RABBI’S MESSAGE

Dear Friends, As the yamim noraim (high holidays) are in the rear-view mirror, we turn our attention to living life off the mountain of sublime spiritual experiences and in the valley of everyday life. This year, I spoke about acts of chesed (loving-kindness) as vehicles to help us emerge from the fatigue of these past two and a half years and into a principled life lived with a sense of urgency and value. We have created multiple avenues for you to be involved in such work. Please read about them below and then take the first step of calling or emailing us to tell us how you are willing to contribute. And thank you so much for your support. L’Shalom,

Rabbi David A. Schuck

Enhanced Bikkur Cholim Initiative: Monthly Cooking for HOPE Soup Kitchen:

One of the most important ways we care for others is by fulfilling the mitzvah of bikkur cholim (visiting the sick). We are organizing an expanded group of volunteers to help us offer care and support of community members who become sick or injured. Volunteers may deliver care packages, drop off meals, deliver challah and grape juice before Shabbat, bring a ritual item before a holiday, or offer to visit someone at home or in the hospital or a rehab center. We also need people to periodically visit or call homebound members of our community. For more information, contact Rabbi Sitkin at zsitkin@bethelnr.org

Communal Freezer Project:

There may be a time in which the stress in one’s life is so overwhelming that a home cooked meal for one’s family may be precisely what they need. Maybe they are dealing with an illness or shlepping back and forth to care for their parents. Whatever the reason may be, we will have a freezer of home cooked meals for anyone in need. We are looking for more volunteers to help us cook and stock the communal freezer. For more information, contact our communal freezer team at volunteer@bethelnr.org or visit the website at bethelnr.org/ communalfreezer

Volunteers from Beth El meet once a month to cook and deliver dinner to serve in the soup kitchen at HOPE Community Services. For more information, please contact Shayna Klopott at shayna.klopott@gmail.com

Getting to Know Our Neighbors:

This initiative aims to foster connections among members of other civic and faith organizations in Southern Westchester. We want to help create a model for how people of different faiths and ethnicities show up for one another in times of joy and pain. As we know too well, this kind of connection doesn’t just happen overnight. Building strong communal bonds and allyship takes a lot of work and often requires open dialogue and difficult conversations. We hope to bring people together to work toward common goals and foster a more cohesive and caring community here in Westchester. For more information, please contact Rabbi Sitkin at zsitkin@bethelnr.org

Helping the Homeless in NYC

We will be collecting things that are needed by people who are experiencing homelessness and delivering it to drop off locations in New York City. Please be on the lookout for the dates for these Midnight Runs.

HOPE Community Services Sunday Morning Breakfast Distribution:

Beth El committed to organize four Sunday morning breakfast distributions over the course of the year for HOPE Community Services. We need 10 volunteers to come to Beth El on the Friday afternoon before each distribution to help pack lunches, six volunteers to help us on the morning of the distribution, and lots of toiletry donations. If you are interested in volunteering or have additional questions about the schedule or the breakfast/toiletry distribution, please email Ofri Maliniak at ofri.maliniak@gmail.com.

Dates: 12/4; 2/5; 2/26

Help us Make a Minyan

The act of ensuring that there is a minyan (a quorum of 10 people who gather for prayer) is as much an act of chesed as it is an act of piety. You can make a massive difference by attending our daily minyan once a month. Your presence ensures that people can properly mourn for a loved one, gather for quiet reflection, and deepen their social bonds. That thirty minutes a month commitment makes a significant difference in our community. Please contact Cantor Gaby for more information at gschvartz@bethelnr.org.