The market goes up, the market goes down.¬  The price of gas¬ doubles at the pump¬ and milk costs more at the supermarket. But few of the readers of this paper living in the northeast corner of America are devastatingly affected by all of this. But there is a Jewish¬ population halfway across the world¬ that is.
When the dollar goes down in comparison to other currencies, those dollars you give to Federation¬ are worth¬ less overseas than they were last year. ¬ Simply put, contributions to Jewish Federations, which in turn work through their agencies overseas to feed the needy in Israel, the former Soviet Union and other Jewish communities around the world, are not able to buy as much food for their constituents than they did before. Even if you don’t read the financial pages, you know that¬ the dollar has gone down a lot this year.
From a memo distributed by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI): ‚ÄúIn very simple terms, every time the value of the dollar falls by ten cents against the shekel, we lose three million dollars, so that the fall by one whole dollar over the past year has cut $30 million off our 2008 budget.¬  We have been further impacted by inflation in Israel and the Former Soviet Union countries where much of our expenditure takes place, and by the US economic slowdown, which is leading to a reduction in the level of funding we receive from the UJC and the US federations.‚Äù
JAFI and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) which have to deal with this shortfall on daily basis are confronted with terrible choices. They can either cut back on programs and feed fewer people, or they can give the people they serve, the pensioner in Jerusalem or the widow in Moscow, less food.
Americans also feel pain when our economy suffers or when there is a dislocation in the terms of trade that causes the dollar to fall in value.¬ But agencies here that care for our poor and are funded by Federations usually manage, heroically at times, to make do. There is less flexibility though,¬ for our agencies overseas when the dollar goes down. The JDC and JAFI have watched¬ helplessly as the prices of the goods and service they need to buy go up dramatically. As the JAFI memo illustrates, inflation and a falling dollar exchange rate can increases their costs by close to 50% in some places.
All these numbers and talk of dollars and Euros and currencies is tiresome. It‚Äôs not sexy and it‚Äôs not the stuff that a special appeal can wrapped around, so it is left to every individual, as it has so often¬ in the past, to do something on their own.
With part of every dollar given to Federation going overseas worth less in terms of what it can buy (the amount differs from Federation to Federation), the cost of providing basic sustenance to those in need in Israel, Europe, South America and elsewhere will increase. The simplest solution is for every donor to do a bit more, but not every donor thinks in these terms and that yearly Super Sunday¬ phone call is too hurried to explain it all.¬ The dynamic of the falling dollar and what it means to the people that you¬ help with your contributions has to be addressed and there is one thing you can do.
Review your charitable giving with a fresh eye. Yes, everything is important. The building funds, the special events, the critical programs, our influence on the world around us at our alma maters, museums and cultural institutions, but first and foremost is the basic needs of¬ our most vulnerable. This mitzvah, caring for the poor, is one of the reasons that Federations were created, but in today’s harsh reality the only way to truly address this problem is¬ to increase the amount of dollars we allocate to this task. What you can do is simple. If you can, you can¬ send a check¬ to Federation adding to a previous or future commitment or you can think of¬ pledging more funds this year than the amount you normally contribute.
The need is great and it‚Äôs one you won‚Äôt hear much about. It‚Äôs not sexy, but it is basic tzedakah and it is a need you can act on your own to do something about.¬ 

–nrg

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