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Local Jews Refl ect on
Community Mitzvah Day
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
8 APRIL 27, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
biggest necessities: food. The event,
titled “Breakfast Bags for Seniors,”
consisted of volunteers packing items
and decorating breakfast bags.

Sue Weiner, one of the organiz-
ers, estimated that each synagogue
contributed 100 bags and that the
eff ort touched 200 seniors.

“The more people we can get
involved, it makes not only the seniors
feel good, but it makes you as a person
feel good,” she said.

KleinLife hosted a similar event.

Volunteers gathered to make “chicken
tenders, meatballs, or fi sh fi llets with
vegetables,” according to a descrip-
tion on israel75.jewishphilly.org. They
made 200 meals in two hours for
“low-income homebound older adults
across the greater Philadelphia area.”
John Eskate, KleinLife’s director of
community services, connected the
eff ort to the life cycle. When we were
babies, Eskate explained, someone
took care of us. Now it’s our turn to
take care of older adults.

“It’s an important message because
it’s our responsibility,” he said. “It’s
our responsibility to take care of our
Volunteers pack meals at KleinLife on Community Mitzvah Day.

relatives and non-relatives.”
Jewish Family and Children’s Service
also organized a day to help a specifi c
group of people in need: Ukrainian
refugees. At the Barbara and Harvey
Brodsky Enrichment Center in Bala
Cynwyd, local Jews cooked soup,
decorated cards and made blankets.

“A little bit of dignity and love
shared,” said Brianna Torres, the
volunteer coordinator for JFCS. “It’s
about doing something bigger than
ourselves. Doing something that is not
inwardly focused. We can be a very
individualized society.”
The Center City Kehillah brought
people together to clean the yard at
the Albert M. Greenfi eld School on
Chestnut Street. As Kehillah co-chair
Rhona Gerber explained, it had a dual
focus: helping the environment and
beautifying the community. The result
was “a safe place for our kids to play,”
she said.

“Center City is our home. And just
as you invite your guests and want
your home to look its best, you want
your community to look its best,” she
added. Sharon Lustig, an Ohev Shalom of
Bucks County member since 1988,
attended the synagogue’s “Breakfast
Bags for Seniors” event. She went
because, as she put it, “If your
synagogue is asking you to do a
mitzvah, you do it.” In each bag, she
wrote, “Every day is a gift. That’s why
we call it the present.”
She wanted not only to give seniors
some food but to make them feel
good. People with health issues can
get down, she explained. But it’s still
important to enjoy today.

“You don’t know what tomorrow’s
going to bring,” Lustig said.

Zanny Oltman, a Wynnewood resident
and JFCS volunteer, helped at the JFCS
event for Ukrainian refugees. Oltman
and her husband brought their three
children, too. As they wrote notes in
the packages, the kids went to Google
Translate to get their Ukrainian right.

“They enjoy how they feel when
they’re helping out and they love
how they feel when we are fi nished,”
Oltman said of her children. ■
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of Stephanie Hampson
Volunteers for the Albert M.

Greenfi eld schoolyard cleanup
Courtesy of Rhona Gerber
A mitzvah refers to a command-
ment from God, and since
God does not command
the Jews to do bad things, the word
refers to the good deeds that fulfi ll the
commandments. They are individual
acts. But often, a collective reminder to
carry them out is necessary.

On April 23, the Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia off ered just
such a reminder. Called Community
Mitzvah Day, it featured events around
the area organized by synagogues,
Jewish community centers and other
institutions. It was also part of the
Federation’s Israel 75 celebrations.

Those who participated talked about
how it just … felt … good.

Sharon Whitney helped organize
Old York Road Temple Beth-Am’s
Mitzvah Fair. It’s an annual event at the
Abington synagogue to help its chari-
table partners. This year, volunteers
collected food, socks and other items
to donate to organizations like the
Jenkintown Food Cupboard and the
Jewish Relief Agency.

“It’s an essential part of healing the
Earth and, from a practical standpoint,
we’re able to incorporate that into our
religious school curriculum,” Whitney
said. Barrie Mittica, the director of engage-
ment at the Kaiserman JCC, gathered
people for a trail cleanup on the JCC’s
Wynnewood property. She said the
day was not just about doing good
deeds but about understanding that
they could add up to a great nation
like Israel.

“It didn’t just happen. It happened by
the hard work of many people,” Mittica
said of Israel. “So, I think to honor that
with working for our community builds
into that idea.”
At Congregation Kol Emet in
Yardley and Ohev Shalom of Bucks
County, the focus was on one of life’s



Yom HaShoah: Survivors
Through the Generations
A Mother and Daughter Story
Although Yom HaShoah, Holocaust
Remembrance Day, on April 18 has passed,
the horrors and atrocities of this genocide
must be remembered – especially with
the ever-increasing levels of antisemitism
locally and worldwide.

“We are sadly approaching a reality
where there will not be any Survivors
left to share their first-hand stories,” said
Jason Holtzman, director of the Jewish
Federation’s Jewish Community Relations
Council (JCRC), who is a third-generation
Survivor himself.

This year, the Jewish Federation allocated
$305,000 to organizations that provide
Holocaust Survivors with food, rent
money and other basic necessities to age
with dignity. Last year, 45,497 Holocaust
Survivors worldwide were served through
organizations and programs supported by
the Jewish Federation.

First and second-generation Survivors
in the community share how the Jewish
Federation has helped them tell their
stories and why their lived experiences
must be preserved as a way for history not
to repeat itself.

The Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia is dedicated to preserving
the memory of those who perished
in the Holocaust, supporting those
who survived and educating the next
generation. Visit jewishphilly.org/donate to
assist us in this crucial work.

“From day number one, the Jewish Federation helped us
when nobody else did. Through JFCS, [a grantee of the
Jewish Federation], we were given a social worker and rent
money for the first year we were in our apartment. They
even helped me go to school to study English. I don’t know
where we’d be without the Jewish Federation.”
Eva Khaitman, first-generation Survivor who fled
Odessa by boat with her mother
“It's extremely important we don't forget the Holocaust.

The rise of antisemitism and prejudices can't be
tolerated. The only thing that separates myself from
all those who perished is a little over 70 years. I'm just
lucky to have been born in another decade and time.”
Inga Khaitman, second-generation Survivor
and Eva’s daughter
A Multi-Generational Responsibility
“As the child of a Holocaust Survivor, I
understand, implicitly, that I must work to better
the lives of Jews. I am extraordinarily proud to
oversee the allocation of the Jewish Federation’s
unrestricted dollars to benefit organizations and
individuals for whom every dollar makes an
impact. My volunteer work is in direct response
to my father’s experiences in the Holocaust.”
Holly Nelson, second-generation Survivor and chair of the
Jewish Federation’s Planning and Resourcing Committee
The Power of First-Hand Accounts
“There is no better person to tell the
stories than an eyewitness to the past. I was there
and I experienced in my own way the events of the
Holocaust. I'm very grateful to the Jewish Federation
for all the work done in support of helping Survivors
and the aid given to Israel.”
Daniel Goldsmith, first-generation Survivor
who was hidden by Catholic clergy
Photo Credit: PhillyBurbs.com
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