In the Torah Mitzvah means a commandment ordained by Hashem but has come to be synonymous with good deeds. Mitzvah Day was a project and organisation started over 10 years ago to mobilise the Jewish community to focus its efforts into acts of kindness and Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) one one day that will kick-start a whole year’s worth of positive community action. Members of Northwood US have consistently risen to and embraced this challenge through the years and 2023 was arguably its finest (..so far) with 3 amazing projects:
Mitzvah Day
What is Mitzvah Day?
Our flagship project (photo above) with generous sponsorship from Waitrose, involved our members working with the local Carpenders Park Garden Centre to grow vegetables for the Manna foodbank and meals for the homeless prepared by Elim Church. This is a truly remarkable and ongoing achievement of which we are so proud, joining eco-Judaism with interfaith work and charitable endeavour. You can read more about it from the Jewish Chronicle here….
Our other 2023 Mitzvah Day Projects…
Project 1
Sadly, there is a never-ending need of food for the homeless and those less able than ourselves to put food on the table for their family in the current cost of living crisis. NUS has a long history of working with the Manna food bank operated by the Elim Church in Watford.
We collected a huge amount of produce for the food bank, including
Dried goods – pasta, cereals, coffee, sugar, rice, biscuits, condiments, and oil
Tinned foods – beans, pulses, soup, fruit, vegetables, and fish
Cartons – milk, fruit, juice, etc.
Project 2
New Chapters is an amazing online, secondhand bookstore run by Kisharon Langdon who care for and offer opportunities to Jewish young people with learning disabilities. New Chapters provides many with their first experience of the world of work, whilst building their confidence, experience, self-esteem and independence.
Our project was to collect as many books and DVDs as we could for this amazing project and the community responded enthusiastically. Have a look at the photo gallery to see our members sorting and packing the thousands of books and DVDs donated.
Project 3
Second Chance CIC is committed to reducing e-waste through computer recycling, while training those who need help to get that first leg up on the job market. Alongside providing professional computer, recycling services, including free hardware collection and secure data destruction, they deliver a training programme for people not in employment, education, or other formal training.
Partnering with numerous companies and schools, they are ambitious to grow but they need a steady flow of redundant hardware. We collected dozens of old laptops, desktops PCs and tablets up to 8 years old.