מהימים ההם לזמן הזה

Me-hayamin hahem laz’man hazeh

"From those days to these times"

If you walk into the Beth Jacob kitchen you will see on the far wall, just to the right of the sinks, a Sears Coldspot upright freezer. Here is the story of how it came to be there. 

This story is shared by Sue Savett, the first chair of Beth Jacob’s Chesed Committee. The value for this week is Gemilut Hasadim, acts of loving-kindness.

Not long after Rabbi Allen became our rabbi in 1986, he suggested that we form a Chesed Committee as a way of reaching out to members of the congregation who might have been ill, or moved into a new home, or just had a new baby. The plan was to bring a Shabbat dinner to the homes of these members of our community. His idea was that these acts of kindness would also serve as a catalyst to members of our congregation to reach out to others on their own. At that time, I believe that no other synagogue in St. Paul had a committee of that sort. I was asked to chair this committee, and I had the honor of doing so for quite a number of years.

We made a plan to prepare both meat and vegetarian meals and dessert and freeze them to be delivered when needed. But we had no building yet, let alone having a freezer in which to store them. One of our early families, who had been part of Sons of Jacob, Sam and Goldie Rosenthal, offered a freezer they had in their garage and a key to open the side door to the garage, so we were free to come and go without disturbing their family. And that’s the freezer you see in our kitchen today. We moved it into our new building 38 years ago.

 At the start, we prepared the food at the JCC. One night we would make chicken, rice and frozen vegetables, and on another night we made vegetarian shepherd’s pie, from a recipe provided by Phyllis Gorin, and baked some pareve bars for dessert. We would add challah that we purchased. Working together on these meals also was a way of connecting with new people and adding to our sense of community. We had one group who would cook and bake and another who would contact those who were receiving the meals and deliver them. The delivery was a time to visit as well. One card of thanks, sent by a family who had just had a new baby, was particularly touching, as it included the comment that having that Shabbat meal gave them the feeling that they were having Shabbat dinner with our congregation.

Our way of doing chesed meals today may have changed, but the reasons for doing so are still motivated by the same values. As for the freezer, it is used for other things now. If you look inside it there is a sign stating that Sears will only guarantee the replacement of parts for 15 years. It wasn’t new when we got it, and I think the reason it’s still working now is that it’s been used for doing mitzvahs.

Sue Savett