By Mackenzie Fakas, NFTY in Israel Participant, Bus 3
Last week we split into our Chavaya groups and I was in Tikkun Olam. The word Tikkun Olam means repairing the world and through the four day I had with this group I learned that Tikkun Olam is not only the physical act of doing community service but also making connections with people and learning about the issues to help solve them. First, we assembled everything you would need for a child’s birthday party and it was called “Birthday in a Box.” These boxes are given to the parents of underprivileged kids, whose birthdays have never been celebrated before, so they can show their child love and affection while doing something that we take for granted. I can only image the joy that the little girl that I made a box for will have on her upcoming 7th birthday in August. Our next activity was visiting a nursing home. We were interacting with people who aren’t visited often, many of whom didn’t speak the same language as us. Interacting with them showed me that a smile goes a long way and that the attention that we gave them, made a lasting impression on them. Visiting the nursing home also showed me what I can do at home to help my community and in the near future I would like to take a group to visit the seniors near me to hopefully make a lasting impression on both the teens and those we will visit, like it did for me just a few days ago. On the last day of our four day adventure we visited a school for disabled children from ages 6-21. It was a challenge interacting with them but all you had to do was start with a smile and even though it was difficult to communicate verbally you can tell there was a sense of love and community that made their day.
