At Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood, what started as a single idea to support Israeli charities has grown into an annual event that has raised thousands of dollars over the last three years.
Tzedakah Games is a field day and color war for kids at the Temple, but those activities are just the tip of the iceberg. Money generated from attendance and activities is donated. The synagogue holds the event each year with different charities in mind, and has already raised $28,000 this year before the event is even held on May 18. Executive Director Ken Krivitzky said that the event typifies the synagogue’s character.
“One of the things that I am most proud of with this community is that we enable our congregants to develop ideas and to run with them, and that often leads to really exciting things,” he said. “Tzedakah Games is a great example.”
The 2025 edition is expected to shatter previous totals. The first two years combined to bring in $55,000, while Men’s Club President Josh Schachter said that the synagogue expects to raise more than $80,000 when all is said and done. The event is growing in popularity, which is a good sign for the future prospects of Tzedakah Games. The first year, about 120 kids participated in the fun, while last year about 150 kids attended. This year, the number is expected to approach or even surpass 200 participants.
While the kids mostly remember the games and fun with their friends, Krivitzky said the event is a great way to introduce high-level topics to younger members of the temple.
“One of the things from the synagogue’s point of view is that we love to get our kids and our adults talking about tzedakah. [We discuss] where it is important to give, why we give [to certain places] and why they should support it. It’s a high-level conversation that gets the synagogue involved and promotes giving,” Krivitzky said.
Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El has these conversations because it values the input of its youngest members in addition to its oldest ones. The event is, first and foremost, a fundraiser, but it is also a day for the kids to have fun.
“We’ve talked to kids afterwards — what were their favorite games? Which games didn’t work as well? How can we make this better?” Schachter said.
May 18 also happens to be the last day of religious school, so the event will also serve as the end of the Jewish academic year.
One of the most difficult parts of the process of creating the event is actually selecting the charities that receive the funds. The first year, the Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El Men’s Club selected a group of 25 organizations. That list was whittled down to about 15, and from there, five or six charities were selected by attendees to receive donations. On top of that, the religious school students also selected a few charities to donate to.
“It really helped them feel invested because they were helping to pick the charities that they believed strongly in,” Schachter said.
Last year, the event took on a different level of importance that continues this year. The Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas necessitated that the Beth Hillel-Beth El community not just donate, but donate to Israel.
“After Oct. 7, the plan was that we were going to donate specifically to Israeli charities because it was really important to us to show our mission to Israel,” Krivitzky said.
But there is also a cause close to home that Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El donated to last year, despite the fact it didn’t have to do with Israel. In fact, it didn’t even have to do with Judaism.
“The local Presbyterian Church had a massive fire, and we built a relationship with them,” Schachter said. “In addition to the Israeli charities, we allocated a portion to the church because it was important to us to help our neighbors in their time of need.”
While many of the kids at the event will remember the fun more than the charity, Tzedakah Games is a steadfast sign of Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El’s commitment to Israel. There is no room for doubt as to how much the world’s only Jewish state matters to this community.
“Israel and love of Israel — both the people and the state — is a core value of our community, and that is who we are. We have many members that are a part of JNF and involved in other organizations. We’ve had a longstanding relationship and love for Israel, and it is a large part of what we do,” Krivitzky said.
Last summer, the temple organized a volunteer trip to Israel that saw congregants donate time and money to various causes. Schachter didn’t hesitate when he said that he and others are going back this summer.
“I think we all have different ties and different reasons [for supporting Israel] and want a great way to just energize the [congregation],” he said.
As for Tzedakah Games, there is no sign that the event will diminish anytime soon. In fact, if anything, it could become more frequent. That’s what the kids are hoping for, at least.
“We had one mom who said that her kids had so much fun that they asked if they could do it every weekend,” Schachter said.
