What does Mitzvah mean to YOU?

Lakeside Congregation at the Northern Illinois Food Bank 2018

One of the first things I teach in my school is that Mitzvah means commandment and it is not as many adults and students believe "good deed".  With Lakeside Congregation's Mitzvah day around the corner on Sunday May 6,  I hope that you will take a minute to think about this differentiation between a good deed and a mitzvah.  Many Mitzvot are good deeds, visiting the sick, comforting mourners and rejoicing with bride and groom.  These mitzvot are all listed in a prayer traditional Jews say daily and one that is in our siddur, Elu D'varim, these are the things you can do without measure.  You can always help sick people, study in the synagogue and honor your mother and father without any limitations.  These are commandments.  These commandments will not put in the poor house or really cost you any money and that is why they are all in one list.

I do believe that some of my younger students when think that mitzvot are good deeds. When asked to list mitzvot they will tell me that walking the dog, cleaning their room or taking out the garbage qualifies as a mitzvah.  I am NOT one to discourage our children from doing chores but I usually point out that not mitzvot.  I hope that this distinction can show our adults and students how Jewish values creep into their lives daily.  To honor your father and mother daily takes kavennah, intention.

Perhaps this list will help you as you strive to understand how Jewish values permeate your life without you really even realizing it.

Here is the English translation of Eilu D'varim:

These are the things the fruits (=interest) of which a person enjoys in this world, but the principal
remains for him in the world to come:

Alex collecting bikes to repair for his Mitzvah project

1. honoring father and mother,
2. deeds of loving kindness, (Gimilut Chasadim)
3. early arrival at the study-house morning and evening,
4. hospitality to guests,
5. visiting the sick,
6. dowering the bride,
7. accompanying the dead (to burial),
8. devotion in prayer,
9. making peace between a man and his fellow,
10. and the study of Torah is equal to them all.
(b. Shabbat 127a)

Mitzvah Day Fair of Mitzvah Projects

I am always surprised that when we ask our B'nai Mitzvah students to do 13 hours of Mitzvot or service over the years before their ceremony that we never get push back.  Students willingly find projects that they are passionate about and I am so proud of what they do.  If you count up the number of students over the years that have done projects since I instituted the practice it would be over 8,000 hours of Mitzvot.  Many of our students go on to do much more than just 13 hours of Mitzvot and they all mention their projects in their  d'vrie Torah (ok, perhaps it is on the outline that I give them and they HAVE to mention their projects).  I do believe that some students upon hearing that a friend has worked with Keshet, our local organization for children who are differently abled, thinks to themselves, hey I can do that too.  

After you have taken a look at this list I hope that you can find some time to sign up for Mitzvah day at Lakeside or in your own congregation.  I look forward to discussing on line or in person what is a mitzvah and how we can ask our children to do even more! See you soon or at least on Mitzvah Day!

Doing Mitzvot year round or Every Day is Mitzvah day!

At the food bank last year.

This year Lakeside Congregation has taken on an ambitious social action project.  We packing 19 backpacks full of food for 28 weeks for a local Middle school for students to have food over the weekend.  These students receive free breakfast and hot lunch at school during the week and this programs allows them to have food over the weekend.  Blessings in a backpack as I call it has us packing on Sunday mornings and delivering to our Middle school on Thursday mornings.  I know that the school is grateful we have taken on the project and I am so happy we can provide this service. Special thanks to Congregation Solel for helping us out once a month.  We are still looking for partners and if your family would like to sponsor one week please feel free to contact me. 

I have tried explaining to our students what it means to be really be hungry.  I know they feel hungry on Sunday morning when they skip breakfast or Tuesday afternoon as Hebrew school comes to an end at 5:45pm but they have not had to skip meals because there is no food at home. We are fortunate to live in an affluent community and I hope by packing back packs every week on Sunday morning in the lobby our students will see that other students in our community are counting on us so they will not be hungry.

From Mitzvah Day 2015

We have different menus for each week so that we can change our bags from week to week.  We also try to include fun items and snacks.  The week before Thanksgiving we will also try to pack a hearty bag as well.  I want to thank everyone who has brought food for this project and for those that will in the future.  This will certainly make sure that Lakeside is making every day Mitzvah day.

Social Action Shabbat and Welcoming New Members

 October 24 at our 6:00 pm T'filot we will welcome our new Lakeside members and highlight our social action committee.

Lakeside Congregation has a very active social action committee which has just passed the torch of Leadership from Joyce Lyon to Len Solof.  Looking for a new mitzvah project check out our Lakeside Social Action page and find projects for all ages.  I refer many of our B'nai Mitzvah students to this page and  they find all the information they need to complete 13 hours of Mitzvot.

7th and 8th Grade at Northern Il Food Bank

The social action committee meets monthly to discuss new projects and to bring meals to different homeless shelters in our community. The social action committee is also committed to visiting our Lakeside members who are homebound and they enjoy these visits.

