Kehilat Hesed – A Caring Community

By Rabbi Teri Appleby.

If there is one thing I have learned in my life, it’s that we can’t go it alone. We all need love, friendship, mentors, and supportive people in our lives. We all need a caring community to help us cope with the problems we face with our health, our jobs, kids, spouses, and our aging parents. We all need a sense of hope for the future. In community, no one should have to walk through divorce, unemployment, bereavement, serious injury or disability, or loneliness alone. In community we should learn how to give – and what is still harder, for most of us – how to receive.

A Hasidic story is told of a boy and his father traveling together up a hill in an old wagon. Suddenly, a large boulder appeared on the road, which the wagon could not get around. The boy pondered the situation, got out of the wagon, and tried to move the boulder. He couldn’t; it was simply too heavy. So next he went to a tree, took off a large branch, and tried to pry the stone out. The branch snapped under the effort. The boy then tried to roll the stone downward, but to no avail. Exhausted, frustrated, the boy climbed back into the wagon and said to his father, “I’ve tried everything. I just can’t do it.” His father replied, “You haven’t tried everything.” “But father,” the boy protested, “I’ve rolled the stone, pried the stone, pushed the stone. What didn’t I do?” His father looked tenderly at him and answered, “You didn’t ask me for help.”

It’s so hard for many of us to ask for help. It’s much easier to give than to receive; easier to nurture than to be nurtured.

As a kehilat hesed, our goal at Holy Blossom Temple is to create a caring and responsive community; to transform our casual associations into loving and sacred relationships. Our tradition teaches us not to separate ourselves from the community; and it teaches us that we are each responsible for one another. We take this sacred obligation seriously and we need your help.

First, we need even more of you to step forward to volunteer to help others in their time of need.

Second, we need you to let us know what your needs are – we want and need you to be willing to call us and ask for help. Please remember, when you ask someone else to help you – you’re giving them a gift – you’re giving them a precious opportunity to perform a mitzvah and an act of loving kindness.

Volunteering to Help Others

  • Delivering a meal to a neighbor
  • Giving a neighbor a ride to a Temple event
  • Giving a neighbor a ride to an appointment
  • Running an errand for a neighbor
  • Making regular phone calls to someone who is homebound
  • Visiting someone at home or at a hospital, rehab center, nursing home or retirement home
  • Knitting a shawl for someone who is ill
  • Offering a place at your holiday table

Let Us Know How We Can Help

Please call:

  • If there has been a death in your family
  • If you or a family member is ill
  • If you need a ride to the Temple
  • If you need an errand done
  • If you or a family member is home-bound
  • If you are the primary caregiver of an aging parent or a child with special needs
  • If you would like to be hosted for a Shabbat or holiday dinner

L’Shalom,
Rabbi Teri Appleby

[line]

Please contact:

/by

1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
templemail@holyblossom.org

Founded in 1856, Holy Blossom Temple is Toronto’s first synagogue with a rich history of tradition and modernity in our religious and spiritual expression.

Holy Blossom Temple is pleased to announce our new Executive DirectorWhat is so special about “The Yiddish Language”
Skip to content