Comments on Caring
We continue to be overwhelmed by the cards and letters of thanks we get for our work. For example:
“Companionship is a gift and one we often take for granted. I live a busy life filled with family and many friends surrounding me. I belong to several social groups and love to entertain at home. I work a job 40 to 45 hours a week. All of this takes a lot of my time and energy, but as I have gotten older I found I had the need to give something back. I couldn’t identify how or what, but I knew it was not a check that I needed to write, it was giving of myself (hands on) to someone less fortunate than I. I looked on Temple Sinai’s website and saw Caring Connections and sent an email to Ronnie Zuhlke. We met for an hour or so and went over all I needed to know. She assigned a lady for me to visit at Charles Morris Nursing Home. I had some fear of the unknown. I remembered visiting my grandmother many years ago in a nursing home and how much I didn’t like being there. I was young and tended to think only of myself and what was convenient for me. Age has a way of softening the heart with compassion.
“I was pleasantly surprised with Charles Morris. This is not my grandmother’s nursing home and looked nothing like it. I made my way into her room, and found her sitting slightly bent to one side of the chair. When she looked up she gave me the biggest smile, putting me at ease. We began to talk and connected so easily. We found many things we shared in common along with friends and family through which we connect. I now consider her my family and look forward to our visit. She is so happy to see me each week. We sometimes talk on the phone and never run out of things to say. I share my life with her and she shares her life and wisdom with me. She is not doing so well lately, but she always has a smile for me. It sounds like I’m helping her, but she is helping me to be the person I want to become. I can’t fix the problems this world holds, but this small act of kindness brings us a little closer to Tikkun Olam.”
Lisa Silverstein
My husband and I are grateful for the Shabbat dinner we received this last weekend from the Caring Connection. After being hospitalized, it was an extraordinary help to us in getting back to our old routine. Please thank everyone on the committee. Everything was delicious. It is truly a mitzvah for everyone involved.
It is just such responses, and the connections we make and affirm behind them, that make our work so rewarding and worthwhile. We are answering our holy obligations, and we are getting so much back in return. Come and join the warmth.
After receiving a caring package on the High Holidays, one woman wrote to us:
I was so surprised and overwhelmed to receive your High Holiday box at this special time in my life. The deep meaning and thoughtfulness is so outstanding. I have never known of this type of gesture happening to any of my family or friends. I find it hard to put into words just how it has touched me. I suppose, I could sum it up to say that it is just another one of those extra things that our Temple family extends themselves to think of and do. That's what makes Temple Sinai the most unique synagogue that it is. Thank you so much for being what you are… a loving, caring, and thoughtful, family of Temple members.
From a volunteer:
I would have told you that it was not my nature to call strangers on the telephone and invite myself over. I would have told you that it was not my nature to offer care to people I've never met before. But then I became active in Temple Sinai's Caring Connection.
Since then, I have had a warm meeting in the Montefiore cafeteria with the sister of a Temple Sinai member in Pittsburgh because of her brother's illness. I have been thanked for giving rides to doctor’s appointments. I have shown Temple members who have suffered a loss that we care by delivering challah and holiday bags to them. I am indeed changing… Just an hour or two each month to visit with temple members has been very fulfilling… Volunteering is supposed to be about helping others. My experience is that volunteering is helping me possibly more than I am helping others!
From a recipient:
When my father died, I let the Rabbi know that it would be helpful if some members of the Temple community came to make sure we had a minyan for our Shiva. The warmth and caring I felt from the people who came, some of whom I had never met before, was tremendous and made it easier for me to get through a difficult time. I also now feel a deeper connection with the Temple community and really want to get active there. Already I have attended a brotherhood meeting and helped to build the Sukkah. It is great to be part of this community.
From a volunteer:
I grew up in a home where Judaism belonged to the men, where I as a girl had only a peripheral view. But my life at Temple Sinai has shown me the limitless horizons of my faith.
Especially meaningful to me in my growth as a Jew has been my work with the Caring Connection. When I was first asked to conduct a shiva minyan, I said yes only because I wanted to pay my respects to a dear friend and her family. But I was terrified. ‘Who am I,’ I thought to myself, ‘to take on this task? I'm not qualified!’ That minyan showed me that I had the only two things I needed: a script and my compassion. The gratitude and grace of the family gave me another venue for fulfilling an important mitzvah.
Since that night I've conducted several minyans. Sometimes I misread a few words in Hebrew, but by the end there is a true sense of community enveloping the room. My sense of fulfillment almost feels selfish. To be given the opportunity to do this work is surely my blessing.
Several teens have joined their parents in visiting people in care facilities. One of them had this to say about the experience:
As my father and I have gotten more involved with Temple Sinai, we have done various activities. One of these activities that really sticks out is when we (my father and I) go to Charles Morris to visit. From one of the people we visit there I hear war stories and old sayings and learn about his career and what he remembers about Pittsburgh ‘way back when.’ Our other friend there is always happy to see us. We talk about the Temple, what has happened to it and his children, and many other very interesting things. The biggest thing we have done with him is to take him to a Friday night service at the Temple, which he really seemed to enjoy. Although I was reluctant to go at first and visit people I had never met before, I find that I leave seeing a smile on their faces, and they see me with the same, warm smile on my face.
This past Pesach we matched people looking to celebrate in the community with those who had room for more at their Seder, enriching the experience for both the guest and host. As one of our hosts told us:
Following the age-old tradition of inviting a stranger to our Seder couldn’t have been a better experience. We hosted a great college student, and he added a whole new element and example for the other college students and teenagers who have been part of our Seders for years, including my children. He gave us a different and fresh perspective on the Seder and the holiday.
In our caring we are satisfying our holy obligations, but we enjoy other rewards as well. Among those rewards are the many warm and caring thank-you notes people have taken the time to write to us. A few excerpts:
Keep up the good work you and your people are doing. It means so much to people when they are thought of.
It is so comforting to know that there are others who care and remember me during this difficult time of transition.
It is great to know there is such support in Temple Sinai.
