I give it a two thumbs up! here are some of the things that I liked about it:1. The cause is a great one. In-vitro and other cutting edge reproductive technologies cost a fortune and are rarely fully covered by medical insurance. I'd hazard that bringing about a new Jewish life is at least on par with saving and existing one. The agmas nefesh that infertile couples experience is horrible. Additionally we all know what Khaza"l teach us about the walking-dead existence of those who are childless. This is a Hashqafa that is reinforced in so many ways in contemporary frum society. So when a healthy baby is born to a formerly childless couple three lives are being saved. Talk about leveraging your Tzedaka dollars!
2. The clever tie-in to T"u B'Shavt. Someone there knows from marketing! It's wonderful to see some pastoral imagery depicted for a change.Most tzedaka ads today depict either suffering or sufferers, Khasidic singing stars and/ or chafing dishes at buffet tables. Our society is very urban(without being urbane) and concrete jungle-like so it's nice to pause occasionally to admire the verdant beauty of trees, even if they don't grow in Brooklyn and even if they are a mere image on ones computer screen. There is much that we can learn in our own avodah from botanic life...but that's a topic for another post... if at all.
3. The explicit and implicit message that virtue is it's own reward. No promises of cancer cures, shidduchim for the older single or beating your IRS audit. No promises or guarantees of anything at all. The ad concludes with a blessing and a T'u B'Shvat appropriate wish, that the saplings grow to be like the parent tree. Give Tzedaka because its the right thing to do. What a concept!
I'm so impressed I might, repeat might, even contribute $5! DISCLAIMER: The above sentence is not to be construed as a neder or a pledge.
בא המבדיל והעמידן על אחת
"Those who cannot tolerate Havdala cannot appreciate Qedusha"
6 comments:
Nee Evanston? Where are you now?
Very nice. And I agree about the points you made.
Having family members and friends who unfortunately dealt with the heartbreak and anguish of infertility (and now, Thank God, have children) I can't say enough about how having children for them is literally "bringing the dead back to life". Chazal were really spot on in their analogy.
Although freethinkers might argue that it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, i.e. that societies built on Divrei Khazal so ostracize and marginalize the childless that even if they don't have passionate emunas Khakhomim in the teachings of Khazal they are made to feel dead by their friends family and neighbors.
Note how many great Gedolim were childless (at least after the War) Chazon Ish, Lubavitcher, Satmar, Belzer and Gerrer Rebbes, Rav Henoch Leibowitz Rav Simcah Wasserman, Rav Ahron Kohen (Khevron Yeshiva)and IIANM Sara Schnierer too.
Somehow I don't think any of these people walked around thinking of themselves as zombies. there's no way they could have and still have led such productive lives.
The fact is that when a couple decides they are going to try to have a child, every month that brings that little reminder that they didn't succeed is a special kind of hell.
You don't need Chazal to point out this truth of human nature. Their pointing it out is a directive to be kind and compassionate to childless couples not some approbation to ask every married couple "nu? do you have any children yet?"
http://thepartialview.blogspot.com/
Nice post. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.
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