Overwhelmed and underfunded :(
Closing our synagogue was strange enough.
What happened shortly before and since then has been most unexpected.
It seems as if every musician on earth is posting not only music, but even entire concerts, online.
As the French would say, it's an "embarras de richesses." But it's also embarrassing, because we can't even afford to pay for multiple music downloads, much less these wonderful performances, and all of these fine folks still have to pay their rent, even though they can no longer give concerts with live audiences, teach music students in person, lead services and/or chant Torah at closed synagogues, etc.
What are a retired person and her husband, who's retiring at the end of this so-called semester (such as it is) to do? *Everyone* needs help, including quite possibly us in the future. Should we support musicians, soup kitchens and food pantries, broke college students who have lost their dormitory housing and/or their jobs, Federations that support Jewish Community Centers and Ys that have lost a huge chunk of their income and still have buildings to maintain, synagogues that have also lost income from simchas (happy occasions such as weddings) that can no longer take place in person, educational and/or cultural institutions (Jewish and/or general) that are currently providing hours of free programming, etc., online, even, heaven help us, Jewish free burial societies that are now burying Coronavirus victims . . . The list is endless. The funds are not. :(
As my oldest friend once said, "At some point, you become your own tzedakah (charity)." I'm not sure we're there yet, but we probably will be. :( In the meantime, who's on first?
What happened shortly before and since then has been most unexpected.
It seems as if every musician on earth is posting not only music, but even entire concerts, online.
As the French would say, it's an "embarras de richesses." But it's also embarrassing, because we can't even afford to pay for multiple music downloads, much less these wonderful performances, and all of these fine folks still have to pay their rent, even though they can no longer give concerts with live audiences, teach music students in person, lead services and/or chant Torah at closed synagogues, etc.
What are a retired person and her husband, who's retiring at the end of this so-called semester (such as it is) to do? *Everyone* needs help, including quite possibly us in the future. Should we support musicians, soup kitchens and food pantries, broke college students who have lost their dormitory housing and/or their jobs, Federations that support Jewish Community Centers and Ys that have lost a huge chunk of their income and still have buildings to maintain, synagogues that have also lost income from simchas (happy occasions such as weddings) that can no longer take place in person, educational and/or cultural institutions (Jewish and/or general) that are currently providing hours of free programming, etc., online, even, heaven help us, Jewish free burial societies that are now burying Coronavirus victims . . . The list is endless. The funds are not. :(
As my oldest friend once said, "At some point, you become your own tzedakah (charity)." I'm not sure we're there yet, but we probably will be. :( In the meantime, who's on first?
Labels: Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic
posted by Shira Salamone at 2:42 PM
2 Comments:
Take care of yourselves first. While it would be wonderful to support these folks, you need to worry about your own needs, first & foremost.
Meanwhile, there's plenty of free content to enjoy.
Stay safe & healthy!
David, so far, so good. As long as the Feds continue paying our Social Security, we should be okay. For the moment, being on a fixed income is actually a good thing. Who would have thought?
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