“Rosh Hashanah is about the future” according to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of England in one of his High Holy Days sermons in 2020. He went on to say, “Children are the symbol of the Jewish future, and that is what we choose to read about on Rosh Hashanah. Then once we have prayed for the future and thought about the future and our responsibilities for it, then once we have secured the future, on Yom Kippur we can remember and lament the past.”
For our present purposes, let’s explore how the Foundation focuses on the future. We can leave the lamenting for High Holiday services.
The Foundation has two programs that fit neatly into Rabbi Sacks’ future focused description. One is the B’nai Tzedek program, which is designed, at the outset, to offer 13-year-olds who are getting ready for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs an early introduction to philanthropy. (Typically, families start a fund for their child around their 13th birthday, but a BT Fund can be started at any time.) The other is our Life & Legacy program.
You can see from the description below that the B’nai Tzedek program is focused on helping children think about the future, and to help them grow into young adults who practice righteousness (the meaning of Tzedakah) through gifts to local, national and international charitable organizations. The future for these fundholders is linked to the future of the world around them.
As described by Leeron Stark Resnick, our B’nai Tzedek coordinator, “With a tax-deductible contribution of $175 or more to the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, each teen’s gift is matched with $125 from the Al Feldman Memorial Fund and $250 from the Feldman/Hassenfeld Fund for B’nai Tzedek. This brings the fund’s starting balance to $550, exceeding the $500 minimum required to open a B’nai Tzedek Fund and begin making annual charitable recommendations.
B’nai Tzedek fundholders recommend annual grants to eligible Jewish 501(c)(3) organizations, beginning with 5% of the fund’s value (a $25 minimum distribution). Once a fund reaches $1,500, holders may recommend up to 10% annually, provided the fund maintains a minimum balance of $500. If a fund reaches $5,000 before the fundholder turns 34 (and is at least 18 years old), it may be converted into a Donor Advised Fund in the fundholder’s name, allowing for lifetime charitable giving to Jewish and non-Jewish 501(c)(3) organizations.”
Our second program that fits within Rabbi Sack’s focus on the future is Life & Legacy. Though people often think of a “legacy” as a past record of example or achievement, another type of legacy is the one that we create by planning now to make the future possible. We can provide for future gifts in our wills, or we can designate gifts to charitable organizations by setting aside all or parts of life insurance policies, retirement accounts, or other financial instruments.
In the ten years of the Life & Legacy program, sponsored by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation (famous for its PJ Library program), Nashvillians have promised more than $28 million to multiple organizations, and more than $5 million has already been realized by those groups. Our coordinator for this program is Norma Shirk.
The common denominator of both programs is securing the future. We can take action now to build a strong foundation (with a small “f”), for our children and the broader community, by partnering with the Nashville Foundation (with a big “F”). Start, or contribute, to a B’nai Tzedek Fund, or make Life & Legacy plans, to build the future through intentional philanthropy. Don’t just pray for the future or think about it. Take concrete steps, as Rabbi Sacks suggested, to secure the future, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and going forward.
For more information about the B’nai Tzedek program, contact Leeron Stark Resnick (leeron@jewishnashville.org). You can reach Norma Shirk (norma@jewishnashville.org) for more details about the Life & Legacy program. We wish all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.
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