How Do Jewish Women Give?

Many of us were taught that tzedakah (charity) is mandatory for Jews, and Jewish tradition says we should give at least 10 percent of our income to charity. But nobody really talks to us about how to give money, or how to even think about it when our paycheck comes in. Who do we give to? Why? Are there specific considerations as a Jewish woman? We created this issue to offer some ideas and strategies for developing guidelines that work for you.

Michelle Cove, Editor, mcove@brandeis.edu

In This Issue

• Jewish Women’s Philanthropy: The Big Picture

  Many women love having the money to make change—and are busy figuring out how to give the most bang for their buck.

• Who Should Get Your Money?

  One seasoned philanthropist shares her strategy for deciding who will get her donation dollars.

• My Complicated Relationship with Phil

  One 20-something explains the ups and downs of her personal connection to Jewish philanthropy.

• 10 Commandments on Picking a Charity

  How to make absolutely sure your charity of choice is legit.

• Dual Loyalities

  How the field of Jewish women’s philanthropy has divided into two categories.

• Making Philanthropy Cool

  How one Jewish leader is fighting materialism, and making the concept of philanthropy appealing to teen girls. by Stefanie Zelkind We were a small group, six women in our late 20s and six teenaged girls. We weren’t especially rich or powerful, and lacked experience in strategic philanthropic giving. What we had, though, was more important: we ...