Give money to environmental organizations

Shalom and welcome to Tikkun Tips. A weekly nugget of Eco-Jewish thought from your friends at the Teva Learning Center.

Maimonides, or the Rambam, a 13th century scholar and one of the most important writers in the Jewish tradition, developed eight ascending levels of tzedakah, charity. His progression is as follows:
1. One who gives unwillingly but nevertheless gives.
2. One who gives cheerfully, but not enough.
3. One who gives enough, but not until he is asked.
4. One who gives before being asked.
5.The receiver knows the identity of the giver, but the giver does not know the identity of the receiver.
6.The giver knows the identity of the receiver, but the receiver does not know the identity of the giver.
7.The giver does not know the receiver, nor does the receiver know the giver.
8. The highest form of tzedakah is to strengthen the hand of the poor, by extending a loan, joining in partnership, or training the poor person out of poverty, to help the poor establish themselves.

The highest form of tzedakah, according to the Rambam, is the old adage, "teach a man to fish…" It is clear why this is the highest form; it requires the most amount of dedication on the part of the giver, and has the greatest effect on the receiver. However, many of us are not always in a position to live up to this standard, which is why it needs to be understood that there are seven other levels.

***Give money to environmental organizations***

Here are a few environmental organizations that we at Teva have come respect:

The Teva Learning Center
www.tevacenter.org
(OK, so it's shameless self promotion, but honestly, we really dig what we do.)

One of only a handful of residential Jewish environmental education centers, the Teva Learning Center works with people aged 9 to 120, teaching them about our rich heritage of living with, not against, nature. We encourage people to explore their individual spirituality, and see how it can be affected by the natural world. We also teach about environmental responsibility and its roots in Jewish practice.

The Nature Conservancy - http://nature.org

The Nature Conservancy has one simple purpose: buy beautiful land, and ensure that it remains that way. Their staff does a tremendous amount of education in order to empower others to live in harmony with the natural world.

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) - http://www.coejl.org

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life was founded in 1993 to promote environmental education, scholarship, advocacy, and action in the American Jewish community. COEJL is sponsored by a broad coalition of national Jewish organizations and has organized regional affiliates in communities across North America.

The Network for Good - http://www.networkforgood.org/

The Network for good is a one stop shopping place if you're looking for charity organizations. Through the Network you can find organizations dealing with a large variety of issues, including the environment, and donate money to them. The Network provides you with information on each organization and different way in which you can give a hand. A great site!

Like what you see here? Tikkun Tips is a project of the Teva Learning Center which relies on the support of individuals to bring our message to people throughout the country.

Your help allows us to expand the scope of our programs and the numbers of people we reach. Please consider making a contribution to support our work.

Support Teva