In the wake of the monumental earthquake in Haiti, the Orthodox Union today urged members of the Jewish community to open their hearts and to submit their contributions through the OU website. The OU will serve as a collection point for donations, which will be directly forwarded to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).
In a statement, OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Steven Weil and OU President Stephen J. Savitsky, declared:
“It is difficult to comprehend the enormity of the devastation in Haiti. Jews are described by the Talmud as ‘rachmanim b’nei rachmanim,’ a particularly compassionate people who are sensitive to the suffering of all, and we cannot sit by and ignore this terrible drama of human suffering and misery. We echo the words of the Psalmist who said, ‘imo anochi b’tzarah’ (‘I am with him in distress’, Psalm 91), when we call upon members of our community to open their hearts and join us in extending a helping hand.
Through our website, the Orthodox Union is serving as a collection point for donations, which will be directly forwarded to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The JDC has already helped to send an Israeli relief team of medical, search and rescue, and post-trauma counseling experts to assist survivors, and will continue to assist with the help of our contributions. Your support is needed immediately.
Please go to www.ou.org to donate.
(OU Press Statement)
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4 Responses
I am assuming that this is only said because its politically correct. After all ‘aniyeh iyrcha” does come first and while my heart goes out those over there, there are so many people hurting here.
# 1 What does aniyeh ircha have to do with sending $10?.
Most people are not giving less money to aniye ircha bec they gave a Haity fund $10.
#1 Did you think of anyei ircha the last time you spent twenty bucks on a pizza. Tzedakah is not a zero sum game. The Rambam in Hilchos Melachim states that one should give tzedakah to the poor non-Jews while also giving to poor-Jews. The reason the Rambam gives is not because of political correctness or “evah” but rather because Hashem is “rachamov al kol maysov” and we must emulate his ways. Yes, non-jews are also Hashem’s maysov.
Little clarification, if one is able to give to both kol hakovod, but if that’s your tzedaka for the week or month I’m not so sure……