That’s why we want to encourage as many rabbis and Jewish leaders as we can to join us to take a pledge to raise a small sum of money annually for life-saving charities and to let their congregations know about their incredible ability to save lives in the 21st century.
Welcome to the Jewish Effective Giving Initiative! The initiative is a project of the World Union for Progressive Judaism created to inspire rabbis and Jewish leaders to save lives by introducing their communities to effective giving.
By “effective giving” we mean donations to some amazing charities that are, according to rigorous research and the best available data, extremely efficient at saving and substantially improving lives around the world.
Photo courtesy of the Against Malaria Foundation
Donations to some of these remarkable charities can save the life of a child for as little as $3,500-5,500.
There are hundreds of thousands of charities in the world, but only a handful that can have such an impact on the lives of others—making informed decisions can save lives!
As inspirational community leaders, rabbis are in a unique position to broaden their congregants’ moral horizons and to unlock their potential to change the world for the better—to prevent blindness, disease, death, and suffering.
Together, we hope to make Progressive Judaism a leading force in the fight against extreme global poverty.
With the introduction of the Jewish Effective Giving Initiative, progressive Jewish leaders and their congregations have the opportunity to do an enormous amount of good, not only through their direct donations to the most effective charities, but also by setting an example of impactful charitable giving for other religious leaders around the world.”
I’m excited to see the Jewish Effective Giving Initiative connecting religious leaders and congregations with some of the world’s most effective charities. This project has the potential to help save many lives and do an incredible amount of good.”
‘If I am only for myself, who am I? Love your neighbor as yourself. Choose life. Leave the gleanings of your harvest for the poor and the foreigner. Blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. Charity is the sign of a righteous man. Repair the world.’
Giving has always been at the core of Jewish ethics, and Jewish ethics has always been informed by the best thinking of its era. Today we have an unprecedented understanding of which kinds of giving do the most good, and Judaism can be at the forefront of initiatives that attract the righteous and help repair the world.”
Whoever saves one life,
saves the world entire…”