On Sunday, 20 Tevet 5749 (1988), the Rebbe stood before a line of hundreds of people who had come from far and near to 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn to receive their portion of Sunday Dollars. For more than two years, the Rebbe had received countless visitors like this each Sunday, handing out single dollar bills, and occasionally a few more, to everyone who arrived. They were expected, in turn, to give an equivalent dollar to someone in need, an act of tzedakah (charity), which the Rebbe was known to encourage in his followers with unique dedication.

On this particular Sunday, the Rebbe received a visit from international philanthropist, diplomat, and public servant Ronald Lauder. The Rebbe handed Lauder a single dollar bill, saying:

“It is my idea that at the first encounter of two Jews, they should do something for a third Jew. And the first thing they can do for a third Jew is to give tzedakah. And that is the idea of giving: It is not much money, but it is an indication of what every one of us should do: When any one of us meets a Jew, start by looking to do something that will benefit a third Jew…”1

This idea adds an astounding additional dimension to our search for purpose. In the same way that each individual has their own unique Divine purpose, each generation receives its own overarching, collective purpose, representing a distinct area of focus for that generation.2

During the era of Talmudic Sages, for example, this arch-mitzvah was the all-consuming study of Torah.

But the Rebbe heralded a radical, new generational mission, first introduced by the Alter Rebbe, which was dictated by the needs of our precise time and place in the story of creation. This new meta-mitzvah would take the lofty, inward focus of past Sages and turn it outward, creating a new paradigm that emphasized action and service to others. This was not a call to deprioritize introspection and study.3 It was simply a new, predominant priority that directs us to do the particular work of our time, and a call to be willing to shift focus when our portion of that work arrives.

Our generation’s purpose, according to the Rebbe, was to become a charitable generation —a generation of givers.

Mitzvah of the Day

This revolutionary reorientation toward tzedakah was first noted in the Tanya, which declared that the time for a profound shift had arrived. The Rebbe often quoted the following passage in promoting this principle:

“...Direct your hearts to these words, which are expressed very briefly, how in these times, when the approaching footsteps of Mashiach are close upon us, the principal service of G‑d is the service of tzedakah. As our Sages, of blessed memory, said, ‘Israel will be redeemed only through tzedakah.’

“Our Sages, of blessed memory, did not say that ‘…The study of the Torah is equivalent to them all’ [to all the mitzvot previously enumerated in the Mishnah], including acts of loving-kindness, except in their own days, for with them, the principal area of Divine service was the study of the Torah, which is why there were such great scholars at that time…

“However, in a time when the approaching footsteps of Mashiach are close upon us, [the main service of our generation pertains] to the level of Asiyah [action or deed, because] there is no way of truly cleaving unto it [G‑d’s presence in the world] and transforming the darkness of the world into its light except through…the act of tzedakah.”4

Give It Your All

Understanding why tzedakah is the mitzvah of our time requires us to examine briefly its metaphysical nature as it relates to purpose, and the unique role that giving to others plays in fulfilling the mission of our time. According to Kabbalistic interpretations, tzedakah is singular in its power to elevate humanity and fulfill the ultimate purpose of creation. As with all mitzvot, the energy we invest in acts of giving elevates the animal soul, and, in so doing, brings the light of G‑dliness into the world. When you fulfill a typical mitzvah, however, you are only putting a portion of yourself into the act—you use your arm and head to put on tefillin, for example. You may use your mouth to eat matzah, but your intellect isn’t necessarily involved. But when you perform tzedakah, you’re doing so much more.

As the Alter Rebbe summarized in Tanya:

“Now, you will find no other mitzvah in which the animating soul [of the body] is clothed to the same extent as in the mitzvah of charity. For in all other mitzvot, only one faculty of the [animating] soul is clothed (e.g., the faculty of action in the hand donning tefillin or holding an etrog), and even this one faculty is clothed in the mitzvah only while the mitzvah is being performed.

“In the case of charity, however, which one gives from the proceeds of the toil of his hands, surely all the strength of his [animating] soul is clothed in (i.e., applied to) the effort of his labor or in any other occupation by which he earned this money that he now distributes for charity. Thus, when he gives to charity this money to which he applied all the strength of his [animating] soul, his entire [animating] soul ascends to G‑d. Hence the superiority of charity over other mitzvot.

