Mormon designer interprets Jewish tzedakah box

Receptacle for donations gets 21st-century makeover

June 12, 2012|By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter
  • Burnett's design lets donors view a video on the back side of the box showing the individual in need
Burnett's design lets donors view a video on the back side of the box showing the individual in need (HANDOUT)

Doug Burnett learned the power of vision and charity as a teenager when his parents gave glasses to a friend who couldn't afford a pair. So when the American Jewish World Service staged a contest for artists to inspire giving, Burnett eagerly accepted the challenge.

The Chicago art director imagined a 21st-century version of the tzedakah box, the receptacle traditionally used in synagogues to collect donations for the needy.

But Burnett's concept has become more than a vessel for alms. His endeavor highlights the common ground of two different faiths. While tzedakah is a Jewish tradition, Burnett is Mormon.

Burnett, who served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Uruguay, said that just as studying Spanish improved his English, learning about Judaism strengthened his own faith and gave him a new appreciation for Jewish philanthropies that address poverty around the world.

"The extent to which Judaism has established structure in the world to be on the ground to make a difference, I'm deeply impressed," Burnett said. "I just wasn't informed about how they organized the funds that they donate. I certainly have a lot of respect."

An art director for Chicago-based marketing firm Leo Burnett (no relation), Burnett has worked on campaigns for products such as Coca-Cola. Likewise, he designed a box that would allow donors to select a beneficiary just as they'd choose between Coke or Pepsi.

"I spend every day thinking of new creative ways to get people to buy sugar water. But why is it so much harder to get people to pay attention to creative ways of saving human lives?" he said.

Burnett envisions donors inserting a coin, selecting a beneficiary, then viewing a video on the back side of the box showing the individual in need and the benefit he or she could receive because of the donation.

"There is so much power in seeing someone in poverty smile," he said. "For some reason, it breaks this difference, and you think, 'Wow. If he had been born my neighbor, this person could have been my friend.' It's just someone who did not happen to win the geographic lottery."

"Perhaps one reason why we don't help is because it feels so distant," he said. "Never before in humanity have we had a way to make poverty feel so close because of digital means."

To celebrate Burnett's winning design, the American Jewish World Service sent him on a trip to Uganda with a group of Jewish professionals to study Jewish texts and volunteer. Burnett also received $2,500, which he hopes to put toward manufacturing the tzedakah box.

Mormons traditionally tithe, or donate 10 percent of their income to finance church infrastructure. They also fast once a month and donate the money that would have covered food to benefit welfare projects. In addition, congregations collect separate humanitarian offerings to fund disaster relief.

Jewish congregations collect tzedakah and donate the collections to nonprofits such as the American Jewish World Service. It finances hundreds of grass-roots organizations that work to promote health, education, economic development and disaster relief in the developing world.

Ruth Messinger, the organization's president, said she never expected a non-Jew to enter the contest. But it's appropriate, she said, since many of the organization's partners around the world are not Jewish.

"I thought it was delightful because it showed this is a mandate on every faith to support those in need," Messinger said. "What better way to reinforce that than to have a winner of a different faith. We have certain interpretations of it. And he has certain interpretations of it."

Messinger said the contest aimed to encourage the Jewish community to think more broadly about the concept of tzedakah, which over the years has become synonymous with a container where congregants can dump spare change.

"Even though it's a very powerful word and powerful mandate in Judaism, in a lot of people's minds, it's connected to that old box they used to pass around and ask for money," Messinger said.

In fact, the root of tzedakah comes from the Hebrew word "tzedek," meaning justice.

"Tzedakah suggests giving on behalf of other people, not to tide them over, but to help them and others move toward justice," she said. "While we sometimes respond to an urgent need, we're always trying to think beyond that. What's their vision of justice? What's their desire for social change? How can we help them implement their move toward their own vision?"

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