Mitzvah Day promotes creating a better world

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This article was published 13/11/2021 (1750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

International Mitzvah Day was created long before the COVID pandemic changed the world, but the designated day of social action has taken on new relevance precisely because COVID has changed the world.

This fall, for the third autumn in a row, Winnipeg’s National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is spearheading the Nov. 21 Mitzvah Day — or Good Deed Day — across Manitoba.

That means the voluntary women’s service organization, which has helped improve the welfare of individuals in both the Jewish and general communities for decades, has been diligently promoting the idea of individuals, schools and organizations spending the day volunteering for a particular project that in some way enhances the lives of others.

In total, explains Mitzvah Day chairwoman, Ellyn Shulman, NCJW sent out about 40 letters to local Jewish and other faith-based and social service organizations inviting them to participate in the good deed day of action.

“Mitzvah Day is about getting involved in a hands-on way,” Shulman explains. “We are hoping to build links between the organizations of the Jewish community and the general community, and to get people thinking more deeply about ways in which we can help make the world a better place.”

“This year Mitzvah Day’s theme is togetherness,” she continues, “and we are hoping that as many groups as possible embrace the idea of inviting people from other faiths, backgrounds and abilities in their social action project.”

In the past, those social action projects have included the arrangement of friendly social visits to isolated and frail seniors, and the collection and distribution of warm socks and winter jackets to individuals from marginalized communities.

While some of last year’s projects will be repeated this month, there will be some new Mitzvah Day initiatives as well. The Rady Jewish Community Centre and Early Learning Centre will be collecting books and toys for the Indigenous Women’s Healing Centre, the Manitoba Dental Hygienists Association will be donating dental hygiene products to the Spence Neighbourhood Association, and Woven: Mennonite Women Together — which is participating in Mitzvah Day for the first time — will be doing a massive fall cleanup at a women’s shelter in southern Manitoba.

“We affirm the Jewish community’s commitment to social action; a commitment we also seek to live out in our faith tradition,” says Elsie Rempel, chairwoman of Woven: Mennonite Women Together. “Our faith community values good relationships with the wider faith community, therefor we are thankful for the invitation and opportunity to connect with our Jewish sisters in this way.”

In addition to reiterating shared values and reinforcing relationships among different faith communities and, of course, providing tangible benefits to those on the receiving end of the mitzvahs, Mitzvah Day benefits its volunteers.

“People want to help and do good,” Shulman says, “and the pandemic has made it a little more difficult to get out there and do the kind of volunteer work so many people find rewarding. Mitzvah Day offers a way to contribute in a way that is safe, but feels really good.”

— Sharon Chisvin is a

Winnipeg writer

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