XXV. Concluding Words From the Chairman
What
a year it has been! I have experienced many sublime moments, many of them
inadequately described in this report. It is truly impossible to transmit in
words the intensity and grandeur of Ziv’s Mitzvah work.
Many
quotes come to mind, some from Jewish texts, some sent to me by friends, some
culled from the web, a few humorous and instructive, others serious and
profound. Each one touches on some
aspect of Ziv’s mission and activities. I list just a few, in no particular
order:
- A Good Person is called
“Life,” as the verse states, “The fruit of a Good Person is a tree of
Life.” (Proverbs 11:30) (Avot DeRabbi Natan 34)
- When The Good Person is
in a community, that person is its Ziv-radiance, its glory, and its
brilliance. (Ruth Rabbah
2:12)
- And the ones who use
their insight-and-talents-for-Mitzvahs will be as radiant as the bright
expanse of the sky. (Daniel
12:3)
- There is not enough
darkness in the world to put out the light of one candle.
- No one is lonely when
doing a Mitzvah. For a Mitzvah is where God and man meet. (Rabbi Abraham
Joshua Heschel)
- Only those who attempt
the absurd can achieve the impossible. (source unknown)
- Be your own hero, it’s
cheaper than a movie ticket.
- Kindness is not a
spectator sport….Being kind means doing kindness. (source unknown, my italics
- And a particular
favorite:
Here is the test to find
whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t. (Richard
Bach)
I
now turn my thoughts to my next trip to Israel, my 28th consecutive summer as
Tzedakah Resource Person for the United Synagogue Youth Israel Pilgrimage.
There will be time then to reflect and share at greater leisure with our
Mitzvah heroes there, with friends, and with the teen-agers who have taught me
so much.
Because
serving as your Mitzvah Messenger has become such a blessing for me, I offer
you, our readers and supporters, two blessings in return:
- To paraphrase a line
from the Talmud (Berachot 17a):
May your eyes sparkle with
the light of Torah-and-Mitzvahs,
and your face be as radiant
as the radiance of the Heavens.
and
- Yishar Kochachem, all
the more strength to all of you who take part in our work. May we have
many more years of such sacred partnership in the future.
Danny
Siegel, Chairman
And
on behalf of Naomi Eisenberger, Managing Director and Arnie Draiman, Israel
Resource Person