Lakeside's Religious school is also very busy with monthly social action projects.  We pack for our local PADS shelter every 3rd Sunday and ask different grades to bring in the food we need to pack 50-100 lunches.  Thanks to Jill and Michael Klee, Missy Pos and all of the volunteers who help organize the packing of all of the lunches to those who help schlep the lunches to Waukegan.

On the 2nd Sunday of every month we have one grade go the Northern Illinois Food Bank and we carpool with parents for an intergenerational experience.  We pack, sort or do whatever the food Bank needs us to do.  This is and was a favorite project of Rabbi Isaac Serotta's and he was instrumental in having the food bank open on Sunday so our families and congregants can experience this mitzvah.

Jill Klee also spearheads our visits to the soup kitchen at Beth Emet which is in Evanston.  On Wednesday afternoon's we bring the ingredients, cook the meal and serve it to over 100 people in their community room.  Many of our B'nai Mitzvah families have participated in this mitzvah and it always make a deep impression on them.

Beth Emet Soup Kitchen

Our annual mitzvah day will be May 3, 2015.  We will again have numerous opportunities to do Mitzvot in our community including participating in the Chicago Walk for Israel.

Looking for some social action projects?   Click on this links or come in to Lakeside and I can give you even more ideas.

Mitzvah Day B'nai Mitzvah Dress/Suit Swap: Epilogue

Clothes being sorted

At Lakeside Congregation's Mitzvah Day for the first time we had one station where our students and families were encouraged to bring old B'nai Mitzvah dresses and suits to swap or to donate to tzedakah.  For many weeks they took up residence in my office and finally last week I made a trip to the Chesed Fund Warehouse in Lincolnwood.  It was a wonderful place and I am glad our clothes found the place that will eventually let them find the right home.

The Chesed Fund is not just a food pantry but also has clothes for adults and children, toiletries and school supplies. I was happy to find out clients are allowed to shop privately.  They come in one designated door and are allowed to shop one family at a time.  Volunteers are not in the building when clients are shopping.  The Chesed Fund  services primarily the Jewish community in Lincolnwood but anyone from the area who qualifies is welcome at the pantry.

From their website:

Chesed Fund: The Place to Turn for Help

There are hundreds of Jewish families in Chicago who were financially stable until a crisis struck. We’re here to provide immediate assistance – and set them back on the road to independence.

Stock room

We battle hunger, prevent eviction and homelessness, and help the unemployed secure jobs. We also offer a wide array of free merchandise to needy families, provide holiday and Jewish lifecycle event assistance, and help send children to Jewish schools and camps.   

This is a great place to volunteer and if you are looking for Mitzvah hours for B'nai Mitzvah or just want to volunteer this is a wonderful place with lots of stocking to be done.  I know our students would find this work rewarding and they would feel as if they had contributed to a worthwhile cause.  They collect everything from hats, shoes, school supplies, baby buggies and bicycles.

Hats and shoes for Orthodox men

Summer is here and it's a good time to volunteer and donate your time and goods.  Most people have more time in the summer and if you want additional good ideas of where to volunteer our Lakeside Social action committee has put together a list of varied mitzvah projects for you to check out!

Let me know if check any of these projects and better yet send me a picture!

Jaffa Oranges and Mitzvah Day

Jaffa Oranges from Anton's

Yesterday in my Kitah Aleph class I gave my Jaffa Orange lecture which I first heard from a fantastic teacher, Chana Reich.  I remember observing Chana teach almost 30 years ago at Temple Emanuel and she would take out a Jaffa orange in her Hebrew school class.  She would tell her Kitah Bet students that this orange was grown in Israel and that the sun in Israel had sweetened it and that even the infrequent rain in Israel for which we pray daily helped it  grow.  I had tears in my eyes at the end of her speech and of course her students couldn't wait to get a taste of that orange.  

Kitah Aleph

So yesterday I did my best Chana Reich impression and  brought a whole case of Jaffa Mandarins.  I gave the speech about Israel, the mandarin growing there and that I had just gotten back from Israel.  Of course by the end my students couldn't wait to get a taste of Israel. They even asked to take home the extra's for their siblings.  When my teachers saw that I had Jaffa oranges they all smiled because I think it makes them think about Israel.  

Mitzvah Day Collections and t-shirt

What does this have to do with Mitzvah day at Lakeside you say?  I not only like the taste of Jaffa oranges but I like the idea of supporting Israel by buying these oranges.  I hope that you come out to Mitzvah day at Lakeside and help support some great causes.  We have a tie dye t-shirts project that will benefit  Be The Match, we have project Linus making blankets.  We also have out of the building experiences at the Northern Illinois Food to help process 1,000 pounds in 2 hours.  It's not too late to sign up we could use a few more volunteers for all of these worthy causes. The schedule for the morning is: 
 8:30 am is Registration with a light breakfast, followed by T'filot, at 9:00am and then we move out to do our projects.  I know everyone has a good feeling when they finish doing Mitzvah day.  Try it out and pick up some Jaffa oranges on your way!