A 90-year-old woman who had to give up her beloved bicycle for a walker. An out-of-work legal secretary who pleaded with a towing company not to take her car after being evicted. A husband who lost his job while caring for his dying wife. A high school senior unsure if he would be able to go to college after his family lost their home.
These are just four of the 600 people who benefited from the Rosh Hashanah bags distributed by the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services. Agency-wide, more than 1,500 bags will grace the holiday tables of clients in need this month.
But I wasn’t thinking about them before I jumped into the fill-the-bag assembly line with more than 50 young adults recently at JFCS in San Francisco.
I was thinking about myself.
Exhausted from the day, I was looking forward to a mellow night of laundry, television and sleep. Before I left the office, my colleague Dan and I started talking about volunteering and the effort it takes to commit your time, on top of all other obligations.
I’ve thought about volunteering after work, such as continuing to mentor and teach underprivileged kids tennis like I did while in college.
And it’s been on my mind even more now that the Jewish New Year is so close and thoughts of resolutions creep into my mind. But I haven’t done anything. What I needed was a jump-start.
That happened on Aug. 26. Before me were tables loaded with crates of apples, raisins, tea, jars of honey, sweet cakes, crackers and chicken noodle soup — all thanks to JFCS’ holiday food drive partners, including Bay Area synagogues, schools, organizations and the Koret Foundation holiday food program.
Registered JFCS clients from the agency’s émigré program; Tenderloin Outreach, a free program that provides a Shabbat meal to low-income seniors every month; and kosher meals on wheels will receive special white bags filled with holiday goodies, in addition to a host of local organizations making clients on the fringe feel like part of a community.
We began with a question. What is the highest form of tzedakah? It’s when someone performs an act that is selfless and anonymous, expecting nothing in return. In other words, it’s forgetting about the dirty clothes, the DVR and the downtime, and getting to work.
First I removed plastic wrap from piles and piles of raisins. Then, I picked a spot in front of the green apples and placed two at a time in bags shuttled around the assembly line. Music kept the room abuzz, as did the spread of veggies, cheese, breads and wine. Volunteers joked that it was like trick-or-treating — just drop the candy and add the apples and honey.
As I watched 20- and 30-somethings circle the tables, some with three (heavy-ish) bags on their arms, I couldn’t help but feel genuinely good. There were more people present than jobs to fill, but that didn’t stop everyone from offering to lend a hand. We worked diligently, stopping only to reorganize or gather supplies. We created 220 bags in 15 minutes and kept going.
I left that night recharged, refreshed and ready to help out. After all, Rosh Hashanah is, in my mind, a two-for-one holiday — you have the opportunity to celebrate the past year and simultaneously evaluate your future. Volunteering — in any form — needs to be a part of that.
There was a reason why tears welled in some of the volunteers’ eyes as we watched a brief presentation about the Rosh Hashanah bag recipients.
For the woman who sought therapy after losing her child at birth and the ailing man whose thoughts turned to suicide before receiving help with medical bills, our simple act of filling bags gives them something sweet for the new year.
Hearing their stories was powerful, and there are so many more people whom I could help. Here’s to making their lives a little sweeter this year.
Amanda Pazornik can be reached at [email protected].