Live It
Holidays & Lifecycle
Elevate key moments in the Jewish year and lifecycle with targeted acts of giving.
The Jewish year is structured for generosity. In virtually every major holiday and lifecycle event, there is a direct instruction or strong tradition to give Tzedakah. The calendar becomes a cadence of giving.
On Purim, the mitzvah of Matanot L'evyonim — gifts to the poor — is explicit and obligatory. The joy of the holiday is directly tied to ensuring that those with less share in it. Even a person of modest means is obligated to give. Yom Kippur is preceded by giving as an act of sincerity. Rosh Hashana prompts reflection on how to give better in the coming year.
Lifecycle events — bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, the birth of a child, a yahrtzeit — are each traditional moments to give Tzedakah in honor or in memory of someone. It is one of the most enduring ways Jews mark significant milestones: not simply celebrating privately, but extending generosity outward.
The starting point is awareness. Every moment worth marking in the Jewish year is also a moment to give. The Understand section has articles on Holidays and Shabbat that dig into the sources and specific traditions for giving throughout the year.