In the work that we do, we can always be certain of emotional highs and lows. Some days, the juxtaposition of those feelings can occur within hours of each other. Today was one of those days.

The morning email brought me pictures of smiling little girls in their new ballet shoes. The girls all live in a small development town in Israel and we connected with them through Sophie, a young woman we know who is doing her National Service in that particular town. Sophie works with the schools in the morning and helps run the community center in the afternoon. Since she herself loves ballet and has studied it for more than 15 years, she thought it would be a great idea to offer a special ballet/dance class for two groups of girls aged 8-11. All the girls come from very poor families and many are recent Ethiopian immigrants. The biggest problem would be finding the funds to underwrite the cost of some ballet slippers and perhaps, some tights. When Sophie wrote us, we knew this was a tzedakah opportunity we could not pass up and sent her out to find the best deal she could for her new students. Before long we were talking to a Jerusalem ballet store, arranging payment for twenty sets of shoes and tights for the budding ballerinas. As promised, Sophie sent us some great photos of the girls in their new attire. What a great tzedakah investment!

Within a few hours of receiving Sophie’s beautiful pictures we received an email from a social worker we know–also based in Israel. Her problem? She is working with a single mother whose husband is not living with the family but continues to threaten that he will kill her. They have no bars on their 4th floor apartment and no money to pay for them. Could we help?

So the day goes…

"You are a life saver. Until that check arrived, I did not know how I was going to pay for about $300 of various Rx of eye drops that had been requested and already charged to the credit card. We still have one more to buy tomorrow. The rest of the money will go with me to Cuba for the various needs I encounter…"

So began a letter we just received from June Safran, the founder and inspiration behind Cuba American Jewish Mission, an all-volunteer organization that is dedicated to the revival of Jewish life in Cuba. We have worked with June for years and know that whatever funds we give her will be used quickly and efficiently on behalf of Cuba’s small but very vibrant Jewish community. Medications, baby supplies, help for an autistic child, cultural programs and more, are all part of CAJM’s efforts.

There is no question that the vast amount of work we do is joyous and nearly always brings a smile to our face. After all, what could be bad about helping people?

And yet, on a rare occasion, we are called upon to help in what can only be described as a tragedy. That was the situation one morning a few weeks ago when we opened an email from Pam Koner, founder of Family to Family, which directs its work to helping people who live in rural poverty in communities around the country.

Pam had just received a request from one of her contacts in a Navajo community in New Mexico. The story was simple but incredibly sad. During the night of January 10 a fire broke out in the home of a community member. In addition to the parents, there are 7 children between the ages of 2 and 18. Killed in the fire was a five year old daughter and seriously injured was a developmentally disabled seven year old who was airlifted to an Albuquerque hospital. In addition to housing, the family needed help with providing a proper burial for their young child. Could we help?

How could we not?

"Dear All,

Julie :):)"

That was the note that came in today’s mail along with a very generous check which Julie and her family decided should be used to provide books and other materials for the kids at Beit Hayeled in Israel. Julie is a great lover of books and reading and, in addition to donating books to several places near her home, wanted to help kids in Israel, as well. Yitz Feigenbaum at the group home tells us this will provide a lot of new and interesting resources to the kids living there.

We couldn’t be happier about making the connection, thus allowing Julie to share her interest in books with kids who might otherwise not have this opportunity!

On October 6, 2008 we shared the story of Max Wallack, a young man from the Boston area who had just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. It was Max’s mitzvah project which got our attention. Remembering his great-grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s and lived with Max and his family for a time, Max decided to collect puzzles and donate them to local nursing homes. It seems that after a little research Max learned that for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s doing puzzles can be very helpful – what a great way to honor his great-grandmother’s memory.

Fast forward to December 2009…much has happened to Max and Puzzles to Remember. As he had promised, Max, working on his own, filed for and received federal non-profit status for Puzzles to Remember (in a record 4 weeks!) and has since gone on to win several grants to help him with his work. He has now collected thousands of puzzles, expanded his beautiful web site which we recommend you visit (www.puzzlestoremember.org), is donating puzzles to several veteran’s homes, and just this week was notified that he has qualified as a Giraffe by our friends at the Giraffe Project in Washington State!

Despite our offer to help Max with some of the shipping expenses he incurs he refuses to accept any funding from the Good People Fund. As he has mentioned several times, "there are way too many hungry and sick people who need your help. I will get more grants to help me with my expenses."

We can’t help but wonder what Max will be doing next…

While this photo reminds most people of life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in past generations, we know that even today, many elderly Jews still call that area "home." One of our favorite tzedakah opportunities comes to us twice each year from Project Ezra which offers social services to more than 400 frail elderly in the area. For so many of these lonely elders, often beset by physical and emotional problems, having sufficient nourishing food on the table, day after day is not always easy. Limited income frequently means that as the end of the month nears, there are fewer dollars to spend on food.

The solution is relatively easy. With the cooperation of the local store, each elder who qualifies receives a monthly allowance of $30 (or $360 yearly) to spend on food when their own funds have been depleted. The $2700 check we sent the market today will cover 15 people for the next six months. (We’ve just added two more people to the list) A pretty good arrangement, we think, and one we would love to expand if the resources were available.