Hello world!
September 19th, 2007Welcome to WordPress.
I would like to share with you how I feel and what I have done. Please spare a moment or two to read this. And let me know if am doing right or wrong.
In my couple of years of learning at the Yeshiva in Jerusalem I had the opportunity to learn so many things and one is the principles of sharing and giving that broaden my ideas, chat with the many of the “old timers”, meet new students, Rabbis and the passers by.. I felt so blessed to be one of them in spite of my disabilities.. As I look back at all the days, where we used to discuss things like politics, culture, media, religions, traditions,and the class will not part without mentioning what we can do to help our own people. Months have past and then a sudden BOOM! Someone gave me a light on how we can make a difference. A difference that is worth doing.
Again, one of the teachings with one of the Rabbis keeps flashing on my mind that :
“‘ we as Jewish have a special purpose in this world. That we were created to be a light among the nations and we can’t radiate light into the world if we can’t generate light among ourselves. Only then that the Jews love and care unites with one another to help each other survive. It makes no difference whether a Jew is religious or not. And no matter what happens, there will always be people around to interact with. No matter which part or how much of our life breaks, we have our faith, our traditions, and our Jewish community to fall back on..
“With such, teachings it gives me an encouragement and inspiration to out reach to the Jewish families in need in Jerusalem. And to be there to help and lend a hand one way or another to get back at their feet when their life knocks down. . . to give hope when reality is broken and forced to see what’s really under the hood…… to pray for hope that they can be able to get back on the road and resume their lives before they know it.
Over the past months, I have had the esteemed pleasure of organizing my thoughts, with the collective ideas with some friends. And with my years of experience as a volunteer in one of the city government projects in Jerusalem called “Kidom Noam“ whose main objective is to help the youth and families redirect their life. Looking at this project, I’ve seen what’s missing. I was able to design a project which I firmly believed will have an impact among these families that have grown exponentially in the city. Although we are not an AMUTA but a group initiative to lend a hand and it’s amazing to know that am not alone, many seem doing the same. Surprisingly, many volunteered to help out, giving morale support, very supportive and looking forward for the project to materialize. So, after a thorough brainstorming, calls, emails, sharing of ideas, and exploring every possibility how we can help these less fortunate families. At last, we were able to come out with a basic community projects. A project in small scale that will create a great impact in addressing their needs and that will make a difference in their lives. A model that seems too religious to some but it is the basic step of sharing and giving and we calledcalled it COMMUNITY REACH OUT PROJECTS. That comprises the Sponsor A Shabbat (SAS) Project, Sponsor a Family (SAF) Project and the Sponsor an Education(SAED) Project. Every week one can sponsor a family to purchase SHABBAT GIFT BOX to be delivered to the recipient families before the Shabbat starts. What we need here is a commitment to support these families for Shabbat celebration. Our volunteers and friends with so much energy and excitement will go to Meheyuda Market every Friday morning to buy the stuff and prepare the boxes for distribution before noon time. And in the coming weeks and months, we will organize for each families to have a chance to meet and thanks the visiting donors by leading a Friday night Shabbat Service at Mt Zion near the King’s David Tomb or in the KOTEL (Wailing Wall). But all of these will not materialize without your generous support.
I hope you’ll feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions to let me know that you’ll be joining our project. And finally, a million thanks to the generosity of so many of you who will be sharing our project and be a success.
WELCOME ABOARD!
Shlomo Amenou