By Jan Zimmerman
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Around the time of the High Holidays, you may see streams of congregants entering the doors of Congregation Beth Emeth in their synagogue best. An hour or two later, most leave carrying an empty paper bag. So, what’s the bag for? A week or two later these paper bags will be returned to the synagogue full of baby diapers and wipes, toiletries, paper towels, toilet paper, non-perishable foods, menstrual products, and other necessities of daily living. This is Operation Isaiah, a collection of goods designated for those in need in our area. Every year for many years, Beth Emeth has been collecting these items during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as part of our dedication to the core Jewish concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world.
In years past, items collected were donated to the Food Bank of Delaware and other community organizations. However, beginning at the end of 2019, the donations received were the start of a new endeavor at Beth Emeth—a weekly food pantry that was named Joseph’s Pantry. We all remember the story of Joseph, who rose from slavery to a position of authority in Egypt, interpreting the Pharoah’s dream to mean the necessity of preparing in good times for the hard times to come.
However, for many people in our neighborhood in Wilmington, the hard times are already here; and for some they may be permanent. For reasons such as unemployment or underemployment, divorce, old age, becoming a victim of a crime, eviction, an illness or accident that prevents them from working, or other calamities that we have all faced at one time or another in our lives, our neighbors may find themselves in need of food and other basic living supplies such as toilet paper, baby or adult diapers, cleaning products such as laundry detergent or dishwashing liquid, and simple toiletries such as soap, deodorant, shampoo, and menstrual products.
Can you imagine going without any of these things, let alone all of them? This is the situation that many of our clients at Joseph’s Pantry face. Although government programs pick up some of the slack, the benefits received are meagre and many in power are looking to make them smaller, or even to make them disappear.
In response to these urgent needs, the collection of items every year through Operation Isaiah is a very needed and appreciated mitzvah in the community that surrounds Beth Emeth.
We share our neighborhood, the Ninth Ward, with some of the poorest residents of our city Wilmington. In response, our Congregation has been incredibly generous. Every year we distribute about 300 empty bags, and we receive most of them back filled to the brim. With the help of these donations—plus monetary contributions throughout the year and a bunch of volunteers to sort and shelve the donations and deliver them to people week after week—we have been able to help keep many of our neighbors supplied with the necessities of everyday life.
Recently, we received a thank you card from one of our regular clients, who said, “The amazing volunteers who show kindness and respect every visit are deeply appreciated . . . visiting each week has made a meaningful difference in our lives, providing us with a sense of hope and dignity . . . every week you supply our family with nutritious meals and other important items . . . which has greatly eased our financial burdens.”
Those of us who donate to, or volunteer at, Joseph’s Pantry are grateful for the opportunity to help our neighbors. In many cases, we are “paying it forward” from times where others have helped us. For others, it is a chance to interact with people who may differ in some ways from us, but with whom we share common human bonds. It is also a chance to educate people in the community about Judaism and what we stand for, and to counteract the many pieces of misinformation they may have received. Practicing what we believe by helping our fellow citizens speaks louder than the negative social media content they may have encountered. And we are thankful to have the chance to do that as well.
About the Author:
JAN ELLEN ZIMMERMAN is a member of Congregation Beth Emeth and manages their weekly food pantry, Joseph’s Pantry. She is a retired public school music teacher and a member of the CBE Adult Choir and the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware. She recently appeared on Jeopardy! where she spoke about having her Bat Mitzvah at the age of 68.
