A word of Torah: 
                               Kosher money:
        In this week’s Torah portion, the challenge of poverty is addressed by requiring landowners to leave behind some of the harvest for the poor to gather (Lev. 19: 9). Dropped or forgotten sheaves were mandated to be left to the poor. The corners of the fields were not harvested and also considered a portion for the poor. While these laws are “still on the books,” even in Israel they are only symbolic. Since many people in need live too far from agricultural fields, following the laws would not address the problem of poverty.
        Are there any equivalents to this biblical practice in the money economy in which we live? The biblical tithe, which was meant to support the priests, has become the model for giving 10% to tzedakah. Is there a broader thinking about money that is now required? The tradition has very detailed laws about what foods we can eat and which foods should not be mixed together. Has there been less thought about money because until recently it was not something that many people had in any quantity? On the surface a dollar is like any other dollar. Are there different types of money that should be treated differently by us?
        For instance, I wondered whether “found” money is analogous to the forgotten wheat of biblical times. The found money is not only the twenty dollar bill you see lying on the street or money you discover in a drawer. It could be money that you weren’t counting on, like an unexpected refund from the IRS or money from a class action suit against a company. 
        A different category of money is passively earned money. Such money could include the interest you earn on a bank account, or even the money earned in the stock market. After all, unless you are actively buying and selling stocks yourself, you are not working to make the money that your investments are earning. While this is certainly not found money, should you give more of that away to tzedakah than the money you earn from your job by dint of your hard work. If you are like me, you ignore that money when you calculate what you earn a year. You become conscious of it when you are preparing your taxes. I am not suggesting that you should give it all away. I am suggesting that in thinking about what our responsibility is to others less fortunate, we could be giving away passively earned money at a higher rate than money earned from our work. Obviously, this will differ depending on your own economic circumstances. Now that I have retired, passively earned income has become more necessary.
        A related but a somewhat different category is if you are lucky enough to invest in a stock that does unbelievably well. Wouldn’t it be “kosher” to see a self-imposed “windfall tax” as an appropriate way to share your good fortune?
        Finally, there is the money you inherit. It has become clearer in our society that some people start out with more family assets. Some of that is because of benefits that some people received and others were denied. The GI bill after World War II aided veterans in buying homes. Its benefits were denied to black veterans. Even as we are grateful to our parents for an inheritance, we need to be mindful of the inequity from which we have benefited.