Shaarei Kodesh is committed to participating in repairing the world, tikkun olam, through social action programs.

We have a had a great week here at Shaarei Kodesh which began with a really amazing event:  our first Shaarei Kodesh gleaning event.  It is a mitzvah to feed the poor, and as we know (or may not know), there are many hungry people in Palm Beach County.  Our scripture and our Rabbis gives us many examples of how God provides for the poor and those who are vulnerable in the world.  As I have stated before, it is our job to be God’s partner in this holy work.  Therefore, Shaarei Kodesh, along with other synagogues and community centers of different faiths, gathered together on Sunday morning to pick tomatoes.  As we learned from the organizer of the event, the tomatoes that were left on the vines from Mecca Farms were going to be plowed, and therefore wasted, to make room for next year’s crop.  Our task was to pick as many tomatoes as we could which would then be donated to food banks and homeless shelters in Palm Beach County.  Shaarei Kodesh had 22 volunteers show up and we helped pick 3,520 pounds of tomatoes!  We all had great fun, and as the book of Psalms says, Ivdu et Adonai B’Simcha, we served God in happiness.  I would like to thank Heidi Aronson for helping organize this great event and we look forward to another day of gleaning in the spring.

A picture slideshow by Smilebox