I. To All Ziv Contributors & Friends, Shalom!

Since we began this Mitzvah endeavor years ago, things have always worked this way: (1) Mitzvah money is donated, mostly through a response to our Annual Report and November Update. (2) We find Mitzvah heroes doing inspired Tikkun Olam work and ask them about their specific needs. (3) We send them money to “make it happen.” (4) Whatever money we have, we give away.  It has always been that simple.   

Of course, our work has expanded enormously over the years.  We have introduced many hundreds of people to our Mitzvah heroes through our five Mitzvah Heroes Conferences around the United States; we have done the same for our Mitzvah heroes in Israel through our two HeroIsrael tours. Our curriculum is in more than 600 schools, camps, and other organizations and agencies, and our website serves as a guide for Tikkun Olam everywhere in cyberspace and, more importantly, in the Real World.  Hundreds of Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrants and brides and grooms now make use of our resources to direct their Mitzvah projects. The sheer number of people that know about our work, contact us, and join us in so many ways, grows so fast, it is hard to keep up with it all.

This past year has seen incredible growth and expansion of our reach. We continue to support many Mitzvah heroes whom we have known over the years, but, clearly our most significant breakthrough is our increased ability to reach out to individuals in need — often through specially-appointed agents — both in Israel and the United States.  Victims of terror in the war against Israel, people who have become hard pressed to make ends meet because of the difficult economic situation in Israel, and people just plain down-on-their-luck both here and in Israel have had their needs met totally or in part because of our work.

This report will speak for itself — descriptions, stories, contact information, Great Moments and Great People on every page….with one proviso — a reminder from my good friend, Rich Moline: Beyond our list are thousands of other people doing an incredible array of individual Mitzvahs.  We do not wish to imply that their Tikkun Olam work is in any way of lesser consequence. There is no such thing as a small Mitzvah, and no one should feel that, just because Ziv works with so many Giants of Tzedakah, that his or her own contribution toward making a better world is insignificant.

 

Following is a Talmudic quote which we feel could well serve as a statement of our belief:

Rabbi Yitzchak said:

The Holy One will provide sufficient Mitzvah money

for anyone who runs to do Tzedakah.

Rabbi Nachman bar Yitzchak said:

The Holy One will provide appropriate recipients

through whom to perform the Mitzvah of Tzedakah.

(Bava Batra 9b)

Read on about our more than 140 heroes and Mitzvah projects.  Lechaim…To Life!

If you would like to support our work, please make checks payable to “Ziv Tzedakah Fund,” and mail them to:

Naomi Eisenberger, Managing Director

Ziv Tzedakah Fund

384 Wyoming Ave., Millburn, NJ  07041

Please note: We now have the capability to receive donations through our website — http://www.ziv.org/ (Click on the “Donate Now” icon in the upper right-hand corner.)

If you would like more copies of the Tzedakah report to share with others, please contact Naomi.

Also, please note our annual reminder: We are not taking requests for funding of additional programs. New projects are found at our own initiative. Please understand — we are a bare-bones administrative operation and could not possibly accept, study, and investigate fully all the requests that we would receive if we invited everyone to submit suggestions. We appreciate your understanding.