Giving with the hand and the heart

“You do the most vital work for the community, and we are all so grateful. You are literally out there saving lives, lifting up families, giving people hope, strength, and dignity. You, together with your amazing team at Yad Aharon & Michael, are doing Hashem’s work in the world, every day.” – Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein.

Yad Aharon & Michael, Johannesburg’s leading, independent Jewish food fund, prides itself on being able to deliver food parcels and dignity to the most vulnerable members of our community on a weekly basis.

Allow me to share an invaluable lesson which I learned from Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler: “If one’s primary concern in the mitzvah of tzedakah is to give others the opportunity to give, this infuses them with a giving spirit, and in the merit of sharing the Almighty’s work.”

Our recent annual soup-kitchen appeal demonstrated that, even in a climate of unprecedented economic uncertainty, our fragile community, once again, reached out with compassion, empathy, and generosity, qualities which perfectly illustrate the two aspects of tzedakah: giving with the hand and the heart. By participating in Yad Aharon’s pivotal role to alleviate hunger, the community contributes and owns the end-result, thereby joining our ranks as agents of change.

Yad Aharon’s attitude towards the poor is best summed up by a single word of the biblical text: achikha (your brother). Seeing each needy person as our sibling created b’tzelem Elokim (in the image of G-d), cuts through any attempts to separate ourselves from him or her. Rather, we see ourselves as channels of Hashem’s compassion in this world, as succinctly expressed by a treasured recipient’s comment:

“Your enterprise is one which produces exhilaration at work because everybody is committed in their souls to providing a helping hand without any bias. As a result, your beneficiaries feel respected, loved, and valued as active participants in the mitzvah of chesed.”

This year, more than any other, not only do we desperately need the assurance that our Father in heaven is there to console us in times of tragedy and suffering but, as we approach Rosh Hashanah, the Almighty expects us, as agents of change, to do what’s necessary to emulate His love and compassion towards the needy in our city. Hashem has made us responsible for this world and for one another and, with more than 660 families relying on us to put food on their tables over the upcoming high holy days, feeding the poor must take precedence on our list of priorities.

Over the past five months, we have experienced change in every facet of our lives, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will be no exception. Yom Tov without going to shul, hearing shofar blowing, and celebrating the New Year surrounded by extended family and dear friends is inconceivable.

The impact of not being invited out for festive meals will be acutely felt by our recipients, not only because Rosh Hashanah will be a night and day like any other, but also because, having all the meals at home means foregoing the sense of security which putting aside certain items from their Yom Tov food hampers would provide.

This humbling reality sends out a crystal-clear message: the need by the poor and vulnerable in our midst to feel heard and supported has never been more urgent. Acts of kindness have a cosmic power, particularly in the month of Elul. The simple act of reaching out to others, putting another’s troubled mind at rest, and meeting someone else’s most basic needs can’t be overlooked, not only because “everyone deserves a sweet New Year”, but also because ahavas chesed (kindness underpinned by love) lays the foundation in transforming us as agents of change.

May our increased observance of tefilla, tzedoka, and chesed inscribe and seal us for a year of blessing and healing.

• Alice Friedman is managing director of Yad Aharon & Michael.