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Ok, so my grandma went on a trip to northern and eastern europe a few weeks ago on a jewish tour thing and she went around and saw all the remaining jewish communities and temples in the baltic states and russia and what not, and she said something that really bugged me. She said that in these places, every temple had a soup kitchen where they fed the poor and homeless jews of their community even though they themselves had barely anything at all. Living in America, the only religious places which soup kitchens that Ive ever heard of are churches, and it got me thinking, are american jews really actually helping to spread the stereotype of being greedy? Every temple Ive ever seen charges ridiculous amounts of money to join then even more ridiculous amounts of money to go to regular services, let alone the high holy days. It really bugs me in a way that I dont like.

Your thoughts?

but thats what Im talking about. the people with the soup kitchens had barely anything yet they still did them, but we have alot more and do way less

I know I can't afford the $180 tickets they're selling for Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur... So I'm going to services at Chabad, where it's free, rather than at my regular shul. I explained to my rabbi already that I don't have the money. x_X

umm...I don't know where you live, but here, it's very different.


There's always some sort of a fundraiser going on, donations to the poor, and canned food drives. It's a fairly good neighborhood, yes, but that doesn't mean they don't do a lot and aren't trying to help.

what naphtali said is absolutely true-and should be true for every jewish community. i can't even count how many times the torah mentions "the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the prosilyte". one of the outstanding characteristics of a proper, functioning, observant community is the way it treats those less fortunate among them. that, and respect for elders, but that's another, very interesting (and slightly depressing) discussion. sadly, most jewish communities aren't exactly properly functioning or observant, so there you go.

although i disagree with the entrance fee quite strongly, one cannot claim that it's unjustified; shuls need money too, and it's simply the easiest fast way to acheive funding, especially in areas where poeple only show up that time of year, and things like "membership", and "donations from a supporting community" don't work. in my area, most shuls (that's synagogues, for the frie among us) charge a certain fee to reserve a seat. come rosh hashana, the doors are open for all, but one can't count on having a place to sit.

ma'aser (from the hebrew word for a tenth, litteraly, tithe) is the 10% "income tax" a jew is obligated to give, originally to the cities of the levyim, but nowadays to charity. when in doubt, always assume christianity stole it from somewhere else.

the problem with soup kitchens in jewish communities is that they only work in primarily jewsh areas, require funding, and above all, demand. i don't know any really rich jewish families, but most live well enough, even if on debt. hardly anybody today qualifies as "impovershed" acccording to jewish law, anyway (one must be inable to afford 2 meals, which today translates to about $5-10, in order to be elligible for food)

one of the major reasons, if not the reason, we do not have the third temple today is because of the way we treat our fellow jew. (i may have been biased or mislead/misleading before with such absolute statements, but this is as true as anything. please, please talk it to heart. it's why so many weep on tisha b'av. and to those who keep tikun chatzos, my hat goes off to you (figuratively speaking, of course))

I live in Bentonville. Home of Wal * Mart and too many rich snobs with too much money. The kind of people who buy Hummers just to show that they have that kind of money...

Thank God for the Middle and Lower Class.

as if that mattered.

ever heard of a place called new square?

not all synagogues are so thorough or judgmental with their finances.