Doing a Mitzvah

By Bam Rubinstein, Member of Post 757

On Sunday, 24 September, 2017, I had the opportunity to do a mitzvah, in the place of a different mitzvah.  I joined a group of friends, and we went to an area that was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, to do “Tzedakah.”  Allen has a huge smoke pit on a trailer. David also knows his way around a grill. Thom, Jeffrey, Holly and I were more like window dressing, but we did get the chance to do our part.

We started with about 250 or so pounds of meat. We also had enough buns for all the meat. We had at least 5 or 6 cans of beans, which I saw. And we had enough bags of cabbage, and carrots, and bins full of dressing, to make enough slaw to go around. We also had cases and cases of water, which we continuously added to an iced cooler.

People came up and asked, “How much?” and we got to tell them, “It’s free. How many would you like?”

One lady offered me a monetary donation. I got to tell her that her money was no good; but if she felt that she needed to donate, she should try a charity that her church likes.

However, the thing that made me stop in my tracks, have to turn away from the crowd and catch my breath, was when a woman came over and asked how much the water was.  When she was told that it was free, you could feel the weight in her words, with what she said next.  She looked at one of the guys helping her to her car and said, “The water is free?  You’re giving it away?  We haven’t had water for days.”

I’m pretty sure that the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are meant for doing things like this, and it felt good.

Volume 71. Number 4. Winter 2017