Hesed / Tikkun Olam

Get Involved

KI has an active Hesed committee, that coordinates help for new parents, bikkur holim or visiting someone in the hospital, helping to make a shiva minyan, lending a hand in times of joy or lending an ear in times of darkness.  Through Many Helping Hands, volunteers arrange food or other errands when needed.

In the larger world, our social action efforts focus on creating connections that foster faith and hasten hope.

This past year, that included:  supporting a refugee family in Boston, holiday meal deliver to Seniors (Pesach/Easter), Welcome Blanket Brookline Knit-In, the Sweet heart project (assembling and bringing treats to strangers—fire station, police station, and strangers on Harvard Street), and delivering mishloach manot on Purim to passengers on El Al headed to Israel.

We also strongly support the Family Table project, providing Passover food so all can celebrate.

As part of our ongoing support for Israel, we also host projects that support the IDF and other Israeli groups.

Contact Barnet Kessel, our Executive Director, for more information.

During our current COVID crisis, the acts of kindness we are accustomed to doing are in many cases on hold.  How do we visit the sick?  Embrace those who are grieving?  Join with joy at a wedding or b’nei mitzvot?  How do we remain a community when we must retain a distance?

As services begin to come back, many of our members relied on the kiddush meals on Shabbat.  We are continuing to provide them.  Volunteers are always helpful as we package and pass out the meals on our grounds on Shabbat.  Call the main office or click here to volunteer.

Help that can be given at a distance

Check in With Your Elderly Neighbors & Family

Perform the mitzvah of Hidur P’Nay Zaken – Honoring the Elderly. Call your aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, and older neighbors to help them feel connected to the world outside their doors.

Help Out Young Parents

Through Zoom, Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts, etc., contact friends, sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, and younger neighbors who have young children so you can read a book, tell a story, sing some songs, or play a game.

Cleaning Out Your Drawers and Closets During Quarantine?

Do the mitzvah of Malbish Arumim – providing clothes for the poor. There are many organizations who would be happy to receive a donation from you and give your old clothes a new life.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Show your solidarity with the people of Israel. Send a message to a Lone Soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, a victim of terror, a Holocaust survivor, or an Israeli with special needs. Words of friendship, encouragement, support, and gratitude are always appreciated. Links for uploading messages can be found here. Hand-written letters can be sent to Heidi Krizer Daroff, C/O The Israel Forever Foundation, 1146 Nineteenth Street, 5th Floor, Washington D.C. 20036

Showing Appreciation

Send a letter to a U.S. enlisted soldier, veteran, or wounded hero expressing gratitude for their service and the sacrifices they have made for the country. Information about sending letters to U.S. soldiers can be found here.

Caring for Our Four-Legged Friends

Volunteer at an animal shelter if possible; help out elderly neighbors by taking their dog for walks or spend time playing with them.

Stocking Up?

If going to the grocery store, call your neighbor to see if you can pick up items for them. Not only is this a help to your neighbor, but it lessens the number of people out and about, helping to reduce the risk of contamination.

Hesed events