Mitzvah Day unites communities in acts of tikkun olam

It’s hard to heal the whole world in a day, but it never hurts to try.

That’s why hundreds of volunteers from about 30 synagogues and organizations throughout the region are expected to participate in a community-wide Mitzvah Day on Nov. 7. They’ll be cleaning beaches, making sandwiches for the homeless, assembling care packages for American soldiers overseas, and anything else they can think of to live the Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world.

“This year, because of the continuing economic situation, the focus is very much around working with local food pantries by providing food, personal hygiene items, and [helping] to sort donations and stock shelves,” explained Florence Andrews, who is director of planning and community outreach for the Jewish Federation Valley Alliance and is coordinating Mitzvah Day.

The 15-year-old event draws volunteers from the Simi, San Fernando, Conejo, Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys. Not only is it intended to bring communities together, but it also unites different groups within synagogues and organizations.

At Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills, young and old will gather to make dog treats for a rescue center and prepare food for a youth home. Others will write letters to soldiers through Operation Gratitude. Some even will paint pet rocks for seniors at the Los Angeles Jewish Home.

“We really try to gear everything for all ages, from preschool all the way up to 120 [years old],” said Jackie Louk, coordinator of the Reform temple’s youth group that worked on planning the activities.

At Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, there’s a long list of ways that people can get involved. Hundreds of people have taken part in the past, said Susan Feldman, one of the congregation’s Mitzvah Day co-chairs.

“There’s a real energy at the synagogue that day,” she said.

And it’s all positive, added her husband, Jeff, who noticed an abundance of smiles on last year’s volunteers. There’s a lesson in that, he said.

“It’s not an arduous job to give,” he continued. “They’re doing a job, but it’s not like it’s miserable to give. They’re having fun.”

This year, participants will gather in the morning at the Conservative shul to make flower boxes for Habitat for Humanity, knit blankets for Warm Up America, make matzoh covers for Jewish soldiers and more. Afternoon projects are a bit more intimate, as smaller groups work at a food bank and an animal shelter.

In Calabasas, Mitzvah Day at Congregation Or Ami will mean preparing 300 to 400 duffel bags filled with items for children entering emergency foster placement. The project creates a personal connection with someone in need, said Laurie Tragen-Boykoff, social action coordinator at the Reform temple.

“Most of these kids in our congregation feel like they’re giving the bag to someone they know,” she said. “It’s remarkable.”

It takes a 12-page brochure to describe the smorgasbord of Mitzvah Day activities for Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills. While some participants are making audio recordings of storybooks for children receiving medical care, others will take part in an interfaith effort making sandwiches for the hungry.

Having participated in the interfaith project before, Jeff Bernhardt, the Conservative synagogue’s community of caring director, knows the effect it can have on people.

“There’s a feeling of community and camaraderie and a feeling of — while we don’t do it for the reward — of the reward that we were going to be making a difference,” he said.

Many synagogues pursue social justice and community service projects throughout the year, but putting a laserlike focus on tikkun olam through Mitzvah Day can serve an important, age-old purpose. It gets people keyed back in on the issue, said Rabbi Ted Riter of Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks.

“Our prophets would go out into the cities and the countryside reminding people of their obligations, and so I think in a very public way this reminds all of our congregants of the sacred obligation that we hold to bring healing to the world,” he said. “And though we’re always doing it, it’s just a nice public reminder to say, ‘Yeah, this year, too.’ ”

His Reform congregation gets hundreds of volunteers and sends busloads of people around the area doing good works. This year’s projects include community cleanups and helping a local food bank.

“The people who are out there who need us, they need more than just one day, and we have the ability to do it,” Riter said.

Which brings up the issue of how every day can become Mitzvah Day. It’s something that volunteers at Temple Kol Tikvah came to realize after their first experience with Mitzvah Day, according to Rabbi Janet Offel.

“When we first started it here … the members of the committee came up to me and [said], ‘Rabbi, do we have to stop? Can we keep doing this and be doing other things throughout the year?’ And I think that’s really what Mitzvah Day is all about,” she said. “It is not just … doing something on one day but for people to realize that this is something that we should really be doing throughout the year.”

There is no single registration site for signups, but if you’re interested in volunteering, call your neighborhood synagogue or other Jewish organization to register.