Mar 1st, 00:00
During a recent interview on CNN, author of the new book, Rediscovering Values, Rev. Jim Wallis, concluded his remarks by saying that a calendar and a budget are both moral documents. Though I never though of time and money exactly in those terms, Rev. Wallis is absolutely right and although he professes a different faith than Judaism, his comments reflect Jewish values, customs, and teachings.
Think about how you spend your time and your money and what those choices say about you. What we choose to do projects to our family and our friends what is important to us. If we spend much of our time at work and very little time at home, then clearly work is more important than family. If we spend virtually no time observing our faith, then that too is projected to those around us.
How we spend our money is a reflection of our values as well. If we give to the art museum, then we are saying that art is something we value. If we give to the theater, or to a university, or to an organization that provides research for a disease, then we are saying to the world that these are important to us. If we support the synagogue, then we are projecting the importance and vital nature of the continuity of Judaism. The products we purchase and the investments we make all say that we support the companies that make those products and the values they hold as well. Whatever choices we make, make a definitive statement to our family, our friends, and the world around us.
Take a look at your calendar, whether it is old-school like mine, pencil written on paper, or high-tech, on one of those PDA or iPhones. Look at how you spend your time and think about what it says about you. Think about your budget, how and where you spend your discretionary money. Think about what organizations and companies you support and what values they reflect. Both your calendar and your budget are indeed moral documents and moral contracts that speak volumes about who you are.
Like me, many of you are involved in public service and helping others. Many of you donate your time and give generously to support worthy causes within and outside the Jewish community. The opportunities are endless but our time and resources are not, so we have to make such choices wisely.
For the past several years, members of the Temple have participated in the Fullerton Area CROP Hunger Walk, which seeks to alleviate the issues of hunger and homelessness in our own community and around the world. Though this event and those like it held across the nation, created and coordinated by Church World Service, many Jews participate and money raised does go to Jewish causes like MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
This year’s Fullerton CROP Hunger Walk will be held on Sunday, April 25th beginning with registration at 12 noon on the Fullerton Plaza. The goal is very ambitious: we seek to raise $100,000, making this the largest CROP Walk in California and among the largest in the nation. This year’s walk has also been named in memory of Vi Jones, who together with her husband, Henry, have very generously supported the CROP Walk and many other causes for many years, and continue to do so.
If you are able to walk, please join the Temple Beth Tikvah team for this important mitzvah to get to know our neighbors, to participate in a community event, and to raise money for FIES, MAZON, and other worthy organizations. If you are unable to walk or unavailable that day, please consider making a donation of any amount (I do not want to detract from Project Legacy or Temple fundraising in any way) to help those locally and globally. To register or to donate, go to www.churchworldservice.org and search for the Fullerton CROP Walk. We will also have registration envelopes here at Temple in the next few weeks. Remember, how you spend your time and your money is a moral statement of what is truly important and reflects your values and beliefs.