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July 13, 2012
The benefits are reciprocal
Chabad of Richmond shares food, light of Shabbat.
JAN LEE
Twice a month, a small group of volunteers gathers in Chabad of Richmond’s kitchen, and prepare six to 12 special Shabbat dinners to share with members of the Jewish community. By Friday morning, the small rooms are filled with the aromas of freshly baked challah, chicken soup and strudel. The food is carefully packed into individual boxes along with a set of Shabbat candles, to be delivered throughout the metropolitan area.
The project holds a special significance for all of the volunteers who participate in it, said Grace Jampolsky, who coordinates the baking of the challah that is included with the dinner.
“I feel privileged,” said Jampolsky, who explained that the program serves an important role in the area’s Jewish community.
The Light of Shabbat, Joy of Sharing program, which is now approaching its second year in Richmond, was created to honor the memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rebbetzin Rivki Holtzberg, who were murdered by terrorists in Mumbai, India, in 2008. Chabad of Richmond’s program is based on a similar one in Victoria that has been successful in connecting with the island’s Jewish community. It started in August 2011 with smaller dinners, but has steadily grown in support, and now recipients receive a full meal of challah, meat or fish, salad and dessert; grape juice and salt for the challah are included, along with candles and literature about Shabbat traditions.
Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, who oversees operations at Chabad of Richmond, said that their program underscores an important principle in Jewish tradition: the act of doing something in honor of another for the purpose of promoting ahavat Yisrael, love and concern for a fellow Jew. He stressed that the dinners aren’t just given to people who may need a hot meal, but anyone who could benefit from a friendly “Shabbat shalom” and a warm smile.
Referrals are through word of mouth, said Baitelman, and potential recipients aren’t limited by economic status, need, age or affiliation. Anyone in Richmond’s Jewish community can receive a Shabbat meal, and the program occasionally delivers to the Vancouver area as well.
“We’ll have a list of people at the beginning of the week, and usually I will call ... and tell them that we would like to share Shabbos with them this week,” said the rabbi, who makes sure that someone will be home to receive the meal. Baitelman said he finds both the recipients and volunteers benefit from the connection.
“It has done incredible things for people. It has taken an edge off of the loneliness for some [and] brought people into our seniors programs,” he said.
“I once delivered a package to an older woman and, when I [arrived], she was in tears. She said she generally spends Shabbos with her family,” shared Baitelman. “It was the right time,” he said, explaining that the woman’s daughter was spending Shabbat at another home that night. “This was someone who definitely had a place to be for Shabbat any other week. Without realizing it, it was a perfect week for her to receive this [package].”
The hand-delivered meal gives recipients the opportunity to welcome in Shabbat by lighting candles and enjoying the meal in their own home. It also allows the volunteers to experience Shabbat in a different way.
“You can share Shabbat by having people to your house, and you can also share Shabbat by reaching out,” said Baitelman.
Roxanne Eichhorn, who delivers meals for the program, agreed.
“I think it is wonderful,” said Eichhorn, who echoed Baitelman’s observation that recipients are sometimes lonely and aren’t able to get out on their own. “It is very touching to them. They feel they are loved and that people really do care.”
And the benefits are reciprocal.
“The volunteers consistently have said that they gain more from the project than anyone else,” said Baitelman.
“It is really worthwhile,” said Jampolsky, who follows Chanie Baitelman’s family recipe and makes sure there are always enough challot available.
The program’s first volunteer was Amira Silver, z”l, and current volunteers include Shana Seskin, Glenda Saitowitz, Darrel Seskin, Merle Linde, Simi Slater, Chanie Baitelman, Jampolsky and Eichhorn.
One goal, said Rabbi Baitelman, “is to get younger people involved, bar or bat mitzvah-aged students or high school students and their families to be able to deliver the boxes.” Another goal, he said, is to increase the number of dinners and the frequency, thereby further supporting ahavat Yisrael in the community.
“How does that express itself? It’s not necessarily just in [tzedakah]. It’s in everything from a good morning to someone, to any type of possible interaction.” And that, in a nutshell, is what the program is all about, he said.
Jan Lee’s articles on Jewish culture and traditions have been published in B’nai B’rith Magazine, Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism, and on Suite101.com. She is also a contributing writer for TheDailyRabbi.com. Her blog is multiculturaljew.blogspot.ca.
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