If you’re like most people, your mental wastebasket is filled with great ideas that didn’t happen. You meant to get to it. You really did. But ‘life’ got in the way. Things were busy that month and it fizzled and died. Maybe someone else could have done it but offhand you didn’t know anyone to ask. And so it joined the many other ideas waiting for ‘someday’.
But this one couldn’t wait. It had to be done now. A young girl was turning twelve. A big milestone, to say the least. A celebration was certainly in order. Each family has its own way of marking this special birthday but not to mark it at all?! To allow the day to pass with not a word? Nothing? That is exactly what will be happening to Malky Cohen*. Why? Because a heavy, dark cloud hung over the Cohen home that did not allow even a ray of sunshine to penetrate. Malky’s mother was terminally ill. Cancer. Rivky*, their next door neighbor, yearned to create a semblance of festivity for Malky, perhaps a cake, but her four pre-schoolers kept her busy every moment of the day. She spoke to another neighbor who loved the idea but whose baking skills didn’t get past chocolate chip cookies.
“We need someone who has the time and is a talented baker.”
“But how do we find such a person?”
“I have a great idea. How about Ezer Mizion’s Linked to Life program?”
“I thought the program is for getting emergency rides for patients or delivering medication or medical equipment from here to there?”
“They do a lot of that, it’s true. But they do so much more. Like the time they helped out a man whose car was stuck or the story of the Purim costume.”
“What happened with the Purim costume?”
“That was really amazing. A 7-year-old Hadera boy with cancer especially wanted to be a tiger for Purim. He had very specific ideas. An Ezer Mizion volunteer was determined to get him the costume but couldn’t find what he wanted anywhere. She tried Linked to Life who sent the request to Netanya. Zilch. Then Tel Aviv. Nothing. Hundreds of people were involved but what he wanted could not be found. Another request went out and a volunteer responded that she would sew it. Beep! Beep! A volunteer was needed who lived in his area and could take measurements. A response came in within seconds. Ezer Mizion couldn’t cure the cancer but, through their Linked to Life program, they managed to make a little boy very, very happy.”
“That’s some story. I hope they are as successful with Malky’s cake.”
Several days later, the Cohen family gasped in shock when Rivky rang their bell. And via the tray bearing a magnificent Bas Mitzvah cake produced by Sara A., there entered into their home, for the first time in months, a package of smiles.
Linked to Life. We’re all connected. No Jew is ever alone.
