One never knows who you will meet while waiting in line at the grocery store.
Earlier this week I was beginning to make a dent in my Chanukah food shopping list, potatoes, sour cream, apples, brisket and other holiday items. My cart was full and my mind was racing with what I had to accomplish that day. I was delighted to see a fellow Temple member and we chatted about the status of our Humanitarian Refugee Project and the long list of tasks we need to complete before our first family arrives in February. We said good-by and I returned to my attention to the check-out line ahead of me. The woman in front of me apologized for eavesdropping but wanted to know what I had just been talking about. I told her about Temple Shalom’s partnership with the Newton Highland’s Congregational Church to help resettle two Syrian refugee families. This lovely woman proceeded to tell me that all she wanted for Christmas from her family was a donation to our cause in her name. She gave me her email, I promised to send her information and later that day I did .A few days went by and last night I received an email from my grocery line heroine. “I made a donation to your project tonight. I am so touched by your synagogue's initiative to do something good in the world. (This is the most hopeful thing that I have heard since the election.) I also took the liberty of posting the link to your website on my Facebook page. I wish you and your family and your congregation a very Happy Chanukah.” Kindness can come from anyone, anywhere at any time. For me it was in line, at Shaw’s in Chestnut Hill, from a stranger who wanted to help. My heart is full.
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A week ago today we had the good fortune to host Rabbi Rachel Grant Meyer, HIAS Director of Education. As often as I have heard the numbers, they are as stunning as they are so hard to picture. These are the numbers she shared:
Knowing this, the news this week from Syria brings me to tears. Human beings, including children, are just being left to die in Aleppo as the government regains power. So last night when we had fifty people show up for a committee meeting, it felt good. Fifty people that stepped up to say, let me do what I can. Fifty people to help resettle two Syrian refugee families in our area. Temple Shalom, now partnering with the Newton Highlands Congregational Church will find apartments, cover rent, provide furniture and supplies for the apartment. A small number of volunteers will work face to face with the families. And I know it is more than that fifty. We’ve had over 200 at a dinner, over 70 at last week’s educational event, many others giving, so many approaching me. This is a community effort. It is the spirituality of action. It is the opportunity to do some good. It is a community stepping up to a challenge together. Oh, and the families! We now know about our first family. It is becoming more real. Our first family has three young children, so we have a crib on our shopping list. So the numbers that turn around in my head now are not just displaced persons, refugees, and how much money to raise, now the number is 2. Two real families. Join me! |