Acts of Lovingkindness

May 15, 2009
Yad Sarah is a wonderful, perhaps unique institution in which tzedakah and chesed are at the core. Indeed, Yad Sarah has come up in my inquiries about the practice of tzedakah in Israel. In a culture where “social investment” seems to be the preferred expression for describing giving, Yad Sarah reflects the community value of “all Jews are responsible, one for the other.” To be sure, Yad Sarah does not limit its services (or its volunteers) the Jewish Israelis. It is all about providing care for young and old with illnesses that require more care than is generally provided by the Israeli health system. Sometimes it’s just a short-term loan for a piece of equipment to ease the rehabilitation from an injury, and at other times, it’s advice on how to remodel an apartment to care for a relative with a disability and help with the equipment as well. The remarkable aspect is that it is fundamentally dependent on something like 6000 volunteers in its many centers throughout Israel. Read the “vital statistics” on its webpage.