For the past several years, I have had the pleasure to serve as a member of the TBE Caring Community. When I started, I was seeking to find a meaningful community service activity that I could fit into a busy schedule of full-time work, three young kids, coaching, and all of our family activities.
For the last handful of years, I have served as “Mr. July,” where I reach out to fellow congregants to check in on them after a medical procedure or illness. Fortunately, my responsibilities have been minimal in this regard. A few times, I visited with congregants at their homes; other times, we had a phone call or two or three.

Whether the communication has been in person or over the phone, each has been rewarding for me and extremely appreciated by our fellow congregant. Congregants are thankful for a TBE member check in, for some personal time, or even advice on who to call for physical therapy.

In addition to serving as Mr. July, I have also packaged and delivered honey during Rosh Hashanah to congregants who have been through a rough time, with the goal to wish them a happier and healthier new year. Often my son Michael has joined me for deliveries.

Serving on the Caring Community has been a nice way to get to know fellow congregants whom I likely would not have otherwise met, and a pleasant, stress-free way to do a small mitzvah from time to time. It gives me the opportunity to put a smile on someone’s face, do a little good in the community, and to be part of wonderful group of warm, caring, kind, good-hearted individuals.

The Caring Community lay-leadership is outstanding, as Sandy Goldstein and Amy Fleming set a wonderful and warm tone of caring, thoughtfulness, and inclusion.