Tzedakah Fund

Aric, a rising 6th grader, is tutored by Seana, as they enjoy a book together. Seana is a volunteer Learning Edge tutor.

Our Tzedakah (righteous giving) Fund provides grants to social service and social action organizations within the greater community that address basic human needs.

It offers our members a way to support the community financially.

Apply today for a Tzedakah Fund Grant

We are now accepting applications through October 31, 2026.

Aric, a rising 6th grader, is tutored by Seana, as they enjoy a book together. Seana is a volunteer Learning Edge tutor.

Since 1987, Beth Emet has awarded 340 grants totaling $ $156,765.

Grant recipients address basic human needs through —

  • social service, by giving relief to those who are in need and helping victims of violence or injustice
  • social action, by educating the public, influencing public policy, and advocating social change. 

Who can apply for the grants?

Any not-for-profit organization that meets the requirements specified in our application form is eligible to submit a grant application. The Tzedakah Committee accepts applications from not-for-profit organizations directly or from synagogue committees, the Klei Kodesh and staff, and individual synagogue members submitting applications on behalf of those organizations. 

The Tzedakah Committee considers grants twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. You may apply for a grant on behalf of a not-for-profit organization and donate to the Tzedakah Fund or recommend that the organization submit a grant application. Contact Barry Isaacson for more information on the grants process or to join the Tzedakah Committee.

The Tzedakah Committee will continue to provide grants to eligible and deserving non-profits. We encourage congregants to help charitable organizations with which they may be involved to submit grant applications for future grant cycles. For more information, contact Barry Isaacson.

Apply today for a Tzedakah Fund Grant.

Deadline: October 31, 2026

Spring 2025

The Tzedakah Committee awards grants to deserving non-profit organizations that best exemplify Beth Emet’s social justice core values of righteousness and justice, love of one’s neighbors and for the stranger, compassion, kindness, and hospitality. This spring, the committee awarded the grant to Learning Edge Tutoring and Jerusalem Food Rescuers.

About the Organizations

Learning Edge Tutoring, a previous grant recipient, provides free tutoring and related services to Chicago area students living in underserved communities. Related service include post-high school counseling such as help with college entrance essays, college visits, and oversees travel programs and free or reduced cost academic enrichment seminars. Learning Edge also provides free produce boxes from October through May to any requesting family. Learning Edge will use the $1,000 grant to help defray general operating expenses.
Jerusalem Food Rescuers’ mission is to build a more just and sustainable urban food system by turning surplus food into shared resources, strengthening community leadership and advancing systemic, city-level change. Food Rescuers accomplish this mission by rescuing surplus wholesale produce and redistributing to needy communities at reduced cost; equipping and training recipient communities with tools and training to organize, take responsibility, and engage in food-related policy work; providing hands-on learning about food, waste, and sustainability; and, bringing government and communities together to design a city-wide coordinated food policy. This organization will use its $1,000 grant to develop structured workshops to support a pop-up market in the Talpiot neighborhood serving asylum-seekers primarily from Eritrea and Sudan and other Israeli low-income families.

See our previous grant recipients since 2013.

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