Each week, as the dinner menu is announced at Temple Sholom’s Monday Meal Mitzvah, a woman receiving a meal stands up to clap. She draws the attention of everyone in the room, including junior Sofia Schwartz, a volunteer with the program. Seeing this woman each week brings a bit of joy into Sofia’s day as she brings comfort into others’ lives through volunteering.
For Sofia and her fellow junior, Ilana Schopin, volunteering at Temple Sholom with their Monday Meal Mitzvah program has connected each of them to Judaism, other volunteers and those receiving meals. A mitzvah is a good deed.
Both Ilana and Sofia began volunteering at Temple Sholom’s Monday Meal Mitzvah for their sophomore service learning requirement. They chose it as their site for the opportunity to return to their synagogue after their bat mitzvahs.
“I was looking for something that meant something to me, but also something that I could realistically do within a week, so this opportunity was kind of perfect,” Ilana said.
For Sofia, the most special thing about the Monday meals program is how dignified it is for those receiving food. The volunteers spend a three-hour shift setting up and serving a meal or dessert, performing each task with care and respect for those they are making meals for.
“I think it’s super meaningful to see the joy of when people come together and share meals,” Sofia said. “It’s like a sit-down, several-course meal for people who might not regularly get to experience that.”
Ilana said the Monday Meal Mitzvah emphasizes and solidifies the Jewish value of acceptance of others, no matter their background.
“Trying to serve the highest quality food, having the nicest environment, making sure the tables are nice, I think all kinds of lends itself to the idea of acceptance,” Ilana said.
Like Ilana, Sofia recognizes how the program reflects Jewish values, specifically empathy and selflessness.
“Judaism doesn’t really have to be about like, at least for me, like following the rules or doing all the right things, but just kind of working to be a better person or working to have greater connections with people,” Sofia said.
Beyond connecting them more to their own faiths, the Monday meal program has helped Sofia and Ilana connect and learn from other volunteers and people who come for the meals. Ilana remembers an experience where a woman took home an extra dessert and came back the next week to show Ilana a picture of her child enjoying it.
“It made me realize how small things can really just make someone’s experience so much better and how that sometimes may be more valuable than the actual food,” Ilana said.
Ilana and Sofia believe that continuing to serve at a place so strongly connected to their identities has been crucial to both of their volunteer experiences.
Ilana said, “Volunteering always makes you feel good, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m so glad that I did something for someone,’ but I think having that personal connection to your community or identity just makes it all that stronger.”