“Even he who does not earn his livelihood from his labors, nevertheless, since he could have purchased with this money that he gave for charity sustenance for the life of his [animating] soul, he is giving his soul’s life to G‑d in the form of charity. Thus, charity comprises and therefore elevates more energy of the [animating] soul than any other mitzvah.

“This is why our Sages have said that charity hastens the redemption. For with one act of charity, one elevates a great deal of the [animating] soul, more of its faculties and powers, in fact, than he might elevate through many other active mitzvot [combined]... The Messianic Era is a result of our efforts in purifying and elevating the [animating] soul; charity, which effects this elevation in such great measure, thus hastens the redemption.” 5

Out of the Box

As part of his effort to concretize and actualize the tzedakah consciousness he tirelessly endeavored to seed everywhere and in everyone he encountered, the Rebbe launched a worldwide tzedakah box campaign.6 Typically a can or small box with an opening for receiving coins and cash, these containers, known colloquially as pushkas, represent far more than charitable piggy banks. The Rebbe encouraged Jews at every turn to place these boxes as permanent7 fixtures in places of living, working, leisure, and elsewhere, because their presence would transform every context and location into a hub of giving8 and blessing.9

“A tzedakah box,” the Rebbe taught, “redefines an entire space, transforming it into a center of kindness and caring.”10

His goal, as with Sunday Dollars, was to create a critical mass of giving, and to help transform our lives, our homes, and our entire generation into fonts of generosity.11

Over time, the Pushka Campaign’s gravity expanded far beyond homes and Jewish families. The Rebbe labored to link all environments, institutions, professions, and endeavors in a sequential chain of charitable giving. He encouraged an Israeli naval officer, for example, to tell his superiors to place a pushka on every naval ship.12 In the winter of 1990, the Rebbe asked one of the managing directors of El Al Airlines for a list of all the planes under his management so he could donate a dollar to jumpstart the placement of pushkas on every plane.13 He told college students to put them in dorm rooms.14 He even encouraged Avraham Fried, a famous Chasidic singer, to give tzedakah before and after a concert, which became a ritual of Fried’s, who makes a point of giving charity onstage at every concert. Indeed, the Rebbe was always scanning for an opportunity to spread tzedakah consciousness.

Chanukah 5747 (1987), thirteen years after he launched the Pushka Campaign, the Rebbe announced a campaign to place one in the bedroom of every child. The next day, he emerged from his office in 770 Eastern Parkway with a bag of nickels, which he distributed to children for placement in their new tzedakah boxes.15 Over time, his constant distribution of coins to children became one of the Rebbe’s most visible innovations.

“We have recently been promoting the education of Jewish children in the mitzvah of tzedakah through giving them a coin to put into the tzedakah pushka. There are those who look for problems and argue: What’s the point? These are children who are not obligated to fulfill mitzvot, and they don’t even have their own money. What’s the point of giving them a penny to put into the pushka?”

The Rebbe explained:

“The answer lies in an explicit verse: Train a child according to his way, even in his old age he will not deviate from it.16 When you educate a child to put money into a pushka, he will certainly continue doing so when he grows up. This trains his hand to be “a hand that distributes tzedakah.”17

From the Rebbe’s perspective, each act of giving, no matter how small and regardless of the age of the giver, inoculates us against the pernicious modern trend that says life’s satisfaction and fulfillment is predicated on maximum acquisition. In this way, we rise above the dictates of the animal soul, which views the world through a lens of scarcity and survival, leaving little room for generosity and charity, while strongly encouraging a life defined by accumulation, materialism, and excess. The charitable offering becomes the spiritual antithesis of the scarcity-driven dash for more and more, and it reorients us toward G‑dliness, interconnectedness, and faith.

The message is clear: Don’t defer giving. Start with something small. Put a pushka in your home. Create a special savings account dedicated to charitable giving. Begin working your way toward maaser—the mitzvah of tithing.18 Make a five-year “tzedakah plan” and grow your giving capacity over time. Empty your pockets each day in a spirit of generosity.

The Rebbe insisted that anyone choosing to become a conduit of generosity and loving-kindness contributes to the grand effort that will hasten the arrival of Mashiach.

“Through also ending this talk with making each person here an emissary to give tzedekah at the right time and with their own additional contribution, this will further bring closer and hasten the time [of Mashiach]... And [at that time] we will dance together with our tzedakah boxes and with our accumulated good deeds…”19