According to D’vora Adler, community outreach director at Chesed 24/7, the organization and its newest campaign is “all about ahavat Yisrael.”
Chesed 24/7 is an organization dedicated to caring for patients’ needs in the hospital. It runs 24 chesed rooms in hospitals with kosher food, coffee and more, provides nearby apartments for families of patients, and visits cholim in their homes, to name just a few of their services. But one particular chesed they do needs the help of the Bergen County community, “Shabbos in a Box.” The box is “an amazing thing, it transforms your whole tray and table in the hospital,” explained Adler. “We have a tablecloth, then we have a challah cover; we give grape juice and a becher; we give a little silver tray and neirot—two lights that are electric—we give besamim for havdalah; we give a flower with a little vase; we give candies, and it really changes your whole room.”
To that end, the organization is running a “Game Changer” event in Bergen County for women and girls to pack boxes for patients as well as soldiers in Israel. “One of the things that we are doing this year, unfortunately, as we know what’s going on in Eretz Yisrael, is that we are repackaging some of our Shabbos in a Boxes and we are sending them to the chayalim in Eretz Yisrael; that is something that has been well received … and we have cards that are going inside them,” Adler said.
Congregation Ahavath Torah of Englewood already hosted a successful event this week. The second event will be on Monday, August 5 at Congregation Keter Torah, located at 600 Roemer Avenue in Teaneck. It will start with registration and refreshments at 7 p.m., then a program from 7:30 to 8, packing from 8 to 8:45, and will conclude with a raffle from 8:45 to 9:30. For admission and raffle entry, donate to the campaign at playforchesed.org. Admission starts at $36.
One of the items being packed will be Chesed 24/7’s very own board game. “The board game is called ‘24/7,’” Adler said. “It’s fun for all types of people, from little to old. It asks questions about Chesed 24/7 and you earn chesed points, you answer questions about doing chesed, it’s a great game.”
During a period of mourning for the Jewish people, Adler believes that the “Game Changer” initiative is perfect. “During the Nine Days, it’s bringing ahavat Yisrael, it’s bringing the community together to focus on a goal. The three things that we do are [all part of] bikur cholim, because you’re writing a refuah sheleimah card, you’re sending the packages and you’re giving tzedakah … We know that the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because of not having ahavat Yisrael, so we really feel that [in the merit of] bringing all the communities together to one goal of helping the cholim, halevai we should see the Geula.”
Adler concluded with two inspirational stories. “[For] the Shabbos boxes, people write the refuah sheleimah card and we put the card on top of the box. Meanwhile, someone was in Hackensack Hospital, opened up their box, and it was their box that they wrote, they could tell. It was their handwriting; how crazy is that?
“There’s another story in Hackensack also, that there were two volunteers, they happened to have been nurses, but they were volunteering to give the Shabbos boxes around in the hospital. They walked into the room and they noticed that on one of the machines, the numbers were terrible, but they said they’re not on call, there’s really nothing they’re allowed to do. They ran to the station, and because of the Shabbos box and because they walked in to give it [by strengthening him emotionally], they mamash saved his life.”
Go to playforchesed.org to donate and gain admission to the Teaneck event. Message Chesed 24/7 on WhatsApp at 845-354-3233 to find out how you can volunteer for the organization, such as by visiting patients and/or making food deliveries. Learn more about the organization at chesed247.org.
Daniel Brauner is a contributor at The Jewish Link. He is an incoming student at Yeshiva University and lives in Teaneck. Contact him at [email protected].
