Each Chanukah, children at Mirowitz are reminded that Tikkun Olam requires responsible decision making, deep thought, and even a bit of math!
They learn about five organizations that are working to better the world, and willingly forfeit a night of Chanukah gifts in order to contribute money to the school tamhui — Hebrew for collection pot. They then must think deeply about how they want to allocate those dollars. The choice is never easy.
During each day of Chanukah, students are given two tokens to allocate to one of five chosen beneficiary organizations. The week ends with Tamhui Math Day. Some classes are responsible for counting all of the tokens in each tzedakah jar. Some classes calculate the total number of checks, coins and bills in our tamhui. Older students divide the total number of tokens by the amount of money collected, and figure how much tzedakah we will send to each organization.
In addition to the obvious mathematical lessons, students learn the responsibilities of being philanthropists. They feel significant in their ability to improve the world. And they learn to count their blessings.
