Kill the Rich

I don't know if I've mentioned that my synagogue is being remodeled.  Yes, the synagogue that I live by so I don't have to drive on Shabbat, has been under construction all year so I've had to drive to the JCC for Shabbat.  Helsie's best laid plans.  Oh well.

The remodel is approaching completion and I noticed the other day that some one had tagged the sign out front with "Kill the Rich".  I was with the Queen of Trope when we saw this message.  I asked her if we needed to dig out our Marie Antoinette wigs.  (Would those be with Purim costumes or somewhere with hats?)

Mostly what I wonder about this sign is if I'm included with "the rich".  Certainly from a world perspective I am.  The only times I miss meals are when I do it intentionally, like on fast days.  I suppose that if they actually do kill the rich, I may be included.  It seems a bit harsh, but I'm counting on the short American attention span.  Ohhh look... a zombie!

I was coming out of Target the other day and there was an elderly black man sitting with a box for donations for the homeless.  When he went into his spiel, I stopped him and said, "You know you always get all my change."  That made him laugh and we started to talk.  He's not homeless.  He's retired but this is his volunteer job.  Then we started talking about how, in an instant, your life can change and you can be the one in need of help.  While we were discussing this, an old white guy with a crew cut came up behind him and started screaming (not an exaggeration), "You just take other people's money!"  He screamed this several times until he realized that we were happily continuing our discussion despite him and went to traumatize someone else.

 Yes.  He's taking other people's money.  If he hadn't been screaming I would've been inclined to pat him on the hand and tell him, "Yes, you get it.  He takes money from other people and gives it to people who need it more."  It's the basic part of tzaddakah.  Christians translate this word as "charity", the correct translation is closer to "justice".  

My guess is that if a community is truly practicing tzaddakah, that nobody decides that it's a good idea to kill the rich.

In the mean time, I think I'd better get a wig.  If I'm going out, I want to do it in style.