In Tractate Taanit, the Talmud tells the famous story of Honi the Circle-Maker, who encounters an elderly man planting a carob tree. Knowing that a carob tree takes seventy years to bear fruit, Honi asks the man if he truly expects to live long enough to eat from it. The man quietly replies:
“I found a world full of carob trees because my ancestors planted for me. Just as they planted for me, so I plant for my children.”
This story captures the ultimate essence of Jewish continuity and philanthropy: the profound obligation to leave the world better off than we found it. We are called to invest in a future whose harvest we may never personally reap.
We inherit, and therefore we have an obligation to give.
Yet, as educators and educational leaders, translating this principle to the modern classroom presents a distinct challenge.
If we want to raise a generation of active builders, leaders and givers, we cannot treat generosity as an innate trait that children either have or do not have.
Generosity is a muscle. Like any muscle, it must be intentionally trained, exercised and integrated into the everyday culture of our schools.
From Awareness to Action
We live in an era where digital culture has redefined engagement. For today’s youth, awareness is everywhere. A reposted story or a viral hashtag can bring attention to an issue almost instantly.
Raising awareness has its place, but it can also create an illusion of contribution, where expressing concern begins to feel like meaningful action. The challenge for educators is not whether our children care, but how we help them turn that awareness and empathy into action.
In the classroom, this manifests in small, telling ways. Ask a room of twenty-five students for volunteers to hand out books, wipe down a whiteboard, or assist a classmate, and it is almost guaranteed that the exact same two students will step up every time. The rest remain comfortable observers, knowing that someone else will do the heavy lifting.
Our task as educators, then, is to move children from observers to participants, and from passive beneficiaries of their communities to active contributors.
Igniting the Spark
Having led Giving Days and philanthropic campaigns for numerous schools, I have witnessed firsthand what happens when the spark of generosity is truly ignited. When an entire school community rallies around a shared, tangible goal, the energy is transformative.
However, the most successful Giving Days are not those that simply raise funds from parents and alumni. They are those that actively include the students themselves.
When learners are given agency in these campaigns, when they understand why resources are being gathered and feel the momentum of collective action, they experience something profound: the genuine joy of giving. They shift from passive beneficiaries of their school community to active stakeholders in its mission.
Generosity ceases to be an abstract lesson in a textbook and becomes a lived, emotional reality.
But if generosity is a muscle, it cannot be exercised only on Giving Days or during philanthropic campaigns. It must be built through repeated practice.
Micro-Acts and Everyday Habits
True generosity is rarely defined by grand, one-off gestures; it is built through small, consistent habits.
I learned this from my father on family road trips. Whenever we reached a toll road, he would deliberately round up the toll fee and tell the attendant to keep the change. He would turn to us in the back seat and explain that the blessing he might receive for a safe journey, and the small moment of dignity offered, was always worth far more than the loose change.
That simple, repeated act etched a lifelong lesson into my consciousness.
Our schools must create these exact micro-learning moments every single day.
The Modeh Ani & Gratitude Framework: Generosity begins with an abundance mindset. By introducing daily gratitude charts or starting mornings with the concept of Modeh Ani (acknowledging what we have received), students learn to recognise their own blessings before being asked to share them.
Daily, Incremental Giving (Tzedakah): Maimonides famously posited that it is far better to give a single coin one hundred times than to give one hundred coins all at once. Why? Because continuous, incremental action transforms the character of the giver. Incorporating a daily moment for tzedakah or small acts of classroom service normalises giving as a daily routine, rather than a special occasion.
Structured Chesed Roles: Rotate everyday acts of service through every single student. Do not rely on spontaneous volunteers; structure the classroom so that every child routinely experiences the responsibility and satisfaction of supporting their peers.
That is the point of repetition. When we create opportunities for children to give, serve and step forward again and again, these actions become habits. And over time, those habits begin to shape character.
Our Ultimate Legacy
The values we teach our children, not just through our words, but through the culture and habits we build around them, are the ultimate legacy we leave behind.
We cannot afford to let the next generation settle for passive awareness in a world that desperately needs active service. We need to intentionally build school environments that challenge our learners to step forward, take action and discover the deep fulfilment found in giving.
The elderly man in the Talmud knew that he might never eat from the tree he was planting. That was not the point. He had inherited something from those who came before him, and he understood his responsibility to those who would come after.
As educators, we have the same responsibility.
When we intentionally create a culture in which generosity is not simply spoken about but repeatedly practised, we are doing more than teaching children to give. We are helping to shape who they become.
Our habits become our character, and the character we develop in our children becomes part of the legacy we leave behind.
Like the elder planting the carob tree, every moment of service we cultivate today is a gift to a future we are actively shaping.
Let’s make sure we keep planting.
