by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n
Usually a member of the board of directors speaks now, but this summer I have been reading the\u00a0 Memoirs of Elias Canetti, a Sephardic Jew of the last century and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature.\u00a0 Because of that asked if I might deliver this appeal.<\/p>\n
Here is how Canetti describes pre WW I Vienna, where one of the passions of his grandfather was collecting tzedaka:<\/p>\n
\u201cI often saw him in Praterstrasse, accosting some one for\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 money for this purpose.\u00a0 He was already holding his red-leather notebook, in which the name and contribution of each donor were recorded.\u00a0He was already accepting the banknotes and stowing them in his wallet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never got no for an answer; it would have been scandalous saying no to Se\u00f1or Canetti.\u00a0 Prestige within the community hinged on this; people always had cash on them for the not-so-small contributions; a \u2018no\u2019 would have meant that a man was on the verge of being one of the poor himself, and that was something no one wanted to have said about himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe, however, that there was also true generosity among these people. Often, with restrained pride, I heard that so-and-so was a good person, which meant that he was lavish with donations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world has changed. It is probably hard to find somebody today who thinks of giving Tzedaka in this way \u2013 as a means of demonstrating that he or she is not on the verge of poverty.\u00a0 But how many of us give to demonstrate that we\u2019ve had a successful year?<\/p>\n
Yes, the world has changed.\u00a0 Tonight, we begin a day that\u00a0celebrates our <\/span>ability to change. And tonight, I invite you to join the Canetti Conspiracy (something that Dan Brown will not write about).<\/p>\n As we reach into our pockets to support this synagogue \u2013 and other Jewish causes during the year \u2013 let us not think of it as obligation or even duty or even righteousness.\u00a0Rather, let us reach deeper and remember Senor Canetti. Let us think of it as a way of showing thankfulness for the bounty that we enjoy.<\/p>\n Have an easy fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Erev Yom Kippur Appeal 5768 by Marc Mangel Usually a member of the board of directors speaks now, but this summer I have been reading the\u00a0 Memoirs of Elias Canetti, a Sephardic Jew of the last century and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature.\u00a0 Because of that asked if I might deliver this appeal. … Continue reading