It is easy to forget all the good in our society when so much of what we see and hear about centers on hostility toward one another.
As we have all
been witness to, there has been a rise in vocalized hatred and acts of violence
toward Jews and other minorities, most recently due to the conflict in Israel
and Gaza. This reality has terrified me on many levels, even though – as a Jew –
I have been ON ALERT for many years.
I am deeply
saddened that my synagogue, where I have gone for more than 35 years, requires security
personnel in place to open its doors to the congregation for prayer, religious
education, or events. This has been ongoing since the mass shootings at the Pittsburgh
synagogue – Tree of Life – in 2018.
Not long
ago, I learned that a neighboring community where I like to walk woke up to vicious Antisemitic propaganda in their mailboxes. I guess I had been living under a
rock, because I was shocked that a neighbor of mine would feel this way. Today
I heard someone painted a swastika on a tree in another nearby development.
The level of
widespread intolerance and disdain that has come to light in every area where
people have differing opinions or backgrounds is astounding and horrifying. I
rarely see any current event or political talk between Facebook “friends” or
acquaintances without angry discourse that leads to aggressive threats, even on social media groups created to promote restaurants and businesses or talk
about audio equipment or music or old homes.
I had begun
to doubt my faith in humanity, thinking that only select people were kind and
compassionate but that most were not. My grandbabies’ little faces and laughs were
joys to behold and gave me that warm and wonderful feeling inside, yet I felt
scared and angrier still that even I, the eternal optimist, wasn’t happy they
would be inhabiting this severely troubled world.
What a
downer of a blogpost for the start of 2024, you’re probably thinking...but NO!
This story
is actually to express the opposite sentiment. Despite everything I’ve been ruminating
over of late, I’m starting to feel hopeful. I feel the sunshine coming out once again.
I credit my
2023’s volunteer experiences for this change of heart. I had always enjoyed
volunteer work but stopped during the pandemic. I find it so gratifying to help
others and fun to meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise.
I am now
involved with 2 places: Surrey Senior Services – an aging-in-place organization
that describes itself as bringing people, resources, and programs together to benefit seniors in the
community – and “Lasagna Love,” an organization that pairs “chefs” with local
families in need of a meal.
After
talking to my dear friend/sister-in-law about Surrey, where she works in the
development sector, my fabulous former co-worker and I started to spend one afternoon
a month helping out in the dining room at Surrey. With lots of other terrific
individuals, we help to prepare for a busy lunchtime and bus tables during and
after the meal. Every now and again they ask us if we want to be servers, which
I haven’t had to do yet, thank goodness, as it is nail biting for me given that
my last experience doing this when I was 18 years old didn’t go so well. And –
surprise, surprise – I have also begun to write stories about their volunteers.
The people I have met from Surrey are absolutely amazing humans, so writing
these stories truly feels like an honor.
With Lasagna
Love, I make several lasagnas each month and deliver them to families
experiencing some kind of hardship. The gratification I feel when dropping off
a lasagna – despite a slight concern that it’ll be too dry or cheesy or not
enough cheese or too much meat or not enough meat and so on – has been
considerable. Doing this always reminds me that we are more alike than
different, and I/we might just be one unfortunate situation away from needing some
level of assistance.
This New Year's resolution is to continue volunteering to help others. I’d
love to hear from you if you know of other organizations that are in need of volunteers.
