In recent years, a movement has arisen entitled “Effective Altruism.” It is an approach to charity that has won a number of adherents, but its central principle is not only old, it is found in today’s Torah portion.

Effective Altruism argues that we owe a debt to the unborn that is in many ways no less than the debt we owe to those standing next to us. This is something we already recognize in many of our actions: policies involving research, for example, that are intended to pay benefits in the future, even if we don’t live to see it.

In the parashah today, Moses tells the people that the covenant is not only made with those who stand there on that day, “but also with those who are not here with us (Deut. 29:14).” Moses is saying to the people that future generations down through the ages are part of the covenant as well.

Judaism has always embraced the ideal of charity toward the future. Famously, the old man in the Talmud Ta’anit 23a who is planting a carob tree he will never eat from, explains that it was done by his ancestors for him. Moses, like Herzl, leads people to a land he will not himself inhabit. Jeremiah buys land in Israel as the people are being exiled in the hope of future return. Generations of Jews learned to see themselves not only as inheritors, but as ancestors. We hold in sacred trust for those who follow.

When in our day we confront the evils that arise, proclaim the values we cherish, and embrace the allies we esteem, it is not only so things will be better today, or tomorrow. Our efforts to fight for what is right, so painful in this year of anguish and loss, are also pointed toward the future, sometimes even the far future, when those we shall never know will eat the fruits we plant today. Do not despair, Moses is teaching the Israelites. You may see difficulties and trials despite being part of the covenant, despite all your efforts, in contradiction to your hopes. But the effort you make is not only for those who stand today but those who are not yet here. Yes, it has been a dispiriting year. Yet when the labor appears thankless, remember that our struggles are not only for ourselves but for both Jews and non-Jews who will be blessed by everything we managed to accomplish, just as we have been by those who stood at the mountain thousands of years ago.