Slice of Life #2

Do you know the term, "tikkun olam"? It's Hebrew for "heal the world", and it is a central tenet of Jewish values. From the time I was very small, I learned that giving is an important part of being a member of society. I also learned that giving doesn't have to mean donating a lot of money. Time is just as valuable, and sometimes even more so! My father has always been involved in philanthropic work in the Jewish community in Albany, where I grew up and his model of giving time inspired me to do the same for causes that I believe in, like Pathways Togo.

There is another concept, tzedakah, meaning charity, in the form of collecting money and donating it. There are different levels of tzedakah, the lowest being when both giver and recipient known to each other and the highest being when both giver and recipient are anonymous to each other.  My 5 year old, Alice, brings change for the tzedakah jar at Sunday school every week and expressed interest in having her own jar at home, so I sacrificed a canning jar to the cause, cut out a slot in the lid for change and labeled it. Alice and Stella come across money in various ways--they find change, they are given gifts,  they earn it by doing chores, they lose teeth (!), and so on. Always, there is a choice-- the money can go into their personal piggy banks or the money can go into the tzedakah jar. Sometimes, it's the piggy bank, sometimes it's the tzedakah jar and sometimes they choose to split it between the two. Whenever I find change around the house, I put it in the tzedakah jar. Alice grasps the basic purpose of the jar--the money will go to someone who needs it more.

In this way, I hope to model the spirit of tikkun olam in our home. I don't think they understand that I give time as well as money but they will some day. They know that going to visit a sick person is a mitzvah, as they learned last month when we went to visit my good friend's dying mother in the hospital, and my father took them to visit a family friend recuperating from a broken leg. They see that their presence has put a smile on someone's face which is the most tangible evidence that a three year old and a five year old can understand.

I've upped my personal commitment to tikkun olam this year by signing up with Community Plates, an organization matches up supermarkets that have excess food with non-profit groups that can use that excess. Community Plates relies on volunteers to run food from one place to the other. And that is what I did today, on this rainy, rainy Tuesday. It is probably the most convenient way for busy people to give of their time since it can be done when you're already out and about in your car, running errands.  It's really such a small thing and yet, such a big thing. By giving my time in this way, the recipients of the food can spend their time on more pressing issues, and the supermarkets can avoid wasting perfectly good food. It's a win-win, isn't it?

I would love to hear about the ways that you give, in the spirit of tikkun olam, so tell me in the comments below!

Slice of Life #1

{I used to write these Slice of Life posts way back in the day when Two Writing Teachers first started it but then I stopped teaching and sort of dropped out of everything teacher-related. But since I've recommitted myself to a regular writing practice as one of my goals for 2014, I'm coming back to an oldie but a goodie. }







I vowed to replace my driver's license after two years of putting it off. I put it on the calendar: "Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - Go to DMV." I threw the completed application in my bag last night. This morning, Stella, Micah and I headed out into the freezing cold -- 6 degrees, to be exact, to the car that had been warming up for thirty minutes. Still couldn't get the passenger side doors open, so I opened the hatch and ushered Stella in before climbing in with Micah and plopping him into his seat, reaching over the seat back to buckle him in. I twisted myself sideways to get Stella strapped into her car seat and clambered out backwards, and awkwardly so. It was so sunny and I remember thinking, how deceptive. My car is nice and warm, and the sun is shining. You'd never guess that it was 20 below out there, with the windchill.

I dropped Micah off with my sister on my way to Stella's school. I'd offered to bring a classmate inside with Stella so his mom could wait in the car with her younger son, so I walked them both inside, said my goodbyes and dashed back to the car. As I sat in the lot, waiting for a car behind to back out, it dawned on me that I'd forgotten another form of ID and proof of residency. Crap! I texted my sister to tell her that I was coming to hang out with her instead but she told me to just go home and get the stuff. I really did want to get this over and done with! So, I went all the way back home, a twenty minute drive, grabbed the passport and my lease, then drove back in the direction I'd come from, a thirty minute drive, since it was well past the school.

I walked inside the DMV, confident I was prepared--my application was filled out, I had two forms of ID, I had proof of address. Let's get this done! I got my number, waited my turn and approached the window. Everything was going well until the clerk realized that my passport had my maiden name on it. I literally felt my face fall as I realized that this was going to be a no-go. I needed my marriage certificate and my social security card! Ugh. Why had I not thought of that? The clerk, the very nice and sympathetic clerk, told me to come straight back to her window if I came back the same day.
I really wanted to give up! It was freezing out, I wanted to be cozied up in my sister's house drinking coffee and playing with my niece while Stella was at school.

But I decided I was determined to get this done. I drove ALLLLL the way back home, grabbed the folder that contained all our important documents like social security cards, marriage certificate and birth certificates while trying not to beat myself up for being such a dumbass.

After checking in with my sister to see if Micah was still sleeping, I went back to the DMV, reported again to the same window and got the ball rolling. Everything was in order this time! I paid one fee, waited for my eye test, took the test, waited some more, paid another fee, had my picture taken, waited some more and finally walked out with my driver's license--nearly THREE HOURS after I'd started. Gah. To top it all off, my annoyance is quite apparent in my picture, which looks like a mugshot!

But never mind. It's done. A resolution to check off my list!