It was Mitzvah Day today at synagogue. This is my second year being the co-chair of the class project. Why I took this on two weeks before Rose's bat mitzvah is a mystery. The project is completely run by the parents though, thank goodness, the teachers and teen helpers stay and help.

Mitzvah means good deed in Hebrew. Mitzvah Day at our synagogue is when each class takes on a project to help others. It might be making cards for kids in foster care (last year's project) or gardening (Rose's project). The third grade project has four components: making lasagna, decorating cookies, decorating notecards and writing notes, and reflecting on why one does mitzvahs. All the food and cards go to Teenfeed an organization that feeds homeless teenagers.

The speaker from Teenfeed was excellent. It's really hard to explain to kids who have safe loving homes why a teenager might be living on the street. I don't want to tell my kid about drug addiction, sexual abuse, gay bashing. I don't want to tell him but I want him to understand that some kids don't have homes. They live in the park and have no place to wash. The speaker brought a backpack to illustrate what the homeless teen might be carrying like underpants and hand warmers. The kids seemed very empathetic and pleased that they got a chance to help.

We have 60 3rd graders. This project took A LOT of parental help. By some miracle everyone brought what they said they'd bring, but we still ran out because you can never have enough icing and sprinkles and we had to send someone for an emergency food run. We had four groups going through four stations. My co-chair ran the kitchen, along with a four parents. I ran the other three stations with four parents as well. And tomorrow I will be driving the food to TeenFeed.

Part of why I volunteered was actually to get to know the parents. They are so nice and interesting and I don't mingle so much. The kids were great too. You can see them maturing year to year. The kid who couldn't focus last year was just fine this year.

Mitzvah Day always takes more time, prep, and energy than I expect. But as the speaker said to me later, this is laying a foundation for a lifetime of service. And for one night at least, the homeless teens are getting fed.