168 Daniel Schiff

chilling effect on the 1zedakah of those of modest means. Moreover, there can be no sense in which the dictation of communal direction by those who possess the most wealth is just. If the obligation to accede to communal wishes is voluntarily assumed in the same way by al, then decision-making divisions between the rich and the not-so-rich are the antithesis of the expectations of fairness subsumed within the halakhah

Notwithstanding all these significant Jewish objections 10 providing the rich with special recognition, occasional discussions have explored halakhic justifications for affording the rich distinctive honors. A succinct illustration is provided in a brief piece by the contemporary ethicist Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, in which Rabbi Meir answers the question,“Is it really proper to name buildings after donors?” This is an ancient question to which Jewish tradition gives an emphatic answer: It is proper and even desirable to acknowledge the generosity of donors by perpetuating their names.

Rabbi Shlomo Adret , a medieval rabbi who was one of the greatest Jewish legal authorities of all time, was asked about a maf who donated a synagogue to the community. The man wanted{0 write his name on the entrance, but the community objected; in the end, they consulted Rabbi Adret .

The rabbi's answer was:“Who can stop someone Who dedicates and builds from his own property, for the sake of heaven, from mentioning his name on what is his?” He continues,“And this is a trait of wise and experienced people, in order to give a reward t0 those who perform good deeds. Even the Torah itself adopts this trait, for it records and publicizes those who perform good deeds.”

The main message of Rabbi Adret 's answer is that there is nothing unethical or shameful about recognition. It is appropriate and even desirable to give people credit for their contributions.

However, it is still not proper to give in the first place in order to obtain recognition, or to draw excessive attention to our goo deeds. The Talmud tells us that a person who gives in order to boas!