During my visit to Israel, we met a wonderful couple, Adi and Aviv Rozen, who live in Nativ HaAsarah, only 50 meters from the border of Gaza.  They graciously invited us to see where they live and experience their hospitality first hand.  After a tour of the moshav and its proximity to Gaza, we met the Rozen children at the security wall that protects the homes from bullets, and had a chance to participate in a mitzvah project.

Path to Peace is a joint mosaic creation, by thousands of people from all over the world, towards hope, love, and happiness among all people. In this unique project, the visitors are invited to take an active part in the creation of the peace wall, to write a personal wish on the back of a colorful mosaic piece and glue it onto the gray security wall.  Additionally, adults with special needs produce the mosaic pieces, improving their skills and receiving respectable salaries.

Adi arrived at the wall with mosaic pieces for us to glue, to create something beautiful out of something ugly, both physically and metaphorically.  It felt wonderful to be a part of something larger than us, that will bring color and joy to a part of the world that has had their share of hardship.  I was surprised to find that I felt safe and secure there, as well as warmly welcomed by our hosts.  And the wall was filled with purple butterflies – not a surprise to me!  It was a wonderful day – road karma at its best!

Leket Israel is the largest food bank in Israel, and has been a leader and an expert in food rescue nationwide since 2003. The organization sources, collects and redistributes fresh, perishable, quality food, which would otherwise be considered waste, from farms, hotels, military bases and catering halls. This is done in an effort to aid the quarter of the country’s population that lives below the poverty line. Leket works with 195 non-profits throughout the country to provide nutritious food to over 175,000 Israelis weekly. Last year alone, Leket collected and delivered over 30 million pounds of fresh, healthy food for the needy.

When I was in Israel visiting Maddie, I wanted to do a meaningful mitzvah (besides helping the economy by spending a ton of money there!!)  Leket was the perfect project during Sukkoth, the harvest festival.  I called beforehand to make sure that we weren’t picking oranges, WHICH I HATE!  They assured me that we were picking pomelos.  Perfect.  In true Israeli fashion, they decided at the last minute to pick clementines.  Are you kidding me???   So I held my breath, put on my big girl pants and picked clementines.  We brought some friends and had a great time, despite the smell.  I think this should count as a double mitzvah!

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your G-d gives you.”  (Exodus 20:12).  For mitzvah #17, I honored my father.  Now it’s mom’s turn!!

According to the rabbis, this mitzvah honoring parents does not depend on what your parents did for you, or even whether they were good parents. Rather, we honor parents simply because they gave us the gift of life. What a bonus for me, then, that my mom gave me life AND is a great mother!!

Mom just turned 75.  I honored her by planning a special weekend for her, doing everything that she loves to do.  I rented a house in the Poconos for my parents, brother, sister and their children.  We hiked, celebrated Rosh Hashanah, played games, swam (well, only mom swam), ate yummy food and enjoyed each other’s company.  One of the highlights, though, was a video montage that I made for her, complete with a “wanted” poster, a police man, lots of photos and video messages from all of her loved ones.  She was really touched and surprised, and it felt great to honor her in that way.  Happy birthday mom!

This September, I participated in Alex’s Million Mile – Run.Walk.Ride to raise money and awareness in the fight against childhood cancer.  I joined a friend’s team, and pledged to run/walk/ride 100 miles and raise a dollar per mile.  I had my strategy all planned out, but the entire last week of September it poured.  I wasn’t able to do the bike rides that I had planned (on my new bike!) for the last 19 miles. I still raised $100, though.

But that wasn’t the best part.  The best part was that I brought Jordan along with me on this journey and after some reluctance, he joined with gusto!!  Not only did he exercise more than I did, but he raised almost 9x the amount of money that I raised!!  I think my mitzvot are contagious!