5 December 2004 (Sunday)
tzedaka reminder
We're coming up on the end of the U.S. tax year: a good time to make sure you've given an appropriate amount of tzedaka (charity) this year. Actually, from the Jewish perspective, I think a good time would be right after Rosh Hashana, so that you can make sure you've given an adequate amount (by your own standards, whatever the may be) and make up for any shortfall before Yom Kippur. We're calculating income from R"H to R"H, and next year (bli neder - without taking a vow) we hope to make up the shortfall before Yom Kippur. Well, we also hope to have less of a shortfall, now that we have a good target number in mind.
Julian found this site, which we used to refamiliarize ourselves with the concepts behind ma'aaser k'sofim (the monetary tithe--that is, a tzedaka amount calculated based on your income). The site has lots of great resources, including a more detailed explanation of what you should and shouldn't count as "ma'aser-able income" (thank you, Julian). Now that we know how far behind we've fallen, we're taking the next few days to finalize our list of tzedaka recipients. Maybe I'll post it here after we've given, and I hope we can do better during this year.
