A Kavvanah for Paying Taxes, by Zach Teutsch

Contributor(s):

Zach Teutsch

Shared on:

28 April 2021 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

National Tax Day (15 April)

Tags:

צדק צדק תרדוף tsedeq tsedeq tirdof, United States, social justice, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, American Jewry of the United States, tithing

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Here I sit, ready to pay my taxes and invest in this community’s future.
	I believe that government can make lives better. We can solve problems together that none of us can solve alone.
	We need clear water, clean air, and healthy communities to thrive.
	We need schools, hospitals, transit, and roads to live and grow.
	Social security allows people to retire with dignity and a safety net to support us all when we find hard times.
	Through government, we extinguished polio, explored space, connected the country, sequenced the genome, created a national parks system, and achieved near-universal literacy.
	Through programs funded by our tax dollars, we support essential nutrition and food programs for families, world-class science that cures diseases, and aid to nations around the world less economically secure than our own.
	I am grateful for these blessings and proud to participate in making all that possible by contributing part of my earnings to invest in my community.
	I worked hard for this money, and I know these tax dollars are an essential part of building the country I want to continue to fight for to make better.

“Tax Intention” by Zach Teutsch was first published by the author via his Facebook and Twitter pages on 26 April 2021, writing “Last week, a client said ‘I am a Democrat, I believe in taxes’ and it led to a discussion about creating an intention people can say before paying their taxes–to help us see it as a moment to feel inspired rather than annoyed.”

Source(s)

Tax Intention (Values Added Financial 2021)

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“A Kavvanah for Paying Taxes, by Zach Teutsch” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Zach Teutsch

Zachary Teutsch is Managing Partner of Values Added Financial, an investment management and financial planning consulting firm.

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Works of related interest:

Memory for the Slaves by Clara Sörnäs, concrete, 1998. (Image by Mila Zinkova, licensed CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

כוונה לסדר פסח | A Kavvanah for Human Rights for the Passover Seder, from T’ruah (2011)

Image: Challah by Brad Greenlee (license CC-BY-2.0)

Motzi, a kavvanah before eating ḥallah by Trisha Arlin

Image: Good Morning Sunrise by Ha-Wee (License: CC-BY 2.0)

A Kavvanah for Waking Up, by Andrew Shaw

"Benches in the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, West Bank" (credit: Guillaume Paumier, license: CC-BY 3.0 Unported)

If I Let It: A Kavvanah for Kabbalat Shabbat, by Trisha Arlin

The Mikvah of Besalú (credit: gotosefarad.com, license: CC BY-SA)

Mikveh Kavvanah for Affirming Jewish identity, by Rabbi Jonah Rank

rainbow infinity sign (credit: n/a, license: CC0), rotated 90° left, and flipped horizontal

Kavvanah and prayer for Zōt Ḥanukkah, the last night and day of Ḥanukkah 5784, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

O Mother of Medicine, a kavvanah before a healing journey by Baruch Jean Thaler

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17