The story is told of a young boy who was late coming home from his friend’s house. When he got home his mother asked him where he had been.  He explained that he had been with his friend, and that he helped him fix his broken bicycle.  And the mother said: “You don’t know how to fix a bicycle,do you?”  And the boy responded: “No, I just sat there with him and helped him cry.”Yes, the young boy had performed a Mitzvah, a sacred deed.

This Sunday morning, we of this congregation will come together for MITZVAH DAY.  This is a day when we reach beyond the walls of our temple to perform acts of kindness.  For both children and adults, as we reach out to various organizations, we experience the truth that “the reward for performing a Mitzvah lay in the doing.”That is to say that when we help somebody else,we are also helping ourselves, as there is great satisfaction in the knowing that we are making a difference in other people’s lives.

Among the recipients of our efforts will be Friends of Karen, the Mt. Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, Neighbors Link, Dorot (visits to visits to elderly people who are alone), Adopt a Dog, and another charity in which I have personal interest.From funds that are raised from the sale of pies,we will be reaching out to the Foundation for the Welfare of Holocaust Survivors.  In Israel today,there are some 200,000 elderly Holocaust survivors,a quarter of whom live in poverty.  Our contribution to the Foundation will go toward food and services that the Foundation provides for these people.

It’s a great day for our congregation:  hundreds of people, young and old, coming together to do our part in Tikun Olam—fixing some of what is broken in our world.  I hope that you and your family will join us, as your participation will help us to make a difference in many lives.

Yes, “the reward for doing a Mitzvah lay in the doing.”Or, as it has been said: “We are the language through which God speaks.”  Come be with us.

Shabbat Shalom.  I hope to see you on Sunday, first for our Mitzvah Day, and then in the afternoon, at our annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service.

Rabbi David Greenberg