Our congregation’s 15th annual Mitzvah Day took place on Sunday, November 11, in various locations around the city.  After the clergy-led opening ceremonies in the Main Sanctuary, participants of all ages fanned out around the city to do mitzvot, good deeds.

Families made brownies that will be served during the week at Central’s Breakfast Program, which serves the hungry in our community on Thursday and Friday mornings.

We assembled packages of DVDs, paperback books, and handmade cards to be sent to our US servicemen and -women deployed around the world.

We delivered meals and visited with the homebound elderly with City Meals on Wheels on the Upper West Side.

We visited with and served lunch to families whose children are being treated for serious illnesses at Ronald McDonald House on the Upper East Side.

Our teens worked with the Intervale Green residents and WHEDco staff in the Bronx to prepare their Urban Farm for the winter months—their community depends on this rooftop garden to provide them with nutritious foods that, because of their location, are not easily assessable for every-day consumption.

As a last-minute addition to our Mitzvah Day projects, we worked in the Pavilion to package food and supplies needed in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. We then traveled to synagogues in Long Beach and the Rockaways to help with their clean up and outreach to residents.