Chair's blog: Mitzvah Day - when people give their time to help others

The Chair of Three Rivers District Council, Cllr Debbie Morris, considers the significance of Jewish-led Mitzvah Day -and what it means to her.

A mitzvah is a good deed or act of kindness. Mitzvah Day is a Jewish-led annual day of social action. It’s an international event which this year took place on 20 November.

I was proud to launch Northwood United Synagogue’s Mitzvah Day. The synagogue had chosen two charities to support on the day:

• GIFT  - by making up goody bags for children living below the poverty line in England; and
• New Chapters, Langdon , - by collecting books for their online store which provides work opportunities for those with learning disabilities.

Following the launch, I joined the team of local volunteers who were hard at work filling over 300 brown paper bags with a selection of toys, art materials, clothing accessories, chocolate and crisps donated by synagogue members. On behalf of all the recipients of the goody bags, a huge thank you to Ingrid Segal who leads the synagogue’s Mitzvah Day team and has done so for several years.

Ingrid pointed out to me that also included as part of Mitzvah Day 2022 was the collection, earlier in the year, of warm clothing and household goods to support refugees in Krakow fleeing from Ukraine. Five full vanloads of much-needed provisions were driven to the city of Krakow, in Poland and to Ukraine. A terrific achievement – well done to all!

Mitzvah Day brings together people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds, to volunteer side-by-side, building longstanding relationships to make a positive difference to the world around us. To get involved in Mitzvah Day 2023, please visit  mitzvahday.org.uk