Faith-Based Investing
August 04, 2026
Faith-Based Investing: Aligning Your Portfolio with Your Principles
by Rabbi Danielle Upbin, Chair, Israel Bonds Rabbinic Advisory Council
- The essence of faith-based investing is choosing investments that align not only with your financial goals, but also with your deepest beliefs.
- Our tradition has always taught us that wealth carries responsibility. The question is not simply what our money can earn, but what our resources can help build.
- Faith-based investing allows us to align our portfolios with our principles and transform our values into action.
More than twenty years ago, I traveled to Israel on an Israel Bonds delegation. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure what Israel Bonds was or the role it played. I simply knew I wanted to experience Israel more deeply.
One day, I found myself wearing a hard hat, standing at a construction site that few people had seen. It wasn’t a museum or a historic landmark. It was an infrastructure project taking shape, one that would eventually serve thousands of Israelis every day. Later on that trip, we rode Jerusalem’s light rail before it officially opened to the public. As I looked out the window, I remember thinking that investing isn’t simply about dollars and cents. It’s about believing in future before everyone else can see it. That experience has stayed with me ever since. It also shaped the way I think about faith-based investing.
One of the questions I hear most often isn’t about prayer or ritual. It’s about how we bring our Jewish values into everyday life. We strive to live with intention in our homes, our relationships, and our communities, but what about our financial lives? Can our investments reflect the same principles that guide the rest of who we are? I believe they can. That’s the essence of faith-based investing: choosing investments that align not only with your financial goals, but also with your deepest beliefs. It’s an approach that recognizes our portfolios aren’t separate from our values; they’re another opportunity to live them. As a rabbi, I’ve always believed that Judaism calls us to bring holiness into the ordinary moments of life. Investing may seem like a practical financial decision, but it can also become an expression of responsibility and purpose.
For more than 75 years, Israel Bonds has offered Jewish individuals, families, synagogues, and organizations an opportunity to do exactly that. It has become a trusted resource for those seeking purpose-driven investing. It provides an opportunity to support Israel’s economy while building a diversified portfolio grounded in Jewish values.
Faith-Based Investing Is About Choosing What You Want to Build
People often assume faith-based investing is simply about avoiding certain industries or companies. While that’s one aspect of values-based investing, I believe our tradition encourages us to ask an even more meaningful question: What are we choosing to build?
Faith-based investing is a form of socially responsible investing (SRI) that allows investors to align their financial decisions with their religious beliefs and ethical principles. Rather than focusing only on minimizing harm, it also encourages us to direct our resources toward opportunities that strengthen communities, create positive impacts, and reflect the values we cherish. That’s why faith-based investors include not only individuals, but also family foundations, synagogues, Jewish day schools, endowments, and philanthropic organizations. They understand that financial stewardship is about more than returns; it is about purpose.
Our tradition has always taught us that wealth carries responsibility. The question is not simply what our money can earn, but what our resources can help build.
Jewish Values Have Always Guided Financial Decisions
Judaism doesn’t separate our spiritual lives from our financial lives. In fact, some of our most enduring teachings invite us to think carefully about how we use our resources.
The principle of Tikkun Olam reminds us that each of us shares responsibility for repairing the world. Tzedakah teaches that justice and generosity are inseparable. Through mitzvot, we discover that seemingly ordinary actions become sacred when they reflect our values. Why should investing be any different? When we practice faith-based investing, our portfolios become another expression of Jewish life. Capital becomes a means of strengthening communities, supporting meaningful causes, and investing in a future that reflects our hopes for generations to come.
I’ve often said that rabbis speak the language of covenant. A covenant is more than a contract. It is an enduring relationship built on trust, commitment, and shared responsibility. I believe our financial decisions can reflect that same commitment, not only to ourselves, but to the generations that follow.
Why Investing in Israel Is Different
Over the past two decades serving on the Israel Bonds Rabbinic Advisory Council, I’ve had the privilege of seeing firsthand what these investments make possible.
