The idea of helping others resonates strongly in me. One of the reasons I love Judaism so much (despite frequent headaches it gives me) is the importance it places on the good deeds, charity, and general idea of helping and giving. My family donates generously on regular basis, and we try to volunteer as much as we can. A side point, within my own family we don’t always have consensus on our causes, where to volunteer and which organizations to volunteer for, but we are united in the belief of helping via monetary and non-monetary means.
I don’t think the desire to help is inherent to mankind. If it was intrinsic to us, no major religion would mandate obligatory donations. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity command its followers to donate. I think the fact that these religions not only mandate obligatory donations, but also specify how much people ought to donate, is a further proof that unless forced somehow, a person isn’t necessarily going to help others.
Since my Indian experiences I have become a lot more persistent in my calls for donations, to a point of apparently annoying few people. I was asked if I don’t get tired of basically trying to guilt people into giving, for whenever people are reminded that others have less than they do, and are asked to help, it evokes sense of guilt. My answer was “No, I am not tired. And I don’t think I am going to get tired. If anything, I see myself getting involved even more so than now!”
I learned theories of unequal wealth distribution way back in Bukhara and furthered my studies on it in USA, and Israel. I have written papers on it, participated in various workshops on the subject, and etc. But by and large, the theories mostly remained theories. Only in India did I understand the practical implications of unequal wealth distribution theory. I saw it “live” so to speak, and it was very painful to be a witness to what the theory is all about in its practical form.
So no, I don’t feel guilty when I ask people to donate. Because, you know, a lot of us have so much more than others do. If we can blow $100 in a matter of few hours on drinks and partying, we can certainly find $20 to give to an organization that helps the poor. If my friends, who don’t have much, still find ways to donate or help, so can people who have more money. And yes, I fully understand that a person’s wealth is his or her domain, and yet, I feel no guilt whatsoever for being a voice that reminds others to not forget to give.
