There are a bunch of posts going around about donating to local Charlottesville charities in the face of the hate march, and I think this is a great idea.
Do you wanna know an even better idea?
Donate in multiples of $18.
Here, I’ll explain!
Hebrew is a numeric language. That is, all of its words have a numeric value. If you’ve ever seen the movie π, by Darren Aronofsky, there’s a great scene with a Chasidic Jew who explains a little about this and shares a word problem that hinges on it. So there are lots of puns and things that don’t translate, because, well, even if English had numeric values, we can’t guarantee they’d be the same, you know?
So, let’s take a second and talk about chai. Not the tea, the Hebrew word:
חי. Those of you who followed my conversion may know this is also (part of) my Hebrew name, in its feminine form:
חייה. It means “life.” Chai, you can imagine, is a great word! Lots of kids named Chaim (male) or Chaya (female). “L’chaim,” or “to life,” is the traditional Jewish toast. Our most important holiday, Yom Kippur, features a greeting that translates to “may you be inscribed in the Book of Life.” We talk a lot about chai.
And chai, as you may have guessed, has a numeric value of 18.
It’s a very common Jewish practice to give cash gifts in multiples of $18. For Chanukkah last year I donated $36 to my nieces’ Hebrew school, $18 for each of them, without even a moment’s thought to sync up “what I can afford” with “what’s appropriate and meaningful.” My temple does their donation forms in multiples of $18, with a couple of nominally-normal numbers like $50. It’s one of those cool little cultural things. And I promise you, if Charlottesville gets flooded with $18 donations, the white supremacists and Nazis setting up camp there will notice, and they will know what it means.
Fight the 1488 with the 18.
Fight hate with life.
(Non-Jews, feel free to reblog and share this to other platforms. In fact I genuinely and unironically hope you do, because I’d love to see this take off among gentile donators who want a great, nonviolent way to offer a one-two punch.)
Like you, we were sickened by the violence perpetrated by white supremacists against their fellow Americans this weekend, and alarmed by the rising tide of intolerance in the wake of last year’s election.
If you’re feeling helpless, we understand. These are scary times. But there’s plenty you can do to push back against this evil, and to support those who are threatened by it.
Of course, there’s the larger issue of criminal justice reform in a system tilted against people of color. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is leading the charge there.
And then there’s the even larger issue of empowering the next generation of people of color. The My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and Black Girls Code are doing excellent work, and you can help support it.
Finally, there’s the humble social networking platform you’re using right now. Vital conversations about race and social justice are happening across Tumblr. They need your voice—and they need you to boost the voices of those who might not be heard. You have the power of the reblog. Use it.
Natalie’s fund is one of the few I’ve seen who haven’t made their goal, yet. Without health insurance and with a fractured skull and likely brain injury, she’s going to need significant help and healing time.
This is Not a Blog 