Shabbat Shalom!
It was a really chilly night in late March, when,
instead of playing my daily dose of Fortnite before bed (just kidding), my dad
and I headed for church. Yes, not
kidding, we went to the United Methodist Church of New Canaan, in order to
fulfill my Mitzvah Project.
Now that I have you confused, for my project, I
went to New York with an organization called Midnight Run, where along with six
others, I personally handed out clothing, fresh meals and toiletries – at
midnight – to homeless people on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.
This project in fact ties into both my Torah portion
and the festival of Passover.
My portion of Metzora discusses leprosy, a disease
that was very contagious. No one wanted to touch or go near people who had it,
so they were excluded from the community.
Except the Kohen, the priest, who would talk to them. In Leviticus 14:3 it says, “When (a case of
leprosy) has been reported to the priest, he shall go outside the camp to see if
the leper has been healed.” The commentators say that the priest was not to
wait until people came to him. He had to
go to them. Even the very contagious person
with leprosy needs to be met with personal human contact… no one should be an
outcast.
Which brings me to the homeless. It so happens that for me, homelessness is
not just something you read about. In
the past, I have had friends who were homeless. So when it was time for me to pick a mitzvah
project, I didn’t want to simply donate to a homeless shelter or deliver food
to a food bank. I wanted to go out to where homeless people live and personally
help them out.
Also, today is Shabbat Hagadol, meaning Passover
begins this week. The story of the Exodus
and the night of the tenth plague is another story about a midnight run.
It says in Exodus chapter 12:
וַיְהִי בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה, וַיהוָה הִכָּה
כָל-בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם
“And it came to pass at midnight, that the LORD killed
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.”
At that moment, the Israelites had no choice but to
prepare to leave right away.
As ex-slaves, they knew and we know what it’s like to
be an outsider – and that’s why we are told to love the stranger 36 times in
the Torah – because we were strangers in the land of Egypt. And it all started with that midnight run
from Egypt after the tenth plague toward a better life and a more hopeful
future. Just like the homeless people I
met, who were trying to escape to a better reality.
Also, my haftarah speaks of the prophet Elijah, who
visits every Seder table. He’s not there
just because he likes Manischewitz (pause), but because he brings the promise of hope to those who
are poor, homeless or otherwise down on their luck.
So let me tell you more about my experience that cold
night in New York City.
It’s hard to express it, but it was much more
enjoyable than I expected it to be.
The other volunteers were members of the church. My dad told them that we were doing this for
my bar mitzvah. They were like, “Hey, that’s a great idea.”
Twenty-five people helped to prepare the food and load
the van, most of them older volunteers and also a few teens. But as I said, only
7 of us went on the trip, and I was the youngest one.
We
drove to Hell’s Kitchen – on the west side in the 40s, which is now a very
touristed area. A lot of homeless people
knew we were coming, through word of mouth, but a lot were pleasantly surprised
that they were going to get supplies to help them through the night.
We would drive around in our van to different stops. Some of the people we served showed us where
they sleep. Some had succeeded in moving
into a tiny apartment, with the help of Midnight Run and other organizations. Some
of them sleep in front of churches, outdoors.
Others in recreation buildings open 24/7. At each stop, I handed out sandwiches, asking
each person whether they wanted turkey, meatloaf, roast beef or my homemade PB&J.
They were all super thankful. Some even gave us hugs.
One guy needed a sleeping bag so we gave him one and
he was ecstatic. He said, “I wanted a
sleeping bag so much.”
There was another guy who was using toilet paper as socks and had purple bruises all over his
feet. And the toilet paper was getting stuck between his toes. This really hit me hard. But he was super happy to get socks and shoes
from us.
Counter to what some believe, I’d say that only a
small percentage had mental health or drug issues. Everyone we met wanted to talk with us and
was very thankful.
About half a dozen of the people we helped were women
and there were maybe 60-70 men. Lots of
people. One woman had been living with
her husband, and after he sadly passed away – now she is on the streets.
The people we helped would all say “God bless” when I
gave them supplies. Everyone wanted
blankets and underwear and stuff like that.
When we gave people food, most ate right away, but some took the food
back for family.
Some of them have jobs, but NONE want to be homeless.
This was an amazing experience and I hope we can do
something like this here at the temple.
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