Mi Yarum (מִי יָרוּם) – Elevate Our Community
More information about out Yom Kippur Tzedakah Ritual
Why is Chochmat HaLev inviting people into giving tzedakah (charity) during Yom Kippur services ?
Chochmat HaLev has a tiny budget. We are scrappy and we can do a lot with minimal resources. But membership dues only cover a small fraction of that basic budget. For the year 5786, we aim to raise $118,000 (in honor of 18, the Jewish number for chai/life), to support our GO DEEPER offerings, as well as hopefully hire additional clergy to nourish our growing community of 400+ members by next year.
Most synagogues charge exorbitant amounts for their High Holy Day tickets so they can make enough money to cover their annual budget. We keep our ticket prices low so they can be accessible to anyone. But those ticket prices barely cover our expenses for High Holy Days, let alone support our costs for the rest of the year.
In the past, we’ve expended significant staff and volunteer time doing multiple fundraisers each year, and still fell short of our financial needs. Last year we were able to hit our target with just one big call for donations during our Mi Yarum (מִי יָרוּם) – Elevate Our Community campaign on Yom Kippur. So we encourage you to give generously so this can be our only big appeal for the year.
Is it appropriate to invite people into giving tzedakah (charity) during a Yom Kippur prayer service?
Tzedakah, righteous giving, is one of the three paths that our tradition prescribes for shaping the trajectory of our new year. It is a way to take responsibility for what we care about, and to move our actions into alignment with our values. As we proclaim at the end of U’Netaneh Tokef/Who By Fire prayer: וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רֽוֹעַ הַגְּזֵרָה – Teshuva (repentance), Tefillah (prayer), and Tzedakah (charity) are three pillars of our High Holy Days practice. The first two are quite comfortable to be done in a synagogue – we invite you to bring the third into your communal practice as well.
Almost every synagogue – Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and beyond – engages in fundraising during Yom Kippur services, since this is the time of year when most people attend. While it may feel vulnerable to be asked to donate money when your heart is opened by a prayer service, we invite you to think of tzedakah as part of your High Holy Day spiritual practice – not a distraction from it.
If you do not feel comfortable with giving tzedakah on Yom Kippur, we completely respect your personal practice, and you should not feel pressured at all to do something that you are not comfortable with. We encourage you to donate to this campaign before the service at www.tinyurl.com/CHLGive. And if this invitation brings up challenging emotions for you – perhaps around abundance and scarcity, or being welcomed in our diverse community – our Spiritual Leader is available to support Chochmat members in exploring those spiritual issues with a pastoral counseling session. You’re also welcome to spend time in personal contemplation in our Torah Room during our tzedakah ritual if that will support your spiritual practice.
Why do you give people the option of donating on their phones?
Some communities use paper pledge cards for their Yom Kippur appeal. But the challenge is that it takes our already-overstretched staff dozens of hours to follow up on those commitments, and synagogues often get as little as 60 percent of what’s been pledged with pledge cards.
What if I don’t feel comfortable using my phone on Yom Kippur?
Chochmat HaLev is a diverse community with a range of practices related to use of technology on Shabbat and Holidays. We hope you take pride in being part of such a diverse community. If you are someone who does not feel comfortable using your phone on Shabbat or Yom Kippur (as is the case for some members of our community), we welcome and honor your observance, and we offer you other ways to contribute to our campaign, such as physical pledge cards we’ll be distributing in person during the service. You can also donate before the service at www.tinyurl.com/CHLGive. You should not feel pressured to use your phone if it does not align with your ritual observance.
If you are someone who uses your phone for some things but not others on Yom Kippur – especially if you reserve your phone use on Yom Kippur for sacred acts or practical tasks that support your spiritual practice – we invite you to consider tzedakah as a sacred act that would be in the spirit of Yom Kippur. If you are someone who struggles with screen addiction or the toxic content that often streams through our phones, and are looking to escape that dynamic during Yom Kippur or in the sanctuary – we invite you to consider how using your phone for tzedakah might be an intentional way to shift your relationship to your phone and use it for a generative spiritual practice. We have designed our Yom Kippur tzedakah ritual to support this kind of intentional approach.
And if this invitation brings up deeper issues for you around the role of technology in your life, our Spiritual Leader (who specializes in responsible use of technology) is available to support Chochmat members in exploring those spiritual issues with a pastoral counseling session. You’re also welcome to spend time in personal contemplation in our Torah Room during our tzedakah ritual if that will support your spiritual practice.
Why do you use a projection screen during your Yom Kippur appeal?
Part of what makes our Yom Kippur tzedakah ritual so meaningful is that it is done in community. The screen enables us to see how our individual donations, of any size, when combined with those of others, can add up to a powerful statement of commitment and abundance. It also enables us to share the blessings and prayers that are traditionally recited for imbuing sacredness into the act of giving tzedakah.
This year, to deepen this spiritual practice around tzedakah, we are offering our community a new opportunity to set a kavanah (sacred intention) with their donations – a prayer for the new year, a blessing for healing for self or others, a dedication to loved ones, an expression of gratitude. These kavanot will be displayed on the screen so we can celebrate the poignant hopes and dreams of our community during this portal of transformation. We hope this offering will help elevate your tzedakah experience.
