This is my Tribe.  It’s not my “Jewish” Tribe – in fact, most of them are not Jewish!  It’s the Tribe of women with whom I have been exercising with every morning, usually at 8:15 am, the women who push me to work harder, who encourage me when I’m not feeling strong, who partner with me even though I am definitely not going to help their time.  We are all so different, yet we share this common bond.  This is the Tribe that I had over for Shabbat dinner.  In Judaism, Hachnasat Orchim, or Welcoming Guests, is a mitzvah that began when Abraham opened up his tent wandering strangers.  I love to open up my home to guests, feeding them delicious food, plentiful wine and warm company.  It was especially fun to share my homemade challah with 10 terrific, fun, fabulous women – which everyone ate, despite our current “weight loss challenge”.  What a fun night!

In Judaism, giving Tzedakah, or charity, to the needy is one of the most important values by which we live.  It is a mitzvah, and standard practice for many Jews, to give 10% of your net income to charity.  Maimonides said that there are eight levels of giving charity.  At the highest level, Level One, one gives so the other is no longer dependent on charity (he may help him find a job, for example.)  Level Two involves giving anonymously, where the recipient does not know the giver and vice versa.  Today I did just that.  A friend posted on Facebook that her friend was struggling financially and even had to sell her Shabbat candlesticks to pay bills.  What??  After seeing a few posts about this family in dire straights, I sent them money through Pay Pal.  I don’t know them, they don’t know me, and they live in Israel!  But I could easily take the burden of one bill off of them, so that’s what I did.  I know it was just a drop in the bucket, but I hope it helped financially and also emotionally, to know that there is another Jew out there who cares what happens to a family in need.

Just as G-d visited Abraham when he was sick, it is a huge mitzvah for mere mortals to visit the sick.  One of our friends had back surgery during the Christmas break.  We waited until he was feeling ready to accept visitors, and we went to visit him at his home.  By the time we saw him, he was well on his way to recovery – walking, off of most heavy narcotics, and starting to go to work for some parts of days.  We brought a bottle of wine and sat with him, eating dessert and trying to lift his spirits.  I think it worked!

Though we are having an unseasonably warm winter, on the day that the family went to the Ardmore Food Pantry, the weather was starting to turn.  There was finally a chill in the air that let you  know it was the Christmas season!  At the pantry, we met an 8 year old boy, his father and his grandmother who were recipients.  The boy had no coat.  I asked him and his grandmother said that he doesn’t have winter coat.  I knew that we were going back to help out at Our Closet, and I had noticed that they had coats, so I took their information and said that I’d try to help them.  The woman at Our Closet said that they don’t normally just give out coats, but since it is starting to get cold and the next pop up wasn’t for a few weeks, she would make an exception.  I picked up 3 coats – for my new friend, and his 2 brothers.  I dropped them off today, to a very thrilled – and now warm – little boy.