Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Recently, JCURE submitted a proposal for our first grant. If I were religious, I'd invite you to pray that we succeed. Since I'm not, I'll be hoping in my plain, old, secular way, and you guys can hope or pray or both. Dr. Failer, Aliza, Ayala, Michelle, and everyone else that helped, thanks! Whether we get approved or not, we're one step closer to our goals.

Now, I'd like to start of the New Year by announcing my resolution via a story. (I love stories, in case you guys haven't noticed).

A few days ago, I delivered a couple of the Loving Baskets JCURE was putting together so that people in need could enjoy a sweet Rosh Hashana. My sister and I sang, laughed, and chatted for more than four hours as I drove around in search of a Kosher chicken and the intended house. After we had finally delivered my Basket One on Day One, my sister asked me, "How do we know that she actually needed that?"

"JCURE has got it covered," I replied.

About ten minutes later, we were back at home, and my mom asked me the same question. How did I know that these people weren't taking advantage of our kindness?

"Well.....um.....you see...." I mumbled, my brain taking forever to start moving. In my defense, I've never been good at thinking on the spot. Asking me to think and speak simultaneously is like asking someone to rub their tummy, pat their nose, and brush their hair at the same time. Finally, I came to a conclusion, but it was a different one this time. "If I help ten people," I said, "and nine out of those ten people are taking advantage of me, then I'll still do it for that one person that really needed help."

People have told me my whole life to be skeptical of what I see.

A classmate might smile and congratulate me on a good grade, but I'll feel guilty and upset because I'm not sure s/he really means it. I have a friend whose eyes water whenever she gets the highest grade in the class (which is often) because she just isn't sure that we mean what we say.

A man could make an egg appear out of thin air, and everyone in the world could agree that the trick was impossible to pull off: it had to have been magic. But I would doubt. As much as I yearn for magic to be a real thing -- for fairies to fly, mermaids to swim, and balls of light to skip off my fingertips -- it wouldn't matter how much evidence was presented to me, I would doubt.

Most importantly, an old woman could be standing in rags in the rain with a cardboard sign that says "Starving. Homeless. Need money for food," but she might be a drug addict who really only wants her next fix. For that reason, I ought not to give her money. But I never have a random sandwich on hand. So I've gone my whole life ducking away from those people in the rain because of the mere chance that they were something other than what they seemed. Even if only one-in-ten of the people I saw like this were actually in need, I could've already helped hundreds that were actually starving.

Skepticism comes in handy a lot of the time, but I'm tired of being too skeptical to help people. JCURE will be vetting our clients with psychologists, drug tests, and the like. I don't have to worry about skepticism here. But in my life in general, I've decided that if ten people ask me for help, I'm going to help all of them, just for the one, two, three, or even ten, that actually need my help.
 

A Little Bit of Wisdom

JCURE Cares. It really does.

When Nili Perchiya lived in Golden Beach, the synagogue was having something called a Smicha program -- a program to create Rabbis. Rabbi Gurari, a young and already wise man, was the leader of this Smicha. One day, Nili went to him, introducing a friend that gave and gave and gave but refused to take credit for any of her good. Now, the nature of charity is to give out of the goodness of your heart, rather than for the validation that others may bestow upon you for the deed.

But.

There comes a point when you should make your giving known. If you give and give and give, and never tell anyone, then how will anyone know to follow in your footsteps? Your footsteps, after all, will be invisible, washed away already by the sands of time. Just think. If Mother Teresa -- by blood, an Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, a Catholic nun. Thus demonstrating the universal spirit of charity -- had not let her good deeds be known, then people would not still act in kindness and pronounce her legacy as their inspiration.

That wise, young Rabbi already knew of this truth, and so he told the giver to stand up and "show everyone the right way to lead our lives in this world."

Now, today, there is a call for this same action, and Nili is one of those calling. "So dear anonymous, great women," great men, great people, you can be anonymous, but when you spot a tzedaka box, put a few coins in and let everyone in the store see as you give out of the kindness of your heart. And then hope.

That everyone in the store will follow you.

(JCURE's recently completed Tzedaka boxes <-- boxes to collect money for charity)

In keeping with the theme of this post, I will pass on the spirit of giving by thanking the people that have donated money in order to help a family that can't pay their rent:
1. Monica
2. Michelle
3. Amira
4. Nili
5. Ayala
6. Shoshana
7. Diana
8. Esther Amar
9. Anon.
10. Mr. Weiss
11. Batya
12. Shoshana Katz
13. Aviva Angela
14. Shiran Brosh
15. Ayellet
16. Betty Levy
17. Hamora Ela
18. Esther Brass
19. Aliza Daga
20. Tali
21. Anon.
22. Mazal ben David
23. Anon.
24. Chenina
25. Tamar
26. Anon.
27. Chana.
Thank you all! May many more follow in your footsteps.

Checks can be sent to 5612 North Park Road Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33312, or go to https://www.youcaring.com/jcu-resources-enrichment-inc-553529 to donate and help us grow JCURE.

One Woman's Story

JCURE Cares. It really does. 

On or around July 3rd, one of our founding members was emptying her storage. Her name is Nili. It was afternoon or maybe morning. Anyway, the sun was out. Clanking and dragging and shoving her stuff into a car, she was hot. You know what I mean: the Miami heat isn't forgiving. 

After laboring away for an hour or so, Nili was done and prepared to leave. A lady came up to her. She was dressed in a dress, comfortable and loose and stripped with bright blue. A pair of cheap sunglasses hung from the neckline. Her hair was curly and cute, made up in a messy bun. Her hands were wrinkled -- old. "Are you going home?" the lady asked. 

Startled and slightly confused by the question, Nili replied, "Um, yes."

"I ain't!" the lady remarked with a bitter laugh, and suddenly the strength of her character was known. This lady's head was high, her stance exuding an air of power that was likely invisible to both of them at the time. 

Nili blinked. Cocked her head slightly. "I ain't," the lady had said. Well, why not?

A few minutes later, this lady's strength became clear to Nili. The lady was eighty-years-old. Homeless. She wasn't going home because she didn't have one. Instead, her safe haven was a mall parking garage. The mall was one of the rare places that let people stay late, but its image could not be sacrificed for these people. So they slept sitting up. 

But there are plenty of shelters, plenty of places that help the homeless, right? Well, sure. But there are plenty of homeless people too. Priority has to be given. The system can help if you are in danger, and apparently this woman's situation isn't. 

Isn't dangerous. 

Isn't urgent. 

It isn't dangerous? How could that be? An eighty-year-old woman sleeping in a parking garage isn't dangerous? Even if it is next to a mall, am I to assume that there is security at the parking entrances? Is there even an alarm system? Is there at least a locked door? 

It isn't urgent? According to a USA today article published on October 9, 2014, the average life expectancy for a woman in the United States is 81 years of age. Of course, that was published two years ago, and the life expectancy could have risen since then. In fact, according to the Social Security Administration, a woman turning 65 today can expect to live until she is 86.6 years old. But all that data doesn't account for sleeping in the germ-invested environment of a parking garage. It also doesn't account for how that unfortunate "home" might affect a woman whose cells are already decaying with age more severely. Never mind the lack of hygiene, it is known that stress itself can bring on physical sickness, and what could be more stressful than having no home? Never mind the psychological effects, we haven't even considered the life expectancy gap between a white woman and a black woman.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "Urgent" means "needing immediate attention." If her situation does not need immediate attention, then I suppose it doesn't matter at all because how much more time does she really have? 

She did look strong, though. Maybe she will live for many more years. Maybe she'll live to ninety. Or a hundred! 

And then, on her death bed floor, she will get to look back on the last twenty years of her life and remember all the beauty that comes with the spots of gum on the floor. 

However, this particular homeless woman did have the pleasure of meeting Nili, a woman that shares the homeless woman's strength of character. This woman also had access to $600 a month to pay for a room, so with the help of Nili and our fledgling organization, she was directed to various places within her price range.

We can all be rest assured that she will not be looking back on twenty years in a place like that.

While people like this and people worse off than this seek help from our members, we find ourselves too short on resources to help more than one to two people a week. However, we have a plan for fundraising that is ready to be put into action and will be as soon as possible. 

Meanwhile, our baby organization is now working to help the other homeless people in that garage, despite our lack of funds. 

Visit the site itself for more information at jcure.org.