Acts of loving kindness by committee

Members of the Bay Terrace Jewish Center are fulfilling the Jewish duty of performing charity and acts of loving kindness through their Chesed Committee.
About seven years ago, the committee chair, Bob Lovett, was serving on the center’s Board of Trustees when he noticed the amount of people in need being shown on television during the holidays. He got the idea that the center could do something to further help the community, brought the idea to the board, and was met with a positive response.
“It was as if they had been waiting for an opportunity to do the good intentions they had,” Lovett said. “The committee got off to a good start and it’s been going ever since.”
Joining Lovett on the Chesed Committee is center president Lila Edelkind, Rabbi Shlomo Blickstein, Marcia Model, Kenneth Weitz, Mimi Weitz, Susan Glass, Ethel Shapiro, Shirley Behmoiram, Judith Ferber, Maier Weiner and Thelma Weiner.
“We’re a small, hearty band,” Lovett said.
The committee performs a wide variety of activities. They include collecting clothing for women’s shelters, the homeless and immigrant groups, eyeglasses to send to third world countries, food, winter coats, cell phones to be reprogrammed to call 9-1-1, and clothes for “Dress for Success.” They have sold plants to donate proceeds to Darfur and have trees planted in Israel for members of the synagogue who pass away.
“I just think it’s the right thing to do and I do want to help,” Model said. She also said, “I think it’s wonderful to be able to see that there are people who are interested enough to try to change the world the way it is because it’s so bad and it needs help.”
Behmoiram said, “I feel it in my heart.”
Blickstein explained that in Judaism there is no real word for charity, although the Hebrew word Tzedakah is commonly used to mean charity. However, Blickstein said it actually means righteousness and that it is the duty of the Jewish people to “somehow right the wrongs of the world.”
“For me, it’s knowing that I have and trying to give to those that don’t,” Mimi Weitz said.
Kenneth Weitz said that at times it can be easier to give back through a group, since it can bring out a person’s ideas while also fostering them. Glass also said that there can be safety in numbers.
Shapiro joined after being approached by Model and said that one of the first things she did was assist at the bazaar where the plants were being sold to benefit Darfur. Ferber became a member of the committee because she saw a need and the involvement interested her.
Maier and Thelma Weiner were members of a Chesed Committee at another synagogue. Maier also began volunteering at St. Francis Hospital, where he underwent surgery in 1990 and saw the amount of help and support given by the staff. Thelma said that another reason to give back is the thought that if you help one person it’s as though you are helping the world.
Edelkind said that the Bay Terrace Jewish Center, which has more than 450 members, also teaches the concept of Chesed to children.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to one of the Chesed Committee’s activities can contact the center’s office at 718-428-6363.