by Janet Zimmerman, LCSW-R
M’Yad L’Yad sponsors are wonderful people. They volunteer to take on an important responsibility when they don’t have to. At least four times a year, and sometimes more, they send packages to their recipients. This is not always easy.
 Janet Zimmerman |
We make every effort to “make a good match” between recipient and sponsor. For example, if parents of young children want to teach them about the meaning of tzedakah, they often want to be matched with a family with children around the same age as their children. We have some sponsors whose children have picked out gifts for their recipient children, or have given their own toys. Some people have clothing or other items that are in perfect condition, and thoughtfully pass them on to their recipients who wear the same size. Some sponsors prefer an older adult; they have a place in their hearts for a lonely senior. Sponsors’ reasons for wanting to be matched with a certain type of recipient are certainly valid, and are generated from the heart. They want the recipient/sponsor match to be meaningful.
However, we have some unmatched recipients who fall between the cracks. Some are middle-aged couples with adult children. Some are single parents with adult children. One recipient is an older, disabled gentleman who lives alone and needs items such as food, paper goods, and toiletries.
In my role as social worker I strive to make “the perfect match.” I want sponsors to feel reinforced for their generosity; both material and spiritual. The impulse to give, to be charitable, is in accordance with Judaism’s moral precepts. But I also speak for those recipients who are not yet matched. These recipients also need our help, even though they may not seem to be a “good match” for a potential sponsor.
I urge those of you who are not yet sponsors to reflect on the meaning of tzedakah, and to consider becoming a sponsor for one of our “unwanted” recipients. It feels good to give, and it feels even better to give to someone with whom we have some kind of connection. But Judaism teaches us to give not because it makes us feel good (although it does), but because that is what G-d desires us to do.
I end with these words from the Torah: Am I My Brother’s Keeper? (Genesis 4:9), and Do What Is Right and Good in the Sight of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:18).