Those early hard-hat tours remain some of my favorite memories because they made something very tangible. Those experiences reinforced something I’ve always believed: when we support Israel, we are investing not only in an economy but also in resilience, innovation, and the future of the Jewish people.
For more than seven decades, Israel Bonds has connected investors around the world with Israel’s continued economic growth. Through changing governments, economic cycles, times of peace, and periods of profound challenge, its mission has remained remarkably consistent: strengthening Israel’s future. For many investors, it is an opportunity to support Israel’s economy while incorporating a trusted financial instrument into a diversified portfolio. That consistency matters.
Especially since October 7, so many of us have been searching for tangible ways to express our love, concern, and commitment to Israel. Faith can inspire us, but it also calls us to act. For me, faith-based investing is one meaningful way to transform solidarity into something lasting.
The Double Mitzvah: Where Philanthropy and Investing Meet
One of the aspects of Israel Bonds that I find especially meaningful is what we call the double mitzvah. Israel Bonds, including Shalom and eShalom Savings Bonds, may be purchased and donated directly to qualified synagogues, schools, or nonprofit organizations. Think about what that means.
With a single decision, your investment can have two lasting impacts. It provides critical capital that helps strengthen Israel’s economy while also becoming a meaningful gift to an institution that enriches Jewish life. Whether it’s your synagogue, a Jewish day school, or another nonprofit close to your heart, your investment continues working on behalf of causes you believe in.To me, that’s a beautiful expression of Jewish values.
Our tradition teaches that one mitzvah often leads to another. When our financial decisions reflect both generosity and responsibility, they become more than transactions; they become acts of partnership. We strengthen the Jewish homeland while also strengthening the communities that sustain Jewish life wherever we live.
That is why the double mitzvah resonates so deeply with me. It reminds us that faith-based investing isn’t simply about our assets. It’s about our impact.
Building a Faith-Based Investing Strategy
Every person’s journey begins with the same question: What matters most to me?
Perhaps your priority is supporting Israel. Perhaps it’s strengthening your synagogue or creating a legacy for your children and grandchildren. Perhaps it’s ensuring your investments reflect the same values that shape every other part of your life. There isn’t one right answer.
A thoughtful faith-based investing strategy begins by identifying your priorities and working with trusted financial advisors and Israel Bonds registered representatives to understand how those values can become part of a broader financial plan.
I also encourage people to stay engaged with Jewish communal life. Attend educational programs. Ask questions. Explore the range of Israel Bonds available today. Learn about current rates. Discover how your investments can support both your financial objectives and your commitment to Israel.
Whether you’re investing for the first time or continuing a family tradition that spans generations, remember that your financial decisions have the power to shape more than your own future. They can strengthen institutions, sustain communities, and leave a legacy rooted in Jewish values. Faith grows stronger when we put it into practice. Our investments can be part of that practice, too.
Investing with Purpose
In the Jewish tradition, we’re taught to think beyond ourselves, to plant trees whose shade we may never sit under and to build a future for generations we may never meet. I believe faith-based investing invites us to do the same.
It reminds us that our financial decisions can become expressions of hope, responsibility, and enduring connection to the Jewish people and the State of Israel. They allow us to align our portfolios with our principles and transform our values into action.
For me, that is what Israel Bonds has always represented. It is more than an investment. It is an opportunity to strengthen Israel, support our communities, and participate in something larger than ourselves.
If you’re considering how to align your investments with your Jewish values, I encourage you to explore the range of Israel Bonds available today. Learn more about the “double mitzvah” of donating bonds to synagogues and nonprofit organizations, review current rates, and connect with your local Israel Bonds registered representative to begin building a portfolio that reflects both your financial goals and your faith.
About the Author
Rabbi Danielle Upbin is Chair of the Israel Bonds Rabbinic Advisory Council. She has worked with Israel Bonds for more than two decades, helping connect Jewish values with meaningful action in support of the State of Israel.
