Nov. 20, 2007
Dear Interfaith Families and Friends,
I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving - plenty of good company, talks with beloved friends, games with the kids and reunions with folks from far away.
Some Nostalgia... and Where it can Lead
It is with tremendous nostalgia that I tell you that it is time for Congregation Beth El’s Annual Chanukah Bazaar (details below). My eldest, Elly, is twenty one years old and before she was born my husband and I were members of Beth El and volunteered at the Bazaar. At the thought of the Bazaar, the years vanish and I can remember sitting on the folding chair making change as the people made their purchases. It was such fun. The food was good too. Find some place to volunteer. A bazaar in your own congregation, this is a good familiar place to start. There is also the food bank, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, shelters, and churches. It is such a joy to be part of a community of people all focused on doing good. That’s how I was raised and I bet, so were you.
My kids have made sandwiches and collected coats for shelters, sent money for seed and animals for people in other countries, collected books for children, done office work at Shalom Bayit. Weeded elderly people’s yards, painted shelters & homes. They learned by doing. So will yours. You and they will have sweet memories of feeling good about doing good.
Identity in America
There was an interesting article on Adoption in America in the New York Times. It doesn’t address religion at all, but it does talk about identity. It’s work reading.
Adoption and the American Family
Who Are you Known As?
http://relativechoices.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/who-are-you-also-known-as/?ex=1195707600&en=967fbc955cd45b60&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Volunteer for Chanukah Bag Deliveries
Spend some time doing mitzvot by delivering Chanukah bags, with family and friends, to isolated and lonely seniors in their own home or in residential facilities throughout the Peninsula. JFCS will do its best to match you by geography. Pick up your Chanukah bags at one of Jewish Family and Children’s Services locations: 200 Channing Ave. in Palo Alto or 2001 Winward Way in San Mateo. Deliver any time Nov. 29 through Dec. 5. For more information contact Bobbi Bornstein at (650)688-3090 or email Bobbib@jfcs.org .
