Unspooling a Unique
Method of Tikkun Olam
The Shul Stitchers combine the
best of Judaism and textiles.

RACHEL KURLAND | JE STAFF
t 82, Charlotte Muchnick performs acts of kindness — one
stitch at a time.

She coordinates the Shul Stitchers at Har Zion Temple in Penn
Valley, a group of about 30 people who knit blankets for those in need.

They knit together individually in their homes and as a group, meet-
ing once a month for the past 15 years to put all the pieces together.

The stitchers work together in an assembly-line fashion, each
contributing a piece of the puzzle. Some crochet small squares,
others sew those together into panels, which are then sewn into six-
paneled blankets, while still others crochet the edges using yarn or
hand-stitching. “There isn’t any piece that anybody has done that we’ve turned
away,” she laughed. “It all goes into a blanket, and they’re all beautiful
when they’re done.”
Muchnick often washes the blankets once they’re done before
delivering them and sewing in the final touch: a tag that says “made
with love from the Shul Stitchers of Har Zion Temple.”
“We just reach out to people who have a special need,” she said.

“It’s something that has created a community of mitzvah-doers.”
They’ve donated the blankets to a variety of institutions and peo-
ple, such as lone soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, veterans, ill
people and children in hospitals and shelters, and homeless people.

They’ve also donated to HIAS and given some to the Jewish Relief
Agency to dispense.

Muchnick said they try to distribute them every time they reach
about a dozen or so blankets and hopes to donate twice as much
before the holidays this year.

“The holidays can be very beautiful, and they can be very sad for
a lot of people,” she said. They try to give to wherever they see a
need. Muchnick also co-chairs another organization at Har Zion, the
Caring Connection. The group of about 30 do-gooders deliver meals
to people who are in mourning or sick.

For all the mitzvot Muchnick does, she remains humble.

“I live a life of reaching out to people,” she said. “I think it’s impor-
tant, especially now, because so many people are not connected —
and they’re unhappy because they’re not connected. It’s just a human
thing to do, and recognizing hurt in other people and trying to help
them, it’s a good thing. It makes you feel good that you’re doing good.”
Muchnick added that supporting others builds community, and
it becomes its own reward.

“It’s what I have learned by being Jewish. It’s a Jewish value that
I value highly,” she said.

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DECEMBER 17, 2015
Muchnick recalled delivering blankets to people at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. when it was still open,
and she met a young veteran who lost both his legs, so young he
still looked like a teenager.

“I was happy that the blankets that we made would go to some peo-
ple like him that could bring him some level of comfort,” she added.

But Sue Aistrop, director of community services at KleinLife and
RSVP Philadelphia, said the whole face of senior volunteers is changing.

RSVP — the Retired Senior Volunteer Program — is federally
funded by the Corporation of National and Community Service
and sponsored by KleinLife. It provides community service oppor-
tunities for almost 1,000 55-and-over volunteers.

Although the title implies an older crowd, Aistrop said RSVP re-
cruits more baby boomers, and “55 looks a lot different than it did
back then” when it started 40 years ago.

The majority of issues they support relate to hunger, food inse-
curity and literacy.

“We try to address serious problems in the community and put
our volunteers in those directions,” she added. “We’re going to try
and place people where there’s a real need and they’re really going
to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Aistrop said volunteers help in any way they can, whether filing
papers or ushering at theaters. While still appreciated, she said baby
boomers want to give back in more hands-on ways.

“Studies show that people actually physically feel better when
they’re volunteering. It improves their health, it improves their state
of mind, it improves their neighborhood. It’s just a positive way to
finish your career,” she said.

“Baby boomers want to see more results from what they do. They
want to feel much more engaged and needed. They want to share
their thoughts on the best way it can be done. They want a much
more complete commitment to the organizations that they’re vol-
unteering for.”
Bob Slipakoff is a part of that baby boomer generation in RSVP.

The 64-year-old is a volunteer delivery driver for one of RSVP’s
largest programs, Cook For a Friend, a Meals on Wheels-type of
program that provides food to about 625 people each year.

Members of KleinLife and the community from across the
Delaware Valley prepare the meals, some even with vegetables grown
in a garden at KleinLife.

“I’m a lot younger than some of my cohorts at RSVP,” he laughed.

He delivers meals every Monday morning to, he says, “get the
week off to a good start.”
THE GOOD LIFE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



PHOTOS PROVIDED BY HAR ZION TEMPLE
Charlotte Muchnick (left) leads a meeting of Shul Stitchers.

“I think that I have a deep
“This is living history, not
feeling for seniors who want to
just museums. In a way, bring-
stay as independent as they
ing her a meal and giving her
can and who may or may not
a little bit of sustenance, a little
have loved ones nearby,” he
bit of strength… it felt great.

added. “You never know
That was just a great way to
somebody’s situation until you
start it off,” he added.

get to know them.”
Slipakoff goes the extra
The Shul Stitchers pose with their holiday gift-giving bounty.

Slipakoff has also tried to get
mile for the seniors he assists.

to know the people he delivers to
He shovels their sidewalks,
each week ever since his first day
takes out their trash or simply
on the job two years ago.

talks to them on the phone whenever they need a friend.

Newly retired, he wanted to use his free time to go to the U.S.

“If I could interface with people,” Slipakoff said, “even just for
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. on Yom
the few minutes it takes, help them stay independent, give them
HaShoah. However, he didn’t want to switch his new schedule with
a friendly face that they can count on every week… that would
RSVP, so he stuck to it.

be helpful to them and also feels good to do that. You could call
He ended up delivering to a Holocaust survivor and, he recalled,
it a mitzvah.” l
“instead of being in a museum, here I was with this extraordinary
woman who endured so much.”
Rachel Kurland is thisclose to getting past the “knit one, purl two” stage.

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DECEMBER 17, 2015
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