Friday 13 March 2009

Purim reflections

It is no secret that many of those who were financially rich have lost money this year. It is no secret that those who were not well off previously are struggling more than ever. It is no secret that all local and international charities are dredging the last few coins from their coffers...which made the following scene all the more heart warming.

Along one long road within a predominately Jewish area every 50-100 feet there were a group of dressed up children and teenagers tentatively stopping cars. Each held a pushka or bucket of a different style and color collecting whatever coins were dropped in. And this is how these youngsters spent their day, for hours they stood there, children from all spectrum of the Jewish community, who would not even acknowledge to each other is the street, some may even ridicule the others, but shoulder to shoulder they stood, each determined to do their share, with a smile on their face and a thank you on their lips. And what made this picture even more precious was that each Yiddishe car driver stopped at EACH group and gave something to a few of those collecting, note that they had been stopped just a moment before and probably a moment before that too (there were I think about 6 groups along that road - on both sides of the road!). The drivers weren't getting irate as they usually would, there were very few honking of the horns at this slow movement of traffic but rather, each stretched out their hand to give and gave with a smile.

Yes, money may be tight, but it's not what you give but how you give!

Mi K'amcha Yisroel

6 comments:

Bas~Melech said...

Touching story but all I can say is I HOPE these kids were very well and obviously supervised. No matter how "nice" a neighborhood is, children and young adults should NEVER hang out within arms' distance of unfamiliar cars.

Floating Reflections said...

Yes, of course, there was lots of supervision by both adults and police. There were also rules in place to ensure safety at all times e.g. no collecting near a junction etc.

B''h it was all safe and there were no injuries.

nmf #7 said...

Wow, really special- although it's sad that circumstances have forced such things...
Iy"H, there should be a time when tzedaka is not needed.

Anonymous said...

You're right. Obviously, my father can not afford to give much to the collectors that come to our house, (well, he can't really afford anything) but he always apologizes that he can't give more and offers them a drink....makes them feel like a mentch. It's been a real lesson to me...

Anonymous said...

You're right. Obviously, my father can not afford to give much to the collectors that come to our house, (well, he can't really afford anything) but he always apologizes that he can't give more and offers them a drink....makes them feel like a mentch. It's been a real lesson to me...

corner point said...

Beautiful.

And bringing up zechusim for klal Yisrael is a huge thing too :-)

Kol hakavod lach!