When we hear the word “tzedakah,”
many of us think of the word “charity,” or recall placing our parents’ pocket
change in jangling boxes (known as a pushke in Yiddish) in Hebrew school or at synagogue.
In fact, the word tzedakah is
translated as “justice.” Maimonides lists eight
levels of tzedakah — the highest level is to empower the individual, by
offering a loan; assisting people with finding employment; or helping people
establish businesses. While giving charity to the poor through donations is
noble, and makes Maimonides’ list in several forms, it often chains the needy
to a system of relying upon external groups to sustain themselves. This is
generous, but not necessarily just — empowering
individuals to sustain themselves is the highest degree of Maimonides’ concept
of tzedakah.
At Shoresh, everything we grow is
donated — the Kavanah Garden produces over 500 pounds of fresh vegetables
annually for distribution in the community. We have always donated our harvest
to tzedakah including organizations such as Ve’Ahavata and Jewish Family & Child (JF&CS). In 2014, we adopted a new approach
to tzedakah and what unravelled was the launch of Maxie’s Garden — a story that
begins in Kensington Market.
Market harvest
Dave Pinkus has lived on Nassau
Street since 1927.
At the close of the 1920s,
Toronto was home to a burgeoning population of Jewish immigrants, highly concentrated in the Kensington neighbourhood. Just a few years later, vendors had set up
food and goods, lining the street in what came to be known as the Jewish market. It
closed on Friday nights each week as the bustling crowds would disappear into
their homes to observe the Sabbath, coming to life once again on Saturday
nights and flooding the streets with members of the surrounding immigrant
community doing their shopping throughout the week.
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| Jewish Market Day on Kensington Avenue, 1924. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. |
Today, we know this area of
Toronto as Kensington Market. The majority of the Jewish population that once
enlivened its storefronts and alleyways moved north — but not Pinkus.
The same year that he came to the
neighbourhood, the Kiever Synagogue was established at 25 Bellevue Avenue. His
parents were founding members of the shul that remains in its original location
to this day. The Kiever remains active today, and Pinkus serves as its
president.
In 2014, Shoresh began to set
roots in downtown Toronto and were looking to start a new community garden in
the area. Through a variety of
connections, Pinkus heard about Shoresh’s interest and generously offered up
the backyard of his 90-year-old Nassau Street residence. The project was called
Maxie’s Garden, after Pinkus’ late brother.
For 23 weeks, 5-10 clients of
JF&CS came to the garden to learn how to tend to the land, guided by Shoresh
Director of Community Outreach Sabrina Malach from seed to harvest. The group
was called “Back to Our Roots.”
In the shadow of the vibrant
Jewish market of nearly a century ago, coloured by the produce of downtown
vendors, the group grew fresh produce in Kensington to take home and to donate
to the community. In the rich soil, invested in several years earlier by Pinkus,
the group grew carrots, beets, radishes, herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers,
chard, chives, zucchini, beans, garlic, flowers, and more.
Pinkus, an incredible community
leader and a living library of the history of Toronto’s Jewish community, engaged
with the group throughout the program.
“I really enjoyed myself both for the learning factor but also in having
the true privilege of meeting David and getting to know him somewhat and in
marvelling and also being amazed at his vast knowledge and memory,” one
participant described, “What a true mensch and wonderful, wonderful man. I
loved hearing him speak of my uncle and family that he knew. It is very rare to
be in the company of such a gifted and kind man who possesses such a razor
sharp memory and accurate too.”
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| Participants with Pinkus and Shoresh and JFCS staff in the garden. |
Several participants found the
experience of working in the garden healing, and many expressed that they enjoyed
the collaborative, social nature of the work.
“I love the garden more every time I come,” said one participant, “I find
it therapeutic and it makes me feel proud.”
“After learning from Maxie’s
Garden, I planted my own garden,” said one participant of the JF&CS-Shoresh
collaboration.
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| A flower in the garden. |
Looking ahead to the next
iteration of the garden, Shoresh and JF&CS hope to incorporate cooking classes
to provide even more practical skills to program participants.
Tzedakah is not the only Hebrew
concept that is sometimes mistranslated — we often think of “mitzvah” as
meaning “good deed,” but in fact, it means “obligation.” Tzedakah is a mitzvah
— and social justice, more than a commendable endeavour, is an obligation upon
the Jewish community.
At Maxie’s Garden, the
Maimonidean principle of the highest degree of tzedakah as social justice is
seen in action — participants learn to plant, weed, and harvest their yield, so
that they can nourish themselves independently. Beyond this, they also have the
opportunity to socialize; to meaningfully work with and learn from others; and
to engage in the ineffable healing and empowerment of gardening.
As one participant noted, “the
process of seed to the table is truly divine.”
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