Tzedakah means righteousness or charity, and its a fundamental part of Jewish life. We are obligated to help the needy, whether they are Jewish or not. This man is a client at a soup kitchen thats run in a synagogue on 23rd Street in New York City. While visiting the soup kitchen, he often entertains himself and others by singing and playing the guitar.
The soup kitchen is part of Project ORE (Outreach to the Elderly), an outreach program for homeless people aged 45 and older. Believed to be the only such program aimed at Jewish homelessness, Project ORE has also come to serve people who are neither Jewish, elderly, nor homeless; however, most of the participants do fiŒt into at least two of these categories. Project ORE describes itself as a comprehensive program that sees a homeless person not as just a cup to fiŒll, but as a member of our human family, deserving of opportunity and dignity.