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KKL: Make your mark on the future

Sir Moses Montefiore, the 19th century Jewish diplomat and philanthropist, was once asked how much he was worth. The wealthy man thought about it for a while and came up with a figure. The questioner replied: “That can’t be right. By my calculation, you must be worth many times that amount.”

Moses Montefiore’s reply was this: “You didn’t ask me how much I own. You asked me how much I’m worth. So I calculated the amount I have given to charity this year and that is the figure I gave you. You see,” he said, “we are worth what we are willing to share with others.”

Whatever the cause, Jewish or otherwise, Jews have always punched above their weight in their charitable giving. Perhaps it is because the concept of tzedakah goes far beyond the English word “charity”, as it is usually translated. It is derived from the Hebrew word tzedek, meaning righteousness, justice or fairness. For Jews, giving to the poor or needy is an act of justice and righteousness, the performance of a duty.

Jews around the world have always responded disproportionately to the challenge of providing the financial support and infrastructure needed to sustain Jewish life, whether through the moral obligation on a minority to provide for its needy or the psychological bond that ties Diaspora Jews to the State of Israel and its people.

Charity should be as much about a personal investment in a project as a financial one, which will lead to charities forging deeper, more enduring connections with supporters, resulting in a more fruitful, beneficial outcome for both. Charitable legacies are the best way of leaving one’s footprint on the future and making a difference to the causes that strike a chord in the hearts and minds of those who give.

Against a background of cuts in funding to the charitable sector, the Government has recently been encouraging charitable giving through more — and higher-value — legacies. It is encouraging not only the principle of giving to charity by will, but providing a tangible incentive to do so, through the reduced tax rate on the remainder of the estate. Since 2011, not only will the value of the charity legacy reduce your taxable estate, but if its value exceeds the critical ten per cent threshold, the tax rate applied on the remainder of your estate passing to your family will reduce from 40 per cent to 36 per cent. So the cost of a legacy to charity will now be borne by the Government in saved inheritance tax.

As director of legacies at Britain’s oldest Israel charity, JNF UK, I am privileged to meet members of the community who share this commitment to making their mark on the future by leaving a legacy to Israel in their will. I am inspired by the generosity of spirit I encounter.

For more than 70 years, JNF UK’s legacy department has provided will-writing and estate-administration services to those leaving a legacy to Israel through the charity.

So this year, help not only to raise vital funds for charities at home and abroad by leaving a legacy in your will but also to recognise just how much this form of charity can enrich the donor and the recipient — and the impact it can make on the community as a whole.

Carolyn Addleman is director of legacies at KKL Executor & Trustee Company (a subsidiary of JNF UK)

0800 358 3587, carolyn@kkl.org.uk

Registered charity 225910