Selected Reform Responsa 141

GIFTS TO ORGANIZATIONS INIMICAL TO REFORM JUDAISM 1986

QUESTION: Should Reform Jews contribute to organizations which advocate changes in the Law of Return in Israel ?(Rabbi D. Taylor, Highland Park , IL )

ANSWER: If we begin by asking the broader question,"Who has the right to expect some help from us or any other fellow Jew ," we must turn to the Biblical demands which deal with the maintenance of the sanctuary as well as charity toward the poor. The temple in Jerusalem , and the earlier Tent of Meeting, were maintained through a gift of the half-shegel by, every adult male. In addition a tithe, as well as portions of all the sacrifices, Were provided for the priests and the Levites. The other gifts mandated by. the Bible , and later literature are intended to deal with the- poor; the widow, the orphan, etc.(Lev. 19, 27.30 ff; Nu. 18.26: Deut.12.17; 2 Ch..31.5 f;; Neh . 13.12; see"Priorities in Charitable Distribution").

As Judaism developed, numerous institutions became part of each Jewish comm, unity. These included a system of schools, both for the education.of the young and advanced scholars, hospitals, as well homes for the aged and destitute(J. Marcus, Communal Sick-Care in Medieval Germany ; M. Guedemann Geschichte des Erzieungswesens; L. Loew, Die Lebensalter; Israel Abrahams , Jewish Life in the Middle Ages). These institutions served the entire Jewish community despite differences of opinion about interpretations of Jewish law.

When major disagreements appeared on the Jewish communal scene in various periods of Jewish history, such common ventures ceased. We can see this clearly in the century long bitter struggle