Dancing with a Crock Pot!

by Rabbi Barry Weinstein
Photos by Richard Feldman

It's not every day that you can watch a woman dancing with a crock pot!

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of seeing an evacuee from New Orleans holding a crock pot high above her head, joyfully dancing with it as the Brass Band from New Orleans played some great music!

All this took place at our second Free Giveaway of urgently needed household items for the residents of one of the trailer villages here in Baton Rouge.

In April we welcomed 23 Westchester, New York, teens and their parents for their initial visit to Baton Rouge and to New Orleans. Their visit was designed for Relief and Recovery work, and was based on their decision to adopt our cities as a project of Social Justice and Community Betterment.

In Jewish life these are core values of our Faith and our Tradition, known as "Tikkun Olam, - Repair of the Ills of Society."

When we carry out acts of "Tikkun Olam," we do our part in conquering hunger and homelessness, suffering and poverty, racism and prejudice, and injustice in all its forms.

All this had its beginning when the Westchester, New York United Jewish Appeal-Jewish Federation invited my wife Linda and me to their region in February. We spent four days meeting with the leaders in these Jewish agencies, as well as with Inter-Faith Clergy of the area.

I shall forever treasure those days in New York. For me and Linda, natives of "upstate" New York, it just felt good to be back in the region in which we grew up. To make it even more special, we arrived in the midst of the heaviest snowfall in years in Westchester!

To witness the unbridled zeal of the residents of the greater Westchester region, their new group known as J-TEENS, who chose our post-Katrina challenges as their first project, was to truly behold a miracle. These folks, living so far from us, were totally dedicated to arranging their trip here, and being sure that they would be able to help us in every way possible.

Thus, each teen and adult brought with them an extra duffle bag filled with the emrgency supplies needed by the residents: non - perishable food supplies, beddng, cds, dvds, magazine, children's books, clothing, toiletries, games, etc.

Then when they arrived in April, we spent a whole afternoon distributing these gifts to the residents at Airport Village number Two. The elation and joy of the evacuees there were absolutely unforgettable. I shall always treasure my memory of those hours together. And, we arranged for the New Orleans Brass Band to be with us to play, and a for a nice ice cream truck to give ice cream to all!

Well, as if this were not sufficient, one family from Westchester, upon learning about the experiences of the kids and adults on the first journey here, decided to contribute funds for the rental of a FORTY-FOUR FEET TRAILER to be filled with a new list of urgently needed goods!

For weeks the Westchester Jewish Community reached out to their neighbors in the Inter-Faith Community in the region surrounding Westchester, and before long they had the trailer totally FILLED!

When the tractor trailer arrived here last week, college students from Delaware joined with Pastors Resource Consortium Compassion ( PRC Compassion) and volunteers from our Jewish community to unload the trailer and set up the goods on tables. This alone took the better part of a day!

Then, in late afternoon, we welcomed the evacuees, this time to Trailer Village Number One for the Give AWay! I wish that all of Baton Rouge could have witnessed the miracles that then occurred in fast succession, one after the other.

Each evacuee resident could not have been more polite, courteous, and helpful. They reached out to one another, helping each other with the bags and boxes as they became filled, comforting and supporting each other.
The Security Personnel joined in the effort, reaching out to the residents, assisting the elderly with their packages, carrying their boxes and bags back to their trailers. This was so wonderful to behold, given the negative publicity we so often read.
Our volunteers were moved to the point of tears, as the residents, old and young, boys and girls, simply could not stop thanking us for their gifts.

And then, the most remarkable thing happened: As the band played, the lady with the crock pot just broke out in a wonderful dance with her Crock Pot! She was SO excited and thankful to have it, and to bring it home for her cooking.

Those of us who noticed her were so moved that we too broke out in tears of joy and gratitude: surely to those in Westchester whose generous hearts brought them back to us, 15 wonderful women and two of their daughters, and yes, to the Holy One, to the Source of Goodness and Love for motivating each of us to carry out more acts of "Tikkun Olam."

We know that there are thousands and thousands of evacuees; so many that there is no way we can help all of them. And yet, it's just like the story of the starfish on the seashore; there are too many to toss all of them back to the sea, but the one that you do return to the sea is given back the gift of life.

So it is with those persons and families we were able to help. They could awake the next day with a new pair of shoes, a new game, new books to read, new bedding and toys, and yes, even with new Crock Pots, for cooking, and maybe even for dancing!

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