15. Contribute to good causes.
Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others do good.
-Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
Invest Ethically
For the two-thirds of Americans who are lucky enough to own investments, where to invest is one of the most powerful financial choices we can make.
Ethical investing (also known as socially responsible investing) is a practice, just like other practices of middot (values). In fact, Professor Meir Tamari of the Jerusalem Center for Business Ethics taught that more than 100 of the 613 commandments in the Torah concern business ethics — far more than the 28 concerning kosher food.
If I have an opportunity to help others without sacrificing my own financial return, I am religiously obligated to do so.
Beth Sirull, former CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, wrote that “I should not have to check my Jewish values at the door” before entering a financial conversation. Yet we may not know how to bring our Jewish values into conversations about investing or even what is possible.
The first step is to recognize that Jewish values hold a claim on my financial decisions. For those among us who are already wealthy, we can start by identifying “what is enough” and then allow ourselves the courage to sacrifice maximal profit when we have surpassed “enough.” For the rest of us, we can bring our investments closer in alignment with our values without sacrificing financial return.
It is easier to find market-rate funds that align with our values now than any time in the past few decades. If I have an opportunity to help others without sacrificing my own financial return, known in Hebrew as zeh neheneh vezeh lo haser, I am religiously obligated to do so.
The financial arena is also a powerful place for systemic change. Investing in “standard” stock-market funds often means investing in the production and distribution of deadly cigarettes, the growth of private prisons and the expansion of fossil fuels. But if enough of us raise our voices and tell major financial institutions that we do not want our money invested in these things, large financial institutions will have to listen.
Have courage. Especially if you are a woman or a person of color, you might legitimately feel that the system was not designed to welcome you in. Some 98% of professionally managed investment money is managed by white men. Still, you don’t need to know financial jargon to know what your values are. You can demand that your financial institutions help you live up to them.
Start somewhere. You could check the mutual funds in your retirement account or synagogue endowment at fossilfreefunds.org and choose other funds that do not invest in fossil fuels. You could write a letter to your company’s 401k plan provider telling them that it is against your religious beliefs to invest in tobacco or fossil fuels and advocate for them to provide a tobacco-free or fossil-fuel-free fund. If you have more time or opportunity, you can consult my book Put Your Money Where Your Soul Is: Jewish Wisdom to Transform Your Investments for Good
Work on a systemic level. Changing your own behavior is meaningful and an important spiritual practice. But our institutions speak more loudly and speak for all of us. Advocate with your synagogue, your Jewish Federation, your Jewish Community Center and any other organization you support to look at their own endowments. Don’t expect them to change right away, but don’t let them off the hook for living their values in their investment choices. You do not need to do this alone. You can find a group of friends who share your goal and advocate together.
