A mitzvah (mits-VAH) is translated to mean “commandment.” In Judaism, all mitzvahs fall into two basic categories:
- Those between you and God (like observing Shabbat, to believe that there is only one God, not to bow down to idols, etc.). These are commandments that God commands us to do, and they don’t directly involve those around us.
- Those between you and others (like charity, loving your fellow as yourself and the prohibitions against murder, stealing etc.). God commands us to do them, but they directly involve those around us.
A Mitzvah Project usually falls under the second category in the form of fund raising or donation gathering for a charity, participating in social action for a cause, or participating in community service, so that B’nai Mitzvah students put their Jewish values and identity into practice. A Mitzvah Project is the beginning of a life-long Jewish commitment to Tikkun Olam, repairing of the world.
WHAT IS OUR MITZVAH PROJECT?
For our Mitzvah Project, we have decided to support Baltimore Hunger Project (BHP). BHP is a local nonprofit that is dedicated to eliminating the growing problem of weekend childhood hunger. Each week they send over 1,500 food bags to food insecure children in the Greater Baltimore area.
1 in 8 children in Maryland suffer from food insecurity, which means someone you know may be affected without you realizing it.
We learned about BHP at school during one of our Lower School read-a-thons and love their mission. We love how much they care for the children and try to support them while helping to make sure they are not embarrassed by the assistance they receive.
Each week, BHP sends home a bag of child-friendly, shelf-stable, and nutritious food. Included in this are 4 cans of protein like canned tuna or canned chicken. We learned that while we have several can openers at home, many families do not have any, which makes the canned foods in the BHP weekend bags nothing more than extra weight the kids had to carry home. Imagine having food right in front of you, and you can’t eat it!
To help with this problem, BHP provides a can opener to each child at the beginning of the school year, so they can have access to all the items sent home.
The goal of our project is to help BHP collect 3,000 (or more!) can openers for the upcoming school year. To do this, we have partnered with Baltimore Hunger Project to create an Amazon wish list where our friends and family can purchase can openers and have them sent directly to BHP. Also, we want to make sure we thank everyone who helps us with this project, so please select “add gift options” before you finish checking out and add a message that has your name so BHP can let us know you contributed!
Thank you so much for your generosity, your support, and your love.
Always,
Dillon and Ben
