Help Community Action and Ritual Committees
with an Important Purim Mitzvah
Yes, we read the megilla, yes, we give goodies to friends, and yes, we make sure to eat a festive meal, but what about the fourth mitzvah of Purim, matanot li’evyonim- מתנות לאביונים – “gifts to the poor”?
The Ritual Committee is calling our attention this year to this mitzvah and will be highlighting a Tzedakah box during our Purim festivities so that we can fulfill the mitzvah on Purim itself.
The CNS Community Action Working Group [CAWG] has been continuing its relationship with the McGee Avenue Baptist Church Food Program, which provides three hot meals a week and food items to take home for people very much in need.
The longtime team at the Church’s food program works on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to prepare and serve a well-planned hot lunch, and they provide a warm welcome to all who come. CAWG has a group of CNS members who rotate so that two of us are there to help sort their food deliveries every Monday afternoon. It’s been a pleasure to start getting to know the church’s team members, and they enjoy our presence too.
Our volunteering slightly eases the workload, but what they most need is financial support, as the Church community that is feeding those in need is itself not wealthy and grants have been cut back. Giving to this wonderful Berkeley grassroots ministry is a great way to fulfill Purim’s mitzvah of matanot li’evyonim מתנות לאביונים.
Look for the tzedakah box at shul on Purim–you can bring checks or cash or fill out a pledge form–and take the opportunity to fulfill all four Purim Mitzvot at Netivot Shalom.
Can’t wait ’til Purim? You can also donate to CNS via ShulCloud. Choose Housing and Food Security Community Action Fund from the dropdown menu.
Rov todot,
Community Action Committee Chair, Esther Brass-Chorin
Ritual Committee Chair, Ron Sires