TORONTO — Sometimes a whole season of mitzvot can spring from something as simple as a cup of coffee. Or at least it did for three Toronto moms, who came up with the idea behind the Mini Mitzvah Club one day over coffee at the Second Cup.
From left are Mini Mitzvah Club members Melissa Goldband, Lee Grunberg and Ben, Adam and Jonah at a Puzzlethon for charity. [Jori Lichtman photo]
“A couple of moms and I were talking, and we wanted to get our kids doing regular mitzvot that we could do with them,” said Jori Lichtman, who co-founded the club along with Michelle Porepa and Elana Geller.
“In schools, there were many nice things for our kids to do, but we didn’t always get to see that as parents.”
In response, they created the Mini Mitzvah Club, a group of young families that meet once a month to do a different mitzvah. “We made a calendar of tangible, simple, low-cost things to do with our kids so that they would understand that they were giving back,” Lichtman said.
The club, which was founded last October, has hosted a wide range of events, including a Puzzlethon that raised money for three different charities. “For the Puzzlethon, each kid was given a passport and they got to stamp it for every puzzle they completed,” Lichtman said. “When they were done, their stamps were exchanged for loonies, which they could put in a tzedakah box for the hungry, the sick or the homeless.”
“After the Puzzlethon, my four-year-old kept telling people about the tzedakah box she chose and what it meant,” said Lisa Millstein Sone, a Mini Mitzvah member. “It was wonderful to see that she was getting it, and how happy it made her that she was helping others.”
The club has also been involved with Jake’s Gigantic Give, which raised money for children with neurodegenerative diseases; the Kavanah Garden, an organic educational garden that models Jewish agricultural laws and environmental ethics, and a holiday gift drive for a women and children’s shelter.
“We have a cost filter, a feasibility filter and, most importantly, a mission – simple, tangible mitzvot,” said Lichtman. “We don’t have to change the world. We just want to get our kids to get the spirit of it and, of course, to have fun.”
Lichtman stressed the importance of getting kids involved in mitzvot from a young age. “That core of you starts so early,” she said. “We want to instil the notion of mitzvot in them from the get-go, so they know it’s a part of life.”
Millstein Sone agreed, and hopes that by exposing her kids to the club, they will be inspired to continue giving back to the community as they get older. “They’re like sponges at this age,” she said. “It’s also really great to get the kids involved with a group that pairs something meaningful with something fun, and something that they can connect to and appreciate.”
This month, the Mini Mitzvah Club will participate in a Passover food drive in conjunction with the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada.
“We see our role as evolving. We do some things that are homegrown and simple, but we also leverage what other groups are doing and invite our members to join,” said Lichtman. The club will be assisting with the sorting and packing of food on April 3 and delivery the following weekend.
The club will also be planting trees in Downsview Park on April 17 to celebrate Earth Day.
“Anyone is welcome to join,” said Lichtman. “The beauty of it is that it’s very grassroots, very organic. People bring ideas, and if the other parents like it and it’s feasible, we try to go for it. There’s no membership or commitment requirement, but we have a lot of repeat attendees.”
For more information, visit the club’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mitzvahclub or e-mail [email protected].
