that we have these bodies that have physical cravings and distract us from the spiritual awareness. One solution to this problem is to unite body and mind by focusing like a laser on the transcendence of the body's action.

To put it simply, when I do a mitzvah with the proper focus - called kavanah - I am fulfilling my purpose in this life (in at least the general sense).

Now, how many mitzvahs are there? As I mentioned above, if you say 613, then you've come to the right blog to get your head fixed. Before I tell you the actual number, let's clarify one point: regardless of the number, the fact that there are a set number of mitzvahs means that there are x number of channels through which you can connect your physical existence to the Source in order that your existence be meaningful and not a pointless sham.

Each one of those channels is a unique opportunity to give your life transcendent meaning. So, for instance, giving tzeddakah gives you a different connection than not eating meat and cheese together.

But the uniqueness of a mitzvah compared to another mitzvah is only one facet. Another facet is the way you give tzedakah (or any other mitzvah). Your way is different from the way in which I do it. In order for us to bring the world into harmony, the world needs both your expression and mine of that mitzvah. If either of us fails to do a mitzvah, then our collective karma is lacking one connection that it would have otherwise had.

Therefore the true number of mitzvahs is really 613 times the number of Jewish people. Your mitzvahs affect me and mine affect you.

A mitzvah to the soul is like food to the body: it's good for you to do, but how you do it is just as important as what you do.

Below are three videos to compare and contrast. The first is a player piano recording of Scott Joplin himself playing "Maple Leaf Rag". It's undoubtedly a work of genius.

The second is a human being playing the same song. Which is more enjoyable for you to watch?

The third is a different human playing a different fast song.

What do you think? It seems to me that the contrast between these performances compares to doing a mitzvah on auto-pilot versus with all your heart and soul. You can test this: In the next 30 minutes, try to find a mitzvah to do, and do it with the awareness that you are creating a transcendental connection while you do it. Then let us know below on how it went.

Charity the Neo-Vegan Way: It's not tithing, but it helpsI’ve been thinking a lot about charity this year.  I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m a slacker.  However I may “want to give”, I just don’t unless someone (usually a homeless guy or NPR or the firemen) comes begging.

So in January,  I made a New Year’s resolution to begin tithing, and then we had some unexpected turns in the road, and now I’ve put off the whole process until the road straightens back out.

Which sucks, I know… but that’s the truth. 

 So today I went online to find out what the “rules” are on Jewish charity. And I found this.

The Torah commands us to give 10 percent of our earnings to people in need, based on Leviticus 25:35 and Deut. 15:7-8. This is called Ma'aser, literally "one tenth" (hence the English word "tithe"). This is colloquially called tzedakah (charity), which Maimonides lists charity as one of the 613 mitzvahs.

Ten percent of a person's wages after taxes should be set aside for tzedakah. Business expenses and Jewish education costs may be deducted from the 10 percent. (Some people deduct only two-thirds of a boy's Torah education cost.)

So now I’m really really ashamed of my own lack of Jewish charity all these years, and my absolute disorganization in all charitable matters…

And since misery loves company, I want to know. Honestly. Please answer?  You can anonymize yourself if you like…

How much do you give each year?  In cash money?