February 20, 2009

An Olam Katan (small world) Mitzvah Story

In the olam katan (small world) mitzvah story department–I received a truly amazing call yesterday from a woman in nearby Livingston who read a NJ Jewish News article about Danny Siegel’s (founder of the now-closed Ziv Tzedakah Fund) visit to teens in Metrowest. The woman called the Jewish News who referred her to me…

She noted Danny’s mention of Clara Hammer (affectionately referred to as the Chicken Lady) in his talk and immediately recalled that that was the name of her Hebrew school teacher in Brooklyn over 40 years ago! I told her that yes, Clara had taught in Brooklyn and gave her an update on the last 40 years. She had been in touch with three friends who were in the same class and they all agreed that the Clara described in the article had to be their teacher. I shared Clara’s "song and dance" routine and she laughed saying that the five years she taught them (it was an Orthodox school and girls were not prepared for Bat Mitzvah) they learned quite a few songs…especially Yerushalayim Shel Zahav—something we know is a standard in Clara’s repertoire. The daughter of one of the friends is studying at Hebrew U and is going to call Clara’s daughter to arrange a visit…

I visited Clara a few weeks ago while I was in Israel and despite her impending 99th birthday, many, many people are still celebrating Shabbat with proper, menschlich food….age does not seem to be stopping this amazing woman from going about her special work. Indeed, we suspect that it is this very mitzvah work that keeps her young in heart and in spirit!