B'nai Tzedek
What do WE care about?

We care about our Jewish Communities and changing the world.

Adults think we only care about talking on the phone, playing basketball, or listening to music. (Okay, maybe not all adults are like that).

They'd like to believe that we only express ourselves by listening to loud music, eating junk food, and wearing ripped jeans.

Well, they're totally wrong. We also care about our Judaism and the world we live in.

We look around and we see poverty and hunger and disease. We walk down the streets and see homeless people with nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. We hear about bus bombings in Jerusalem and anti-Semitism in Russia. We see when there is no justice. We watch the news and we know that people suffer.

As Jewish kids who have all just had our Bar or Bat Mitzvah, we know that Judaism teaches us that it is a mitzvah to give tzedakah.

However, until we found B'nai Tzedek, we wondered how we could make a difference. B'nai Tzedek, which has provided us with our own individual tzedaka accounts, gives us a chance as Jews to play a part in improving the world.

It also made our Bar and Bat Mitzvah very special. It wasn't all about getting checks from our parents' friends and doing the limbo under that lame stick. We got to do something important, something that mattered. It made each one of us feel good.

We are going to tell you what we really care about.

Hopefully, you care about these things too. Because we want you to be part of our group. Part of the few brave teens who are beginning to make a difference in the world and make our voices heard.

"All I care about is my flute and feeding people who are hungry"
"At my Bat Mitzvah, I had this awesome feeling like I was finally becoming an adult for the first time. Suddenly, I was going to have all the rights and responsibilities that adults have to deal with. One of the responsibilities is giving money to causes that are important. I am interest in giving my money to F.A.N.N., a Jewish organization in my city that brings food to people who are hungry. I want to be able to make a difference and I believe I can. Anyone can. Even if you are only one person, you have a chance to make a change in someone's life just by caring."

"All I care about is my bike and sheltering the homeless"
"Everybody always tells you about mitzvahs. To be a good person you gotta do this and gotta do that. I guess giving charity is a mitzvah. It's a good thing to do because it's a way to help those who are not as lucky as you. But you also feel like a better person when you do it. That's why it's kind of fun. You get to help others, but you also help yourself. And I get to spread my money around to many different Jewish organizations. I guess it's like lots of different mitzvahs. B'nai Tzedek lets me do that. I mostly want to support programs for homeless people, but I want to do it in a Jewish way. Without B'nai Tzedek, I would have never had the chance to do this."

"All I care about is my guitar and fighting anti-Semitism"
"I am now a philanthropist. I didn't even know what that word meant before B'nai Tzedek. It means that I give money to causes I believe in. It's sort of like those Tzedakah boxes at school. But bigger, much bigger. With B'nai Tzedek, I get to give to some great places that help a lot of people. The cause I want to give to most is fighting ant-Semitism. There are still a lot of places in the world like Russia where Jews are discriminated against. Even in America, synagogues get vandalized and sometimes people say hateful things about us - especially on the Internet. By giving to the Anti-Defamation League, I can help make sure that there is an organization that is watching over and keeping Jews safe. It means so much that B'nai Tzedek allows me to do that."

"All I care about is talking on the phone and women's rights"
"There's really a lot of reasons why I love B'nai Tzedek. You get to help Jewish organizations get the money they need. Nothing is more cool than that. I wanted to be able to donate charity to this group called Hadassah because I believe in their women's programs that talk about allowing women to do more in society. It was a great chance to express my support for the work they do. I have also given money to my synagogue to help the youth group provide scholarships for kids who can't afford to attend all the programs. I believe that every single person, no matter who, should have the chance to participate in being Jewish."

"All I care about is tennis and nursing homes for the elderly"
"My Judaism is really important to me. Living my life as a Jew means having a good set of values. B'nai Tzedek allows me to act on those values. I started volunteering at a Jewish nursing home in my school, and now I keep going to visit the people there. It makes me feel good to make them happy in their old age. B'nai Tzedek gives me a chance to do even more for them. Because if one person can make a difference, imagine what many people can do together. It is great to combine my money with other kids' and support causes we all believe in. If we don't give to worthy Jewish causes, who will take care of all our people who need help."

What Do We Really Care About
B'nai Tzedek ...
How we show we care ...

B'nai Tzedek Agreement - A contract of sorts which enables the student to feel more mature in their obligations.